How to improve wife's hand strength

[RACER X]

So went shooting this weekend, took xds9 and 1911 and 22

Wife kept having FTE.s w XDS and couldn't even rack the 1911 properly

Buddy and I shot both after her and had no problems, only thing we can think of, was that she was Limp wristing the XDS

And not drawing the slide back far enough on the 1911

More worried about the xds and FTE because it's her carry. I thought about buying her one of those hand strengthening pieces, like squeezing s tennis ball.

Any advice?


sent from my cell phone, far far away but still monitored by the NSA

 

[Dawico]

She may want to concentrate on wrist strength. I am not sure if strengthing her hands will do the trick completely. Just a thought but I have no idea what the best exercise may be.

It may also help her with the 1911 if she cocks the hammer before racking the slide. It racks quite a bit easier like that.

 

[itchin]

Maybe get her a revolver?

 

[RickLovesBacon]

Get her to rack the slide and push on the grip at the same time. That helps out my wife.

Sent from the Bacon isle at your local grocery store.

 

[RACER X]

Yeah, that's the way she was taught at a girl gun class

I think she was really tired over the week, because she had shot both guns a few weeks earlier, w her and her son and says she had no issues w either.

sent from my cell phone, far far away but still monitored by the NSA

 

[Tejano Scott]

Shakeweight

 

[matefrio]

Somewhat off topic...

I took a guy out to the range for him to shoot a handgun for the first time. He had problems with limp wristing the handgun.

Hanging targets with the staple gun the target didn't stick to the backer for him, but worked fine for me.

Did you know you can limp wrist a staple gun?

 

[Sugar Land]

That does not only happen to girls..

 

[jasont]

I've got a set of these I use for working on grip strength. Even if you aren't limp wristing a stronger grip will help with recoil control. A lot of guys that do practical shooting use them the keep the gun flat.

Amazon.com: Heavy Grip Full Set of 6 - 100 - 350 Pounds: Sports & Outdoors

 

[Charlie]

I had an idea about building wrist strength in females ................................. but it might not go well with some of the mods and females on the forum!

 

[556.45.12]

Suggest that she go to massage therapy school. Not only will her strength increase, but you'll get awesome massages all the time for free. Life is good.

 

[Charlie]

Suggest that she go to massage therapy school. Not only will her strength increase, but you'll get awesome massages all the time for free. Life is good.

Yeah! What he said!

 

[Shorts]

Start shooting and manipulating the gun more. It is called specificity of training. If one wants to get more skilled and stronger at specific movements, do the movements. Obviously use good techniques. I prefer hand over slide to rack with strong hand. For weak hand rack I think I used sling shot (don't really remember, been so long without a weak hand that it seems like a different life).

I'm a girl but I think my grip is stronger because I have no choice but to be strong to handle the tools, equipment and firearms that I use if I want to participate in the activity. I have to shoot a firearm with one hand. If you want tired, do that for an entire range session. That kind of "workout" adds up and equals strength from repetitive movements.

Quite honestly, just do it

 

[n2pistols]

You kidding???? Wow I learn something new each time I log on to TGT.

 

[Shorts]

You kidding???? Wow I learn something new each time I log on to TGT.

Me? Nope, not kidding. Only have use of my right arm. You didn't notice?? lol

 

[n2pistols]

So went shooting this weekend, took xds9 and 1911 and 22

Wife kept having FTE.s w XDS and couldn't even rack the 1911 properly

Buddy and I shot both after her and had no problems, only thing we can think of, was that she was Limp wristing the XDS

And not drawing the slide back far enough on the 1911

More worried about the xds and FTE because it's her carry. I thought about buying her one of those hand strengthening pieces, like squeezing s tennis ball.

Any advice?


sent from my cell phone, far far away but still monitored by the NSA

What cal gun does your wife want to carry?? If she would like to carry a 380 the Ruger LC380 is very easy to rack. My wife has the same problem and she has no problem racking the Ruger LC380 and really enjoys firing it.

 

[RACER X]

She had prob racking the 1911, her CCW is an XDS9, and she had several FTE in row, I fired the weapons and had no probs.

We think her grip want strong enough

sent from my cell phone, far far away but still monitored by the NSA

 

[Charlie]

Look at a .38 Spl. revolver. Easy to fire, no failure to eject, stove pipe, etc. and very difficult to fire unintentionally (accidently, negligently, etc.). Just a thought.

 

[BRevell]

Awesome that the wife wants to shoot. Even the act of aiming requires wrist strength and will develop it. I've seen ladies transition from rimfire to big bore guns with no problem where they used to have issues racking a big bore slide. Maybe get her shooting rimfire, or perhaps doing short dry fire drills on a gun that resets quickly with short racks. With Glocks you don't have to pull very far to reset, and dryfire practice should help strengthen those wrists while getting in some good aim and trigger practice at the same time.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

Grip strength training is like any other type of weight training. It's something you want to do carefully and consciously, as it can be overdone and lead to things like tendonitis. Here's some things to keep in mind:

-Grip, wrist, and forearm strength can have a substantial effect on how well you manage recoil
-Squeezing movements work out your flexor muscles. Don't forget to workout your extensors as well. Use thick rubber bands around your fingers and try to extend them as much as possible. Do this for reps, do it for holds.
-Most department store grip squeezer devices are usually ~20-40# pulls. Professional grip squeezers, like the Heavy Grips mentioned above, or Captains of Crush, usually start around 100#, so twice as much or more. Captains of Crush actually start below that at 60# and 80#.

If using a grip squeezer, keep it simple. Go for reps of 3-5 on a tough one, or maybe 10-12 on a slightly easier one. Beyond that, volume of reps won't necessarily do much to improve grip strength. Also, you can do "negatives". Basically use both hands or pushing the squeezer against your leg to help get it fully closed, then simply just try to hold it closed as long as you can. It's going to slowly open as it's either too heavy of a squeezer, or your strength can only hold it closed for so long.

I can't think of a way to say this without it sounding negative, but I certainly don't intend it that way. One of the performance hindrances I've seen the most with women shooters is a lack of aggression. I think women are more capable than they might think, they just need to be more aggressive about what they're doing when they're doing it. I see this a lot when it comes to things like racking a slide. You want to rip that slide to the rear like you're trying to rip it off the gun or like you're enraged. Don't be afraid to break it!

Here are some excellent recommendations from Kathy Jackson's blog. She has a lot of great advice for female shooters:

Rack the Slide | Cornered Cat