Rethinking my training philosophy (*again*), WWYD?

Mtn_Guy

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So another minor injury has me rethinking my training philosophy... When I suffered my knee injury last Fall (and surgery this winter) it caused me to rethink my plate carrier setup...

Here’s the story:

After months of waiting, my Slickster PC finally arrived. This is my second setup to run ShopStop Duritium GT Gen2 (special threat) plates for a very lightweight concealable option. It’s also an option if things ever get super-super hairy and I think I would want a PC on my kiddo. My first setup is a “heavy” armor setup with an Esstac Daedon PC running AR500 Level IV (Gen 2) ceramic plates. Anyways, both rigs were purpose-built for what they are.

Well, here is the rub...

You may have seen on another thread I’ve recently suffered a knee injury training. I threw on the Slickster with the lite plates no problem. I can literally pick the thing up with my pinky. Then I threw on the other carrier for comparison. My knee almost buckled from under me with the added weight. @Queen Bee don’t yell at me, the knee is fine 🤦🏻‍♂️

Now I’m rethinking my rethinking. Two carriers are good. Light and a heavy setup is fine, but with an injury limiting mobility the heavier armor puts me at a greater disadvantage for mobility. Prior to the injury I’d go running in my PC to train. Now I can’t take but a few steps with the added weight. With the lite setup I’m fine, but the kiddo can’t carry the weight of a pair of ceramics yet if it came down to that.

We’ve all heard buy-once, cry-once. And ounces = pounds and pounds = pain. I subscribe to both philosophies. But I always accounted for me at full-strength. The injury (while temporary) is a game changer and has me rethinking my philosophy. Maybe my story will help you to re-think your load out too.

like I said, buy the absolute lightest gear you can afford.

So the other day I lacerated my middle finger on my dominant hand requiring six stitches. Now everything is temporarily more of a chore... grabbing the milk from the refrigerator, bathroom habits. Everything.

In several training classes I’ve taken and at the range I’ve practiced off-hand in the event of an injury to my dominant hand. But here is the rub — it was all predicated on carrying strong side, even appendix carry drawing from my dominant hand. But what if the injury precludes that? What would you do?

In the short term I’ll heal up, and I will just shoot off-hand if I go to the range. But I carry daily and I’m not confident in drawing from the holster without a master grip. But now I’m thinking it’s an unintended training scar to assume I’ll always carry strong side.

So what do you do??? Any of you ever train to carry holstered non-dominant side and draw your pistol? How would you EDC your firearm with a temporary hand injury?

I’m seriously considering retaking pistol 101 with all the newbs and carrying non-dominant working from the holster. Just a bit of background, as a lefty I’m a little ambidextrous with routine daily tasks like operating a can opener and even playing guitar, but I’m super spastic/ uncoordinated with sports if I have to throw or bat as a righty.

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just train your non-dominant hand. i have a reversible holster - drawing from other side is not that problematic, all the blocks are in your brain, not in your muscles.
search for macedonian style shooting videos - here they call it different names, core of the idea is to use a non-dominant eye with a non-dominant hand parallel to a dominant side.
once you deal with a shaking of the weak hand it evens up a bit, it is not that difficult.
 
Dude, you're a lefty in a right handed world. You've been training your non dominant hand for life. 😂 I say this as a fellow lefty. I don't train righty for pistols but I do for rifles. My biggest issues when doing so is the cheek weld and eye usage. Being left eye dominant doesn't help this at all. For pistol, I'd guess just force presenting, aiming, and dry firing with the right hand would help tremendously. YMMV
 
Not sure how flexible you all are, but I'm able to take my weak hand and rotate it so the back of my hand faces my belly so I can pull an IWB appendix draw with the pistol set up for strong side draw. Not ideal, and I also have to rotate my upper torso a bit to achieve this, but it would work in a pinch. I have a feeling though that my arms are oddly rubbery at the joints.
 
Not sure how flexible you all are, but I'm able to take my weak hand and rotate it so the back of my hand faces my belly so I can pull an IWB appendix draw with the pistol set up for strong side draw. Not ideal, and I also have to rotate my upper torso a bit to achieve this, but it would work in a pinch. I have a feeling though that my arms are oddly rubbery at the joints.
god, no. just get a proper holster for the weak side. do not do circus tricks that may end up with dropping a gun.
most ranges hate it and specifically prohibit this - i love it. see below.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgOnKxBKnAs
 
Dude, you're a lefty in a right handed world. You've been training your non dominant hand for life. 😂 I say this as a fellow lefty. I don't train righty for pistols but I do for rifles. My biggest issues when doing so is the cheek weld and eye usage. Being left eye dominant doesn't help this at all. For pistol, I'd guess just force presenting, aiming, and dry firing with the right hand would help tremendously. YMMV
You said it brother! I realized once they gave me those right handed scissors in elementary school the deck was stacked against me as a lefty. I also train rifle ambidextrous, so I guess it’s time to train up on pistol.
 
I think with 500cc's of adrenaline coursing thru your system during a possible shoot-scenario, you will 100% ignore the stitchy finger and just draw and shoot. Your aim might be a bit off as your brain is working on muscle-memory and your grip isn't quite right. Be aware of that and you'd be fine.

AFTER - that finger is gonna hurt like a mother. But if it does, that means you didn't die - so kudos to you.


Here's the REAL good news - the odds of you being in an armed confrontation in the next 6 weeks are so close to zero it might as well be zero. It's too damn cold for any sort of person- or car-jacking. Ditto for home invasions. Bars are all mostly-closed, so little chance of a bar-fight spilling out into you. This is the safest time to be having trouble carrying.
 
god, no. just get a proper holster for the weak side. do not do circus tricks that may end up with dropping a gun.
most ranges hate it and specifically prohibit this - i love it. see below.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgOnKxBKnAs

Really depends on Mtn_Guy's intent. If he's just looking for a solution while his finger heals, then by all means get an weak side holster and practice with it. If he brought this up in a "what if" scenario that this happened out of the blue and you really needed an on the spot solution, then I don't see any issue with what I mentioned. Better than dead.
 
god, no. just get a proper holster for the weak side. do not do circus tricks that may end up with dropping a gun.
most ranges hate it and specifically prohibit this - i love it. see below.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgOnKxBKnAs


So your suggestion is I have to train like Jerry? I wish I was that good on a good day, lol 🤣

I actually keep a few right handed OWB holsters in the event I loan a friend a firearm, and I have a few universal nylon holsters that I can reverse if they are right or left handed — I contemplated carrying on my right but I haven’t trained that way, so I’m not confident I could be effective at a consistent presentation. Something to definitely practice this weekend at the range!
 
So your suggestion is I have to train like Jerry? I wish I was that good on a good day, lol 🤣
I actually keep a few right handed OWB holsters in the event I loan a friend a firearm, and I have a few universal nylon holsters that I can reverse if they are right or left handed — I contemplated carrying on my right but I haven’t trained that way, so I’m not confident I could be effective at a consistent presentation. Something to definitely practice this weekend at the range!
begin with a simultaneous movement of both hands - you can keep your injured dominant side empty, but, the idea is to begin to mimic the movement mechanically on both sides. once you get the muscle feeling and basic muscle memory built it will simply work. try it.
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I think with 500cc's of adrenaline coursing thru your system during a possible shoot-scenario, you will 100% ignore the stitchy finger and just draw and shoot. Your aim might be a bit off as your brain is working on muscle-memory and your grip isn't quite right. Be aware of that and you'd be fine.

AFTER - that finger is gonna hurt like a mother. But if it does, that means you didn't die - so kudos to you.


Here's the REAL good news - the odds of you being in an armed confrontation in the next 6 weeks are so close to zero it might as well be zero. It's too damn cold for any sort of person- or car-jacking. Ditto for home invasions. Bars are all mostly-closed, so little chance of a bar-fight spilling out into you. This is the safest time to be having trouble carrying.

Agree 100%. In the short-term it’s identified a weakness in my training regimen. If I needed to draw and present strong side, I totally could if needed and a split stitch would be better than the alternative.

So many people focus “preparedness” on equipment first and training second, but it seems rarely train mindset. This is a never-out-of-the-fight scenario, and how to mentally prepare for limited mobility or appendage functionality.
 
Hope u heal quickly!! Practice drawing and dry firing 10 min in the am and 10 min pm to build the muscle memory and to get rid of the awkwardness. Don,t use a gun with a safety as that complicates things with an extra step. a double action first shot set up could be helpful in preventing an opppsy
 
Take the opportunity to train the other hand. I was suprised to see the NRA pistol marksmanship program (you know, pro-marksman, marksman,... expert...) has you doing a lot of the one handed shooting with your non-dominant hand. I learned a lot about my grip and pull that I hadn't noticed just shooting just with my dominant hand.
 
Using your right hand is not hard at all. I’ve been doing it my whole life. The left one, completely different story...
 
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