Jake ?
A very Important question ? GRIP
Your lay-off has taught you an important lesson , I think. Your Grip never was ?established? in a proper manner with your gun. You probably have been struggling [ and not knowing it ] and could even be doing quite well ? but your grip and the motor memory surrounding that function has not been properly established IMHO.
When I teach Grip and Stance ??.. I will always allow some leeway in the stance aspect, but never with the grip. I demand all students at least try it my way, while in the training program. That way I can instantly tell if their grip has changed during a Range session??.and I know they are practicing the best pistol control that I have found.
You most telling comment was about the thumbs. Believe me, it is all about the thumbs !! Some students wonder why I don?t teach a separate ?hold? for the 1911 ? where you use your thumb to ?ride? the safety. There are some definite benefits to this method when using the 1911 --- but my training is centered around making you a good shooter ?no matter what handgun you should pick up in your hands. So a ?STANDARD? grip is more appropriate in these matters.
Your strong hand or trigger finger hand ? should be concerned with only one aspect with shooting and that?s trigger control. This means that this hand should not play an overly important part in controlling the weapon. Conversely, this means that your weak-hand?s job is solely responsible for handgun control. This method pertains to a Combat two-handed grip on the weapon. We will [ for brevity sake ] ignore the single handed shot for the moment.
When gripping the weapon ??.. I ask the student to point their index finger at the target. One single finger ? with the others tucked together. Notice the position of your THUMB. It will naturally be wrapped around your longest middle finger. This POINTING is key to fast accurate shooting ????.so your grip has to also be this natural hold on your weapon. When you are holding the target at bay - your trigger finger should be where ? ?right along side the slide in this ?natural pointing ? stance.
What can be more easier than to point to where you want the bullets to go?? So take your strong hand and grip the pistol, as you would pointing at the target. Notice the thumb still wraps around the middle finger ? don?t change anything just because you have the gun in your hand.
No comes into play your weak hand and more weapon?s control. All of your fingers of the weak hand should ?cup? around the front of the pistol?s grip and on top of the fingers of your strong hand. That leaves your weak hand thumb to deal with. And this is a very important job you give this integer . It will control the tightness of your grip ? without placing any stress at all on the trigger finger hand. Now take your thumb [of the weak hand ] and place it on top of the thumb of the trigger finger hand. It should cross the thumb slightly and lock together. Now to answer your original question of your post ? choose the grip back-strap that allows for the most easiest placement of your hands described above. By placing ?DOWNWARD? pressure with your weak hand thumb, you will automatically increase the strength or hold on your handgun. You will always have a ?point touch? motor memory of where your thumbs should be at all times. After awhile, this grip will start to feel natural as you learn how to ?POINT? at the targets you want to hit.
I hope this will help you explore a possibly different way to hold your Walther ??..and give you the consistent grip that everyone needs to be accurate and fast.
JF.
