Thumbs Up (Not Over/On Top...)

[Guest CK1]

Pay attention to your thumbs... when people talk about shooting mechanics, you hear a lot about trigger finger stuff, and maybe, at least in my opinion, not really enough about how important your grip is or nearly enough about what to do with your thumbs... or at the very least, how much they may affect your accuracy.

seems i developed a bad habit for a brief period of using my strong-hand thumb over/on top of my support-hand thumb, screwing up my shooting...

over time, my grip evolved into my strong-hand thumb ending up all the way over/on top of my support-hand at the 1st knuckle where the thumb is attached to the palm of the hand (ending up with my strong-hand thumb pointing almost at a 45 degree angle veering to the left pointing outward and away from point of the barrel/frame), which makes for a super comfortable, consistently repeatable "death grip" that feels awesome... however, NOT F'ING GOOD.

the problem is that using the strong-hand thumb over/on top of the other, while really comfortable, strong, and supportive, moves the middle knuckle of your strong-hand thumb off/away from the frame, and that is really where all your strong-hand thumbs strength is... so, under firing/cycling the recoil of the gun is torquing to the left whether you know it or not (i sure didn't know it, until working on everything else). the grip while strong, and repeatable, gives no support at one critical area towards the left-rear of the slide. hmmm.

for me the "bad habit thumb grip" i developed would shoot perfectly consistent... LEFT, great groups... LEFT, accuracy at 7yrds to 25yrds, always LEFT.

BAD

anyways, i re-trained myself to keep my strong-hand thumb tight to the frame/side of the pistol, landing with the part of my thumb between the middle knuckle and thumbnail right under the slide release on my gun (now i'm used to letting the slide release touch the top of my thumb and i tuck it under it as an index point to know my thumbs in the right place...). the thumb pressure is in towards and against the frame (not upwards which would surly induce premature slide lock issues).

the rest of the grip is textbook 1911-style ala todd jarrett (incidently i youtubed a couple videos where he showed his grip and that's how i identified my bad habit...), strong-hand thumb ABOVE, NOT OVER/ON TOP of the support-hand thumb, BOTH THUMBS POINTING FORWARD AND IN-LINE WITH WHERE THE GUN IS (my support-hand thumbnail ends up falling just in front of the recess where the manual safety would be if my M-A1 had one..., or short of where the take-down latch would be on a glock, or in general above the trigger guard on the exact opposite side of where your trigger finger indexes at aim, and also, both thumbnails in the grip end up at about the same height in-line on the frame, in no danger of being put against the slide).

GOOD

i wanted to post this in case anyone else has developed the same bad habit, or if you're shooting left or off, have you checked your thumb placement. working this kink out of my technique has helped my shooting immensely and it took a while for me to find my problem.

POA is now 100% POI, every damn time, all the time. now, if i'm not being a knucklehead, and i do everything right, i can finally shoot it like a freakin' death-ray!

[Guest illumina]

Good post. My problem seems to be that when I keep my thumb like you described as "good," it rests on the slide lock and does not engage when I finish off a mag.

[Guest CK1]

Good post. My problem seems to be that when I keep my thumb like you described as "good," it rests on the slide lock and does not engage when I finish off a mag.

some guns are easier than others to stay off the slide release... my steyr's releases stick out enough to stay off 'em, so no problems, and i have the "extended" slide release on my glock, so it's easy enough to stay under as well... but bet i might have an issue with the stock/flat releases though...

wondering, you shooting a glock or other?

[Guest illumina]

Glock 19 with everything stock. I'll have to check into the extended release.

[Guest Todd@CIS]

Yep, I'm a big proponent of the "thumbs forward" grip as it offers the greatest control over a handgun.

That's part of the reason why I don't like my issued XD45...my thumb rests on the slide lock lever, preventing my slide from locking open on the last round.

I won't alter my grip for one gun and have decided to just deal with it.

[kwe45919]

Thumbs forward is usually the way I shoot......unless I'm shooting a 1911. for some reason, my hand is the perfect size to jab my thumb knuckle into the saftey lever. Even if it's the old short style, for some reason if I'm thumbs forward shooting, the recoil creats/slides my thumb knuckle upward. Now don't misteak this problem for not having a good grip. There's no issues with my grip or the strength of it. For some reason the stars and planets align just right to make my most comfortable shooting grip the most fatal with a 1911. It's one of the reason's I stopped carrying my Kimber. After a few "draw, shoot, /click safe/,now I'm dead" drills, I felt I needed to carry something with no external levers my thumb can hit.

Beretta's, Sigs and tons of other firearms i have no issues with...just the beloved 1911.

Edited April 5, 2009 by kwe45919

[Guest Todd@CIS]

Curious, you don't like putting the thumb on top of the thumb safety?

I know we're all built differently, but the 1911 is typically one of the easiest to use "thumbs forward" if your strong hand thumb is riding the thumb safety.

Edited April 5, 2009 by Todd@CIS

[musicman]

I'm a righty and have never gotten used to putting my left thumb forward over my right thumb. I probably look like a moron when I shoot (and probably when I don, too) as my left thumb just stands up, almost like I'm giving someone the

It stays out and away from any levers/controls so at least it doesn't cause any problems. I shoot OK (I'm no dead-eye, but I get by) that way and it feels natural to me. Maybe I'll change eventually, but it works for me so far.

[Guest Todd@CIS]

I'm a righty and have never gotten used to putting my left thumb forward over my right thumb. I probably look like a moron when I shoot (and probably when I don, too) as my left thumb just stands up, almost like I'm giving someone the

It stays out and away from any levers/controls so at least it doesn't cause any problems. I shoot OK (I'm no dead-eye, but I get by) that way and it feels natural to me. Maybe I'll change eventually, but it works for me so far.

You're mostly a revolver shooter...very common with wheelgunners.