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Flag your thumb, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the Glock Login/Join 
Member
Picture of 1KPerDay
posted
I’ve been trying for a few years to get my skills at shooting my Glock 22/17/23/19 as well as I do my other pistols and nothing has really worked. I’ve tried different grip techniques and triggers and practice and push/pull and dynamic tension from the shoulders and blah blah but at speed I still would consider my abilities to hit the steel plates “second tier” compared to how I do with SIGs and Berettas and M&Ps and 1911s and CZs. I would still miss more of them, and miss inexplicably and stand there befuddled and shaking my head, when shooting my Glocks. The thing that really bothered me is that I kinda like the look and the heritage and the function and engineering of the Glock But it pissed me off that it supposedly required me to grip and shoot it completely differently from every other pistol I own.

Well it seems I’ve found something that works for me with an acceptably minimal adjustment. Flagging and then folding down my strong hand thumb.

It’s described here in the first couple of minutes.

https://youtu.be/aunhMKRSOas

I always thought this guy’s grip looked funny but he shoots well and his logic was sound enough for me to give it a try. Whaddayaknow... I went from clang clang whiff clang whiff what the hell? To clang clang clangclang clang clang clang cla-clang. I shot a 32-round mag followed by a 17 round mag as fast as I would normally shoot my SIG or M&P at the plates at 18 yards today and maybe missed one. Which for me with the midsize frame Glocks has basically never happened before.

I don’t have to worry about any weird push/pull grip or trigger finger placement or sacrificing roosters to Gaston. I just use my normal thumbs-forward, moderately aggressive grip but make sure to really crank my right thumb up and get it sliced by the slide and that appears to satisfy the Glock gods. I may try an aftermarket beaver tail (Gen 3), which before now I never saw the point of.

Anyway, not sure why this is running through my head at 4am after my son woke up and puked all over himself and everything else, but thought some might be interested in this technique to start shooting Glocks straight. Rock on


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My hovercraft is full of eels.
 
Posts: 3214 | Registered: February 27, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Unknown
Stuntman
Picture of bionic218
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quote:
sacrificing roosters to Gaston.


Not to knock your thumb technique, but the above always worked for me. Big Grin

Actually, I cheated the whole system. I had shot other revolvers, 1911s, and one Ruger P85 - but in my family, skill with the rifle and shotgun was always widely approved and publicly praised. Handguns, however, were more of a dirty little secret. We had them, we knew how to use them, but it wasn't something people did in polite company - if that makes sense.

At 24, I bought my first real "my own" handgun, a used Department of Corrections generation 1 Glock 22 from a family friend some time after their department moved to the gen 2 guns. As you can imagine, being my only handgun at the time, I shot the piss out of that weapon.

I'm in that weird generation of guys who grew up with them, so I actually find them to be natural and have trouble making corrections with other guns. (I usually shoot a little low when I use a different platform)
 
Posts: 10759 | Location: missouri | Registered: October 18, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Big Stack
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I have to say, if because of the bad ergonomics of the design, shooters have to modify a grip that works on most other guns, in order to shoot Glocks well, it argues against the Glock platform in general, especially if you shoot multiple platforms.

And have you tried this grip with other platforms? Does it work with them? Or does it cause problems.
 
Posts: 21240 | Registered: November 05, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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quote:
Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
but make sure to really crank my right thumb up and get it sliced by the slide and that appears to satisfy the Glock gods


Well, that explains it... I've always shot Glocks well, but have been making blood sacrifices to the Glock gods for years, ever since being issued my first Glock Gen 3.

It wasn't until we switched to Gen 4s in 2012ish that beavertails were allowed, and the bloodletting could cease. (Including aftermarket beavertails, like my preferred Grip Force Adapter.) That also led to me buying into a number of additional personal Glock models, since I no longer had to just "suck it up" and accept that I was going to bleed every time I shot Glocks.

Even though I'm no longer making blood sacrifices, the Glock gods still seem to be appeased merely by the permanent railroad track scars on the thumb and web of my right hand. Big Grin
 
Posts: 32531 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of caneau
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For me the biggest difference involved switching to a flat trigger, specifically an Overwatch Precision DAT. I have fairly small hands so Glocks always felt big to me. The Overwatch Trigger brough the trigger closer in and let me achieve the grip that the gentleman in the video was talking about.

It wasn't until I got a Gen 4 Glock 19 and a Gen 5 Glock 34 that I really started to enjoy shooting Glocks. Paired with RMRs they are now some of my favorite guns to shoot. I'm weakly cross-dominant and have astigmatism so it was always a challenge to shoot with both eyes open. With electronic sights it's now like a video game -- point and click.

Every shooter is different. Hand size and shape, eye dominance, dexterity, and physical size and strength all play a role in how recoil is managed. The same grip and techniques that may work fine for a 6'2" foot, 250 lbs dude don't always cleanly translate for a smaller shooter.


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Posts: 5326 | Location: The Virginia side of DC | Registered: February 20, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I have a Grip Force beavertail on my 26 because of that very reason. I tend to grip high and have fatty hands.

I like them well enough. And I save money in bandages Smile


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Posts: 1165 | Registered: July 20, 2018Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of 1KPerDay
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quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:

And have you tried this grip with other platforms? Does it work with them? Or does it cause problems.

I use a high thumbs grip with all pistols. I don't need to consciously flag my thumb extra high and fold it down at the knuckle with any of the others. This is a concession to the Glock that I'm willing to make since it results in much more consistent hits and it's not really changing the fundamentals of my entire grip (like the Push-pull for example). Others have told me this grip works for all pistols and helps stabilize DA/SA pistols also.


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My hovercraft is full of eels.
 
Posts: 3214 | Registered: February 27, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of 1KPerDay
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Originally posted by highroundcount:
I have a Grip Force beavertail on my 26 because of that very reason. I tend to grip high and have fatty hands.

I like them well enough. And I save money in bandages Smile
Anyone know where I can get a Grip Force adapter, specifically the smooth one? Their website shows them as out of stock and I don't want to risk an amazon/ebay Chinese counterfeit garbage purchase.


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My hovercraft is full of eels.
 
Posts: 3214 | Registered: February 27, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Big Stack
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I was going to ask if you've tried the high flagging thing on other guns. You're saying others have. If you try it, let us know how it works.

It's one thing to modify your grip for all platforms. It another to do that for just one.

quote:
Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:

And have you tried this grip with other platforms? Does it work with them? Or does it cause problems.

I use a high thumbs grip with all pistols. I don't need to consciously flag my thumb extra high and fold it down at the knuckle with any of the others. This is a concession to the Glock that I'm willing to make since it results in much more consistent hits and it's not really changing the fundamentals of my entire grip (like the Push-pull for example). Others have told me this grip works for all pistols and helps stabilize DA/SA pistols also.
 
Posts: 21240 | Registered: November 05, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
quote:
Originally posted by highroundcount:
I have a Grip Force beavertail on my 26 because of that very reason. I tend to grip high and have fatty hands.

I like them well enough. And I save money in bandages Smile
Anyone know where I can get a Grip Force adapter, specifically the smooth one? Their website shows them as out of stock and I don't want to risk an amazon/ebay Chinese counterfeit garbage purchase.


Brownells have them in stock. I no long shoot the earlier generations, but when I did, I had Grip Force Adapters on all of them. It was a necessity for me.
 
Posts: 2169 | Registered: April 14, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I didn't see anything different about this grip; it's a normal master grip with a support hand doing what a support hand is supposed to do.
 
Posts: 6650 | Registered: September 13, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of 1KPerDay
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quote:
Originally posted by sasquatch28:


Brownells have them in stock. I no long shoot the earlier generations, but when I did, I had Grip Force Adapters on all of them. It was a necessity for me.
Thank you


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My hovercraft is full of eels.
 
Posts: 3214 | Registered: February 27, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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