How tight a grip is tight enought??

[hardluk1]

My youngest daughter was over yesterday to pick up some practice ammo and bring her brass over. I was going to try a few new loads in my cm9 and asked her if she wanted to try it. Went up to the chrony and her first round fte and I said hold tighter. She did and ran the mag on thru. When done she I now know what tighter is , its like holding on to a rattler or copper head so it can't move in your grip. Smart kid. That fairly well covers it for us country folks. Not sure what a city boy would do if you told them that.

[JohnR]

That's a great description!

[medezyner]

When ever any student wants to venture beyond the required .22 for the Basic Pistol class, I tell them to "white knuckle it". They seem to get it. I also have them firmly hold the unloaded pistol, get in a solid stance and give them some subtle push/pulls to see if they're off balance. Similar to what you would do in any martial arts. When I was a kid, my Dad let me fire his S&W .357 and prefaced my firing by a "hold on for dear life". I gave my own kids a bit more direction with the 45. Mom wouldn't have appreciated them coming home with a forehead divot! ; )

[muggsy]

My youngest daughter was over yesterday to pick up some practice ammo and bring her brass over. I was going to try a few new loads in my cm9 and asked her if she wanted to try it. Went up to the chrony and her first round fte and I said hold tighter. She did and ran the mag on thru. When done she I now know what tighter is , its like holding on to a rattler or copper head so it can't move in your grip. Smart kid. That fairly well covers it for us country folks. Not sure what a city boy would do if you told them that.

With a boy it easy. You just tell him get a grip on yourself. He'll know what that means.

[AIRret]

Massad Ayoob calls the grip he recommends "the crush grip".

[hardluk1]

Just had to pass along the snake grip . Though that was an interesting view of a tight grip.

[garyb]

This was an experts advice to me which corrected my grip issues and now I no longer think about it. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received on grip mechanics:
When using a two hand grip, use what could best be described as an "equal pressure grip". This is by NOT over choking it, nor crushing it, nor white knuckle it primarily with the strong hand. Too many people think about crushing and white knuckling the gun with their strong hand. You can shoot that way if you want, but if you want to control the gun through the recoil, allow the strong hand to relax just a enough to let the gun ride....or recoil and return "equally". The recoil event must be felt equally with both hands. This is accomplished "at first" by thinking about the weak hand by giving equal pressure with the palm of the weak hand as you do the strong hand. This prevents both limp wrist, choking grips and more important it prevents fighting the recoil. Don't fight the recoil by attempting to choke it with either hand. Let the recoil flow back with equal pressure of both hands. It is totally a feel thing that once you master by starting with thinking about an equal weak hand, it helps you master the recoil so you know precisely the recoil time to your second shot. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the white knuckle grip or the recoil event, the gun rides more naturally up and down equally to the next shot. Giving more attention to the weak hand at first, makes the gun feel more equal between both hands and the recoil feels just as equal on the return to the next shot. Totally feel and once you get it , then you will stop thinking about it. It will just happen naturally.

[medezyner]

garyb: excellent advise, you're spot on...IMHO
To clarify, I was over-simplifying by calling it a "white knuckle" grip. For many new shooters, information beyond hand placement & stance basics becomes information overload. I've seen them so focused on the grip/stance they forget about the sights.
To your point, up until several years ago I've always had a strong hand/support hand difference in my grip. I found that equalizing that pressure seemed to help control my trigger. I continue to experiment with subtle changes in technique just to see the outcome. Especially between different pistols like a Keltec .380 and a Ruger .45; the basics will be the same, but adapting to their differences will be crucial.
I'm still learning and experimenting. Some techniques just seem natural; they flow like water, "be water my friend". -Bruce Lee

[Barth]

I've backed off of the classic "Crush Grip".
As I my hands tend to fatigue too quickly.

Obviously you need a firm grip for auto loaders to function properly.
The smaller/lighter guns seem to be more susceptible to malfunction
when not held tightly.

[muggsy]

When I get a proper grip on my CM9 the polymer just oozes from between my fingers. Now that's tight! :)

[muggsy]

This was an experts advice to me which corrected my grip issues and now I no longer think about it. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received on grip mechanics:
When using a two hand grip, use what could best be described as an "equal pressure grip". This is by NOT over choking it, nor crushing it, nor white knuckle it primarily with the strong hand. Too many people think about crushing and white knuckling the gun with their strong hand. You can shoot that way if you want, but if you want to control the gun through the recoil, allow the strong hand to relax just a enough to let the gun ride....or recoil and return "equally". The recoil event must be felt equally with both hands. This is accomplished "at first" by thinking about the weak hand by giving equal pressure with the palm of the weak hand as you do the strong hand. This prevents both limp wrist, choking grips and more important it prevents fighting the recoil. Don't fight the recoil by attempting to choke it with either hand. Let the recoil flow back with equal pressure of both hands. It is totally a feel thing that once you master by starting with thinking about an equal weak hand, it helps you master the recoil so you know precisely the recoil time to your second shot. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the white knuckle grip or the recoil event, the gun rides more naturally up and down equally to the next shot. Giving more attention to the weak hand at first, makes the gun feel more equal between both hands and the recoil feels just as equal on the return to the next shot. Totally feel and once you get it , then you will stop thinking about it. It will just happen naturally.

+1 Gary, you shoot a pistol exactly like I do, so I guess that I can't be too far from right.