Caleb has a post that points out that most movie/TV charecters use incorrect grip when shooting a handgun. many people see the Teacup Hollywood Weaver stance and grip, and believe that is the way to shoot. He used the following picture of Jack Bauer (of 24 fame) to illustrate his terminology:
I have seen this at the range. Usually I see a modified version, where the offhand (in Jack's case, the left hand) is flat or just cupping (the thumb is not up toward the grip).
The last time we were at the range, a young man and his girlfriend were in the next lane. I noticed that her shots were all over the very large target. I also noticed she was only shooting a couple of shots, then he would shoot several (his shot placements weren't much better than hers - and they were shooting at 5 yards).
Once I had exhausted my turn at shooting and let WS have a turn, I stood back while reloading and got my chance to watch the young woman shoot. I noticed immediately that she was teacupping.
A short time later we were getting ready to leave and as I was waiting for WS to finish putting everything back into his range bag, I got a chance to talk to the young lady.
I told her that I had noticed her shooting and suggested modifying her grip. I demonstrated a two-handed grip (with an imaginary gun) and told her that would afford her better control.
She told me she shot better that way. “Yeah?” I questioned. She went on to explain that her first shot of her boyfriends 44-mag was way off the paper (don’t get me started on shooting a 44 for the first shots of her life) so she changed to teacup and at least hit the (very large) target.
It never dawned on her that she wasn't ready for the major kickback on the first shot, but was ready for it after that. I asked her to try the two-handed grip again.
Don't know if she took my advise, as we left just then. I hope that she got took a class to give her a better introduction to handguns and shooting. I hope that she wasn't put off shooting as a result of shooting a large caliber handgun as a first experience. I hope that they both work at becoming more proficient and safe.
Maybe I/we will run into them at the range again at some point and get the answers to my questions. Guessing not, but it would be nice.
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