Hand Position Question

[Greatwhitewing]

Pistol is Taurus G3c and I as medium sized man have no problem positioning my left hand (right hand shooter) by overlapping my fingers and left thumb directly opposite side of the slide as trigger finger in safe position, the very traditional grip.

Now my daughter who is a small adult female (less than half my weight). She does everything right handed except shoot since she is left eye dominant (her choice). Now my concern is right her hand she insists placing it under the mag cupping the grip saying it feels more comfortable. I tried to get her to use the classic position telling her she would have more control but didn't "make her". She goes to the range as my guest so I have certain responsibilities for her.

How much should I insist she change or simply let her be since it appears safe enough?

 

[kalash]

I don't think the teacup is unsafe, it just doesn't help control recoil at all. Might as well just shoot one handed at that point. If she just wants to plink once a year, I'd let it go; if she's going to carry then she needs a proper grip.

 

[Buck F]

I don't think the teacup is unsafe, it just doesn't help control recoil at all. Might as well just shoot one handed at that point. If she just wants to plink once a year, I'd let it go; if she's going to carry then she needs a proper grip.

This. Aside from the teacup not being ideal for recoil/control it's not inherently unsafe and not a lot different than shooting one handed. Depends on how into shooting she gets. Also, eye dominance can change over time and it's far less of a factor w/ a pistol versus rifle/shotgun. Perhaps if she tried a right handed grip she'd be more comfortable with a more conventional grip. Not sure that a younger right handed person shooting pistol left handed because of eye dominance is the way to go IMO.

 

[walter62]

ditto. I"ve been working on transferring my eye dominance for the last year (was left eye).

I agree w/ the others. There was a young/teenage girl at the range (yes you pigs, she WAS HOT)
and her boyfriend didn't correct her crappy teacup grip. Cest le vie (?)

 

[Greatwhitewing]

I don't think the teacup is unsafe, it just doesn't help control recoil at all. Might as well just shoot one handed at that point. If she just wants to plink once a year, I'd let it go; if she's going to carry then she needs a proper grip.

Recoil was noticed and it is a pretty light pistol so that does contribute. She likes to shoot but cannot afford all the costs involved with classes, purchases and range fees so she will be shooting only when I can take her or she takes 5 hour ride to her friends house in VT.
I think (my opinion FWIW) is she is too small to shoot one handed. I would love to see her hold the gun better.

 

[Greatwhitewing]

ditto. I"ve been working on transferring my eye dominance for the last year (was left eye).

I agree w/ the others. There was a young/teenage girl at the range (yes you pigs, she WAS HOT)
and her boyfriend didn't correct her crappy teacup grip. Cest le vie (?)

Hot girls get more leeway, right or wrong. Just a fact of life er ah lust. Crap nevermind.. lol

 

[FPrice]

As long as they are shooting safely and somewhat accurately, there is a point where you just have to back off trying to correct her or possibly discourage her further shooting. Work on other issues if she is having problems.

Not everyone shoots best from the exact same position.

 

[v7eagle7]

Please pass along to your (over 21, adult daughter) that I’m a hand model, currently looking for hand jobs.

 

[DW357]

Please pass along to your (over 21, adult daughter) that I’m a hand model, currently looking for hand jobs.

 

[kalash]

Please pass along to your (over 21, adult daughter) that I’m a hand model, currently looking for hand jobs.

Go back to reddit.

 

[Buck F]

As long as they are shooting safely and somewhat accurately, there is a point where you just have to back off trying to correct her or possibly discourage her further shooting. Work on other issues if she is having problems.

Not everyone shoots best from the exact same position.

This. I took a friend shooting last week, hasn't shot in 5 years and doesn't have a ton of shooting experience although he knows his way around a pistol pretty well. He's a Krav Maga instructor so they train for disarming more than shooting, but they also know how to operate a gun. He told me that he does point & shoot (uses middle finger to squeeze the trigger), said he just couldn't get comfortable using index finger on trigger. We were shooting steel (he never shot steel before) and it was BangDING BangDING BangDING out as far as 25 yards on a steel silhouette. Most of his shots were on the center line w/ any variance being vertical. Perfectly acceptable shooting, told him if he's comfortable doing that not to mess with it since he rarely shoots.

 

[straightshooterjake]

The teacup grip is not unsafe, and it is a much more effective hand position than shooting one handed. With the teacup grip, the support hand offers a great deal of support for accuracy in slow and deliberate shooting. For slow fire only, the teacup grip is almost as effective at steadying the pistol as any other two handed grip.

The deficiency of the teacup grip is in recoil control, where the support hand is unable to make much contribution. Recoil control only matters when some speed and power is involved.

I strongly believe in starting beginners with .22 rimfire pistols. But I have sometimes had an issue where beginners correctly point out that with the .22, the teacup grip is working as well as a traditional grip. I always let them know that as they move to centerfire, the teacup grip will be less effective, but often they need to test it for themselves.

When I work with people who have significant hand and wrist issues, I consider the teacup grip to be safe and acceptable if their physical limitations prevent any stronger use of the support hand. And someone who is only interested in range fun may find the teacup grip sufficient. Anyone who is physically capable and has more practical intentions for their pistolcraft needs to train a better grip.

Regarding eye dominance and handedness for people whose dominant hand and eye are opposite, that is too involved for me to write about right now, but there have been some good threads on this forum in the past. The short summary is that the right way to do it depends on a number of factors about the individual, and I don't believe that there is any global right solution. And letting beginners use the hand and eye that feels comfortable is not a bad way to get started.

 

[Admin]

Just my .02. I'd take her to a gun shop and try to find a blaster that fits her small hands better.

Holding a pistol like a teacup isn't something that anyone should be doing regardless of how little they shoot the gun. There may be a time in her life where she needs to fire multiple rounds as fast as possible in to a drugged up mugger/home invader. etc, that teacup grip sure as hell isn't going to increase her survivability chances.

 

[Mass-diver]

Take a training course with her.

 

[whatluck]

teacup shooting offers no additional support over 1 handed, so you may as well shoot one handed weaver, and make yourself a smaller target.