Most gun enthusiasts and concealed carry permit holders spend hours at the gun range, honing their skills. However, most people spend time perfecting their shot with their dominant hand and neglect to spend any time training with their non-dominant hand.
Why You Should Devote Time to Non-Dominant Hand Training
If you’re serious about weapons training for self-defense, you should consider spending some time training to shoot with your weak hand. If your strong arm is injured or otherwise incapacitated, your only chance at surviving an attack may depend on your ability to get off a shot with your weak hand.
How to Train Your Weaker Hand
Before you try shooting a gun with your weak hand, spend time practicing your technique with an unloaded weapon. Remember to always treat the gun as if it is loaded, don’t point it at anything you’re not prepared to destroy, keep your finger off the trigger until you’ve made the decision to shoot, and be aware of your target and what is behind it.
Prepare for it to feel awkward. You have not yet developed any muscle memory for this hand, so you’ll have to concentrate on your form. You will also notice that your non-dominant hand is not as strong, so it may take a little more effort to pull the trigger.
Once you’ve got a good grip on the handgun, line up the sights. You might find that the gun’s sights are lined up with your non-dominant eye. You can either move the gun or tilt your head slightly to line up the sights with your stronger eye.
It will take time and patience to learn how to shoot effectively with your weak hand. Start slow while you build your muscle memory before you practice firing the gun at the range.
Additional Things to Remember
You may also need to practice reloading with a fresh magazine with only one hand. You may need to use your leg or waistband to provide leverage.
When you’re first becoming familiar with operating a gun with your weaker hand, use a dummy training gun or a gun you’ve fully verified to be unloaded. Do so in a safe environment.
Allow yourself some time to build accuracy. Learning a new skill can take years, so have patience while you teach yourself.
