Help with grip technique

[djturnz]

I've seen guys shoot with the support index finger on the guard that can shoot just fine. The problem I see with it is on the range, everything is nice and calm. When you get stressed (like in a self defense situation) your fine motor skills start to go. You also may experiance a sympathetic response where you are pulling the trigger with both index fingers, except one of them is on the trigger guard and throwing your shots off.

I have always done a more thumbs forward grip, but close to each other. I had an instructor show me (with his glock) that he tried to get his thumb way down the frame for more control. I was shooting my XD45-Tac the other day and tried to put my support thumb against the rear edge of the take down lever. It felt weird, but it felt as if the muzzle rise was cut in half. Could have been a little bit of a placebo effect. I'm gonna work with it and see where it goes.

[katokahn99]

Originally Posted by agalindo

Cant your weak hand more at an angle (45deg). Feels weird but works better you actually feel the stretch from the canted hand.

Also, put firm (but not too hard) pressure on the front strap and back strap with your firing hand AND hold equally as firm with your support hand as with your shooting hand. Death gripping the weapon will cause rapid fatigue and shake. Make sure your shooting hand is as high as physically possible on the grip (jammed up under the tang) and the index finger of your support hand should be firmly pinched between the middle finger and the trigger guard. All of this assures a consistent grip every time; and, this also creates a nice counter to muzzle flip because it is as close to the bore axis as possible, provides maximum resistance to the gun's movement when the shots break; and, combined with agalindo's tip above, helps the weapon to track (snap back onto target) naturally.

I find that pointing my support hand thumb at the target gets me on target very quickly and hit center mass (or the T zone if desired) on a silhouette from 7 yards without the sights.

Warning: The thing about this hold is that some shooters find that they thumb the slide stop lever which prevents it from locking back after the last round fired. You just need to train yourself to NOT rest your thumb on that lever.

Additionally, I recommend using the largest back strap possible. The more grip you have to get your hands in maximum contact with, the better your control will be. It has been observed by many that larger grips also mitigate the low-and-left (right handed shooters) and low-and-left (lefties) that many shooters of the XD(M) have experienced.

ETA: Disregard the mention of interchangeable back straps...I looked at your pics again and realized you don't have the M. IF you get the M though...

[thetravlor]

I've been using the off hand finger on the trigger guard for a couple of years now. It helps me control the recoil and get back on target quicker. I have kinda big hands and it works fine for me. My accuracy is just fine for a half blind old man.