Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by WarMachine »

I hope you heal up fast. Yes I practice weak hand.
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by Cynyster »

Thank you guys for reminding me. Practicing with my weak hand had totally slipped my mind even though it was recommended at my CHL course.

Firing doesn't seem to be a problem but drawing is not as easy as it looks for those of us with a gut. :?

They also recommended that I shoot at least once or twice without hearing protection so I wasn't taken off guard in a home defense situation. But I am loathed to do that considering the environment I work in tends to make people deaf.
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by Mrs. Daspirate »

Cynyster wrote:They also recommended that I shoot at least once or twice without hearing protection so I wasn't taken off guard in a home defense situation.
That's a bad idea. Most research and anecdotal evidence says your body will take care of that for you - "auditory exclusion." Unfortunately, the necessary adrenaline to produce that response is unlikely to be present in your training scenario, which means you'll just damage your ears.
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by TSiWRX »

whoownsyou wrote:I just meant that should somebody begin to drop or otherwise lose control of the gun, they might instinctively scramble to regain control instead of just letting it drop. In the scramble, you might catch the trigger unexpectedly and while it's pointing in a direction you didn't choose.
^ Exactly - and this is why:
TSiWRX wrote: What further impressed me was that Costa took the time to even tell the HE02 students that no-one would be dismissed for losing control of a gun and letting it hit the ground: that he understood that, sometimes, particularly when it was that hot and everyone that sweaty, things like that *can* happen, despite our best efforts to not to - rather, he wanted to remind everyone to NOT grab for the gun if it was on its way out of their hand(s), in that was where the true dangers really came into play in such a scenario.
:)

Good instructors/school know the most common types of accidents that can happen in their classes, given their curricula. Good instructors/schools also realize that as shooters get "more advanced," complacency becomes a big killer - and they will insist that shooters police themselves even more rigorously.
Cynyster wrote: Firing doesn't seem to be a problem but drawing is not as easy as it looks for those of us with a gut. :?
You're telling me! :P As Homer Simpson would likely say, life is not easy, for the full-figured gentleman! :oops: :lol:

Start with a cleared gun, and start slow.
They also recommended that I shoot at least once or twice without hearing protection so I wasn't taken off guard in a home defense situation. But I am loathed to do that considering the environment I work in tends to make people deaf.
I would skip on this. That's a great way to permanently damage your hearing.

Like Mrs. Daspirate mentioned, "auditory exclusion *should* take over, under stress, anyway, so that "training" of having heard un-mitigated muzzle report in tight confines may not even do any good.

The way I see it, there's no reason to risk your hearing, given the uncertainty of the actual outcome.

It's the same way why I feel there's really no need to ever practice without eye protection (for those who, like me, use prescription vision correction, we can easily just slip on a pair of non-prescription protective glasses for practice scenarios). Losing an eye or going blind when I'm fighting for my life or that of a loved one's? I can live with that. But the same when I'm practicing? That's just stupid! :oops: :P
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by pleasantguywhopacks »

TDI teaches switching hands (wiping the gun into the off hand) while clearing a house. If you can get used to that you can get used to week hand only shooting. The trick is learning to get that dominate eye where it needs to be.
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by TunnelRat »

TSiWRX wrote: Like Mrs. Daspirate mentioned, "auditory exclusion *should* take over, under stress, anyway, so that "training" of having heard un-mitigated muzzle report in tight confines may not even do any good.

The way I see it, there's no reason to risk your hearing, given the uncertainty of the actual outcome.
The "auditory exclusion" has no effect whatever on your ears. Rather, it serves as a circuit in your brain such that you just don't notice the noise.

Oh, and by the way, it's not simply a 'risk' to your hearing -- it's a permanent damage. Trust me on this one; I used to be a machine gun instructor... :|
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by NavyChief »

This really seems like a better fit in "Training & Tactics"...
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by TSiWRX »

TunnelRat wrote:
TSiWRX wrote: Like Mrs. Daspirate mentioned, "auditory exclusion *should* take over, under stress, anyway, so that "training" of having heard un-mitigated muzzle report in tight confines may not even do any good.

The way I see it, there's no reason to risk your hearing, given the uncertainty of the actual outcome.
The "auditory exclusion" has no effect whatever on your ears. Rather, it serves as a circuit in your brain such that you just don't notice the noise.

Oh, and by the way, it's not simply a 'risk' to your hearing -- it's a permanent damage. Trust me on this one; I used to be a machine gun instructor... :|
^ My fault - I didn't mean that auditory exclusion would somehow magically protect your hearing. :oops: That was definitely not intended to be read that way (although I can easily see how it would! my bad!!).

Rather, it's to say to Cynyster that given the person under stress may suffer from auditory exclusion, what good would it do to practice shooting without hearing protection?

That, was my logic. :)

There's really no need to risk one's hearing (or eyesight, for those who insist on repeatedly bringing up training without prescription vision-correction), when you're practicing. :)
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by Brian D. »

On the hearing protection topic, I try to keep a set of electronic muffs handy in the house. My hope is that there could be time to put them on during a break in, but cannot say with certainty that I'd remember to do so under such circumstances, especially if it happens while I'm sleeping.
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by TSiWRX »

^ +1.

My primary plan is for if it all goes the way of the H-E-double-hockey-sticks.

But if I have the luxury of time, I'm going to protect myself and my family the best way possible. My daughter's ear protection is with "my stuff." My wife has plenty of earplugs that both her and my daughter can also use. I've got a pair of electronic muffs with "my stuff," too.

Even better than protecting my hearing would be the ability to hear what's going on in other parts of the house, amplified. :)
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by Cruiser »

Brian D. wrote:On the hearing protection topic, I try to keep a set of electronic muffs handy in the house. My hope is that there could be time to put them on during a break in, but cannot say with certainty that I'd remember to do so under such circumstances, especially if it happens while I'm sleeping.
Could having time to put hearing protection on during a self defense shooting be held against you in a hearing?
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by TSiWRX »

^ I guess if you stalked out after the guys.... :lol:

Pop on a GPNVG18, some body armor, load up the drum for the Saiga 12, stick a cigar in the corner of my mouth.... :P
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by Brian D. »

Cruiser wrote:
Brian D. wrote:On the hearing protection topic, I try to keep a set of electronic muffs handy in the house. My hope is that there could be time to put them on during a break in, but cannot say with certainty that I'd remember to do so under such circumstances, especially if it happens while I'm sleeping.
Could having time to put hearing protection on during a self defense shooting be held against you in a hearing?
Not as long as Joe Deters is the prosecutor in my county. 8)
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by Jake »

When I first received my CHL, I'd recently (within days) had carpal tunnel surgery on my strong hand.
That created an awareness of needing to be able to use my "weak hand for defensive shooting if required.

I'm sure I don't practice it enough, I do get work in periodically.
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Re: Do you ever practice with your "weak" hand?

Post by carmen fovozzo »

Brian D. wrote:On the hearing protection topic, I try to keep a set of electronic muffs handy in the house. My hope is that there could be time to put them on during a break in, but cannot say with certainty that I'd remember to do so under such circumstances, especially if it happens while I'm sleeping.
Yep, I can see it now. Police arrest looney with gun and ear protection in home......as BG skips out the back door... :)
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