Many of the people you see modeling stances with a handgun are young, flexible models who have not broken too many bones or have other joint issues like arthritis. They can easily set themselves in a classic Weaver or Isosceles posture as many of us have been indoctrinated is ideal. When I try with my arthritis and all, my postural profile departs from the ideal.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to train with my master firearm instructor, John Farnam in his Advanced Defensive Handgun course. John, along with his wife and partner Vicki Farnam, codirect Defense Training International. While we were at it, I asked John to help me better understand a few subtleties about my shooting stance. Specifically, why I don’t look how I think you’re supposed to look when doing the Weaver or Isosceles stances. Will it affect my shots? Basically, he answers, “Don’t worry about it and do the best you can.”
Your stance is your shooting platform for launching your bullet. As such, in order to deliver the bullet quickly and accurately, a consistent stance (launching platform) is very important.
This is a really important issue to address because as we age, many of our physical abilities (e.g., strength, flexibility, endurance) decline. However, we still need to practice and retain the ability to make accurate hits with our defensive firearm of choice. Let’s not kid ourselves. Having a consistent stance is just as important a consideration in combat hand gunnery as it is in target shooting.
Purpose of Stance
The basic goal of any stance is to put your handgun up into the position where it does the most good. Your stance functions to align your point of aim, front sight, rear sight and dominant eye, plus get all four points into a straight line. Stance is your shooting platform for launching your bullet. As such, in order to deliver the bullet quickly and accurately, a consistent stance (launching platform) is very important. We need to hold the handgun the same way every time. We have a problem if we are all over the place. The problem is that we are shifting the whole aiming burden to our dominant eye and overloading our eye where our body should be aiming the gun.
John explains the importance of your stance in the tactical operation of the handgun in his latest book, The Farnam Method of Defensive Handgunning (Second Edition, DTI Publications, 2005). John’s wife, Vicki Farnam, and her co-author, Diane Nicholl, clearly present even more detailed step-by-step explanations of how to employ the Weaver and Isosceles stances and the fundamentals of marksmanship in their excellent new book, Women Learning to Shoot: A Guide for Law Enforcement Officers (DTI Publications, 2006).
Left: John Farnam’s fighting handgun stance. Center: Bruce’s fighting Weaver stance. Right: Capitalize on all the range of motion in your neck you can get!
What Affects Consistency and What Doesn’t
The crux of the problem is what we do when we have pain or physical limitations that prevent us from achieving the ideal stance. Will that affect consistency? The answer is no, it doesn’t have to. A less-than-perfect stance can still function to consistently deliver the front sight to the target.
Let’s examine some of the common ways your stance may deviate from the ideal Weaver or Isosceles launching platforms, as well as which deviations will mess up your speed and accuracy versus which ones will not.
1. When employing the Weaver stance, is it a problem if your elbows are too far out? Is that going to hurt anything? The answer is, no.
2. If your gun rotates slightly counter-clockwise when you employ the Weaver stance, is that a problem? The answer is, no. Don’t worry about it.
3. What if you are trembling? Don’t worry about it. Trembling won’t make you miss. The front sight will be vibrating a little. Just hold it on target as steadily as you can and press the trigger. You’ll be fine.
Left: Get a grip and stick to it. Center: You don’t have to do this! Right: Don’t override the recoil.
Here are things you should worry about:
1. Don’t jam your head into your shoulders. There’s nothing to be gained. A bowed head is a signal of submission. You will also remove the articulation from your neck and shoulders which will interfere with your mobility and ability to scan for threats.
2. Make sure your thumbs and your fingers are in the same place on the grip every time. Changing thumb and finger positions will change the bullet’s point of impact. Keep the same grip for all medium to large auto-loaders. Small auto-loaders such as Kel-Tec’s, Seecamp’s, Beretta .32’s, etc., require some modification. Revolvers require a different grip than auto-loaders, but consistency is necessary for each of your guns.
3. Should I raise my head to look through the bottom portion of my progressive bifocals in order to bring the front sight into focus? The answer is, no. Leave your head in its normal position and stop worrying about how sharply in focus your front sight is! A fuzzy front sight will work just fine. Accept the fact that your days of seeing a sharp front sight focus are probably over.
4. Should I grip the gun convulsively? No. Don’t shoot with a convulsion or a spasm. Just let the gun take over. The gun will do its job. Think of yourself as holding a fire hose and just bringing the stream of water onto the target.
5. Don’t fight recoil. The gun is going to jump in your hand. It’s not going to hurt if you have the right gun for you. If recoil does hurt, then you have the wrong gun. While you should not fight with the recoil, you should not just ride it either. Riding the recoil serves to exaggerate it, and this brings the gun much further up than it needs to be before it settles down.
6. Don’t anticipate the recoil and shove or jerk the gun forward to fight the recoil. Let the gun recoil naturally; it will settle. You need a firm grip—not a death grip. A firm grip will handle the recoil just fine. Shooting a gun is a process. The process will go off naturally if you don’t try to over-control or over-think it.
7. Another common error is to compulsively and obsessively keep re-adjusting your grip. Hold the front sight on your point of aim and press the trigger. Nothing needs to move except your trigger finger.
8. Your stance should keep you balanced. Don’t lean too far forward or backward. Keep your feet on the ground. Remember: If you have to draw your gun on someone, you must be prepared to fight. Your stance should be a fighting stance.
The purpose of a fighting stance is to keep you stable so you can not be knocked off balance by your opponent. The boxer’s stance must serve to protect him from his opponent’s blows. In a combat situation (a fight), you must stay balanced so you can be mobile.
You need to have your shoulders directly over your hips and your hips over your knees and feet so you can fight in any direction without being compelled to move your feet. You limit yourself to fighting only the person directly in front of you when you thrust yourself forward, and if your opponent is smart, he will outflank you and take the upper hand.
Left: Don’t do the jerk! Center: Maintain your grip! Right: A balanced stance.
When Your Shooting Platform Is Inadequate
There are situations in which it may not be possible to get into a good shooting platform or stance — for example, when you are behind cover or concealment. Another situation would be if you are physically disabled to the point where you can not adequately align your point of aim, front sight, rear sight and dominant eye so as to get all four points into a straight line. This could be due to diminished eyesight, upper extremity range of motion limitations, or being confined to a bed or wheelchair, among other factors. For these situations, good technology along with good training with the right equipment may provide a viable solution. I am talking about laser sights.
Thrown off balance!
A laser sighting system can facilitate accurate shooting from behind cover and concealment and in low-light, stress-fire conditions. That is why SWAT teams using full cover behind ballistic shields often employ laser sights. If you have to hide behind an automobile engine block, a bed, bookcase or some other available barricade, shoot from a prone position or shoot with your weak hand, a reliable laser sighting device on your handgun may still afford accurate shot placement.
A training aid: Last but not least, an intuitive, easy-to-operate laser sighting system can help new shooters learn sight picture and trigger control more quickly. Both live- and dry-fire practice with a good laser sighting system in your handgun can help you develop good trigger control and reinforce your muzzle discipline.
Sources
Defense Training International
P.O. Box 917
LaPorte, CO 80535
www.Defense-Training.com
970-482-2520
Personal Defense Solutions
www.PersonalDefenseSolutions.net
215-938-7283 (938-SAVE)
