Off Hand/Support Hand Thoughts

[Blaster229]

However you want to call it.

Everyone gets tunnel vision on the "shoot". There's always the possibility of needing your off hand if your strong hand gets injured.
That's certainly the valid point.
That being said, it's pretty easy to pick up the gun and point shoot it if you need to.

Now to the point.

No one thinks of support hand CARRY.

This should be a part of your rituals.
Can you carry, draw, and at least point shoot off hand?
People never think about if one day they might need some sort of arm/hand surgery.
Rotator you'll probably be down 2 months?
If you are strong side carrying, don't think you're magically going to be able to muster the strength to do it, because you won't.
There's no fighting through the pain. Because pain is nothing when your muscles won't physically allow the arm to lift.

So, not so much the marksmanship aspect, but carry aspect.

Get you cheap support side holster and give it a go.

Not a sermon, just a thought

 

[Crosseye Dominant]

Was thinking about that in regards to pocket carry, since you are often using the strong hand to complete a task.

 

[Blaster229]

Was thinking about that in regards to pocket carry, since you are often using the strong hand to complete a task.

I meant this in regards to real carry.

But yeah. Learning to use an off hand for any task is a good idea.

 

[4g64loser]

Good thoughts. Done the off side one hand only but mainly from the correct side holster. I should probably add a lefty holster for at least one primary carry handgun.

Do often have a j frame in off side jacket pocket and point shoot it one handed, wrong hand. But that's the ol' five in five at five thing.

 

[Mark75H]

Always mentioned in my classes. Should be part of everyone’s awareness

 

[Kman]

This forum comes up with more and more things for me to consider. I thought I was covering my bases with lobbing some shots and messing with controls lefty, but this never occurred to me.
Now to search Amazon for a no name minimal lefty kydex.
Thanks.

 

[Art3]

Blaster...selling more holsters again

If you push your strong side holster back far enough, doesn't it at some point become a support side small of back holster? Wasn't there some instructor saying that was the only way to carry anyway

 

[Blaster229]

Blaster...selling more holsters again

If you push your strong side holster back far enough, doesn't it at some point become a support side small of back holster? Wasn't there some instructor saying that was the only way to carry anyway

You trying to make me pop a valve? LOL

 

[Art3]

This forum comes up with more and more things for me to consider. I thought I was covering my bases with lobbing some shots and messing with controls lefty, but this never occurred to me.
Now to search Amazon for a no name minimal lefty kydex.
Thanks.

Don't go too cheap. Handling a crappy holster is bad enough on the good side...just imagine a bad holster on the bad side

 

[Garet Jax]

Interesting thread. I have had 3 shoulder surgeries and I kept shooting during all of them. It got me very good at one handed shooting and specifically weak hand, one handed shooting. At a range over the weekend, I tried strong hand, one handed shooting and was having loads of trouble keeping the gun steady. Something else I need to add to my routine for practice.

 

[Art3]

You trying to make me pop a valve? LOL

Some folks like cross draw...who are we to judge whether they take it in the front or back

 

[Bountied]

Interesting thread. I have had 3 shoulder surgeries and I kept shooting during all of them. It got me very good at one handed shooting and specifically weak hand, one handed shooting. At a range over the weekend, I tried strong hand, one handed shooting and was having loads of trouble keeping the gun steady. Something else I need to add to my routine for practice.

Did the doctors and nurses freak out?

 

[Bullfrog]

Get you cheap support side holster and give it a go.

Isn't that only useful if you're injured before the fight, and want to carry with your 'shooting' arm disabled or in a sling?

If you're injured in the fight, you won't be wearing or drawing from a support side holster, you'll be stuck with what you have.

Do you suggest using carry positions that you can draw from with both hands, or a weak side back up weapon, or something else?

 

[Blaster229]

Isn't that only useful if you're injured before the fight, and want to carry with your 'shooting' arm disabled or in a sling?

If you're injured in the fight, you won't be wearing or drawing from a support side holster, you'll be stuck with what you have.

Do you suggest using carry positions that you can draw from with both hands, or a weak side back up weapon, or something else?

Don't over think this.

If you had surgery on your shooting hand/arm, it's not feasible to carry on that side.
No one thinks of this thinking they would be able to still draw with that hand or arm thinking they could just "fight through it".

I am saying familiarize yourself to CARRY from your support side.

There are no "UNI" locations/positions to draw from using either arm.

It's ridiculous to think you would use your left hand, reach and twist it around to try to draw and shoot it from a right side AIWB pistol.

Some people try to shoot left handed sometimes when they go to the range.
All I am saying is it might behoove people to try and CARRY left handed to just be familiar with it should you have to because of a surgery and you want to go carry in public.

 

[Blaster229]

Interesting thread. I have had 3 shoulder surgeries and I kept shooting during all of them. It got me very good at one handed shooting and specifically weak hand, one handed shooting. At a range over the weekend, I tried strong hand, one handed shooting and was having loads of trouble keeping the gun steady. Something else I need to add to my routine for practice.

Being the exception to the rule, you are exempt from this training.

 

[hogarth]

Isn't that only useful if you're injured before the fight, and want to carry with your 'shooting' arm disabled or in a sling?

If you're injured in the fight, you won't be wearing or drawing from a support side holster, you'll be stuck with what you have.

Do you suggest using carry positions that you can draw from with both hands, or a weak side back up weapon, or something else?

Not Blaster, but yeah, you should be practicing NOW for injuries/issues that come up later. Not issues that come up in a fight, necessarily. But just in life.

I've dislocated both of my shoulders numerous times. Do you want to have already been at least occasionally practicing support side draws and shooting before that, or do you want to get home from the hospital and realize "hmm, I have no support side holster, no practice drawing from the support side (even if I did own a support side holster), and no practice shooting support side only."

In other words, be prepared.

Having said that, yes, we should ALSO be practicing drawing with support hand from our regular holster in case we are injured IN the fight.

 

[Blaster229]

Having said that, yes, we should ALSO be practicing drawing with support hand from our regular holster in case we are injured IN the fight.

Exactly this too.

I just don't want people to think " I'll just go ahead and draw from my right side holster with my left hand instead".
We need to do both.

Just to be redundant posting

 

[smokey]

Interesting thinkin. I've practiced transitions from right to left with one handed and two handed shooting, malfunction clearing, and drawing/holstering from both sides, but I haven't considered building up skill ahead of time for if my right arm is down for a prolonged time and I need to semi-permanently rely on my left.

It's something that seems like an airsoft replica of your carry gun and lots of work at home could help with for cheap. Just dry-fire and snap-caps could get lots of reps in without spending lots of time at the range.

I do like spending most of my non-dominant side practice on working around my right-handed stuff though. Figuring out malfunction clearing and holstering/drawing isn't something I want to do if I'm wounded during some kind of violent event. At least with a semi-permanent switch I'd have time to spool up a bit.

 

[joppaj]

It's a very valid point and I dislike you pointing out a possible deficiency that I haven't addressed.

 

[Blaster229]

It's a very valid point and I dislike you pointing out a possible deficiency that I haven't addressed.

I aim to please.