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I'm posting this for a lady friend of mine that is not signed up on this forum and is learning to shoot my Browning HP. She plans (me thinks) to get the CHL soon and be safe. :)
When shooting at the range, she has a tendency to arch her back after a few rounds. I don't think this is a gender specific habit, but she wanted me to post
and see if any of the ladies out there have struggled with this kind of habit. Any suggestions ?
The stance that I've started her with is a modified Weaver type and we are
at the stage of trying to find out what will work best for her. Recoil doesn't seem to be an issue and her arms and grip look good. As usual, she is a better shot than I am ! :)
Thanks

I see a lot of new female shooters do that.

I think the Weaver makes it easier to do that.

Try her in a combat stance. Have her roll her shoulders forward and think about pushing the muzzle towards the target.

Put your hand behing her. When she arches back, she'll feel your hand and know that she shouldn't arch.

Weaver, and especially, er, well endowed ladies do it because their elbow and chest get in the way.

My fiancee either nudges her chest over, or pokes her elbow out an extra 3 inches.

Also, people (myself included, expecially when starting out) have a tendency to let each shot nudge you backwards. A proper weaver stance will help you catch yourself doing it, as the more you lean back, the closer your elbow gets to your ribcage.

txinvestigator wrote:I see a lot of new female shooters do that.

Me too. In fact, I'd have to say the vast majority of ladies I teach do that when first learning to shoot.

I use a quick demonstration to help them understand the effect that leaning back has on the shooter. I have them put both hands together with their palms facing toward the target, elbows locked, then lean back like they were shooting. I then push on the hands and it takes very little force to push them off balance. Then, have them do the same thing but with the shoulders forward of the hips, knees bent and leaning into the gun. It takes a lot more force to push them back and they can better appreciate the importance of not leaning back.

Chas.

Most of the other women I bring to experience shooting, tend to do this too. I think it is a subconscience action for counter balance. CLC's suggestions are great. When I remind them to bend their knees slightly, it seems to take care of most of the problem.

I see men do it just as much as the ladies. Of course, its not recommended for the reasons already cited.

The main reason most "beginners" do it is simple:

They have not been taught to bring the head down and shoulders forward.

Beginners will often bring the gun up to the head (eyes), resulting in the hands being significantly higher than the plane of the shoulders. This is an unstable and uncomfortable position to try to shoot from. They naturally compensate by moving the pelvis forward and shoulders back. This allows the shoulders and elbows to move inward...while at the same time moving the head down in line with the weapon. It is..of course, tactically unsound.

Start your shooters out from the very beginning:

Putting weight out front (not backward over the pelvis).

The head should come forward and down at the initiation of the draw stroke. By doing this, you automatically put weight forward AND set yourself up for a good sight picture.

The shoulders should roll forward slightly and a reasonable isometric "push/pull" should be in play between the strong hand and support hand. This makes a steady platform for either Isosceles or Weaver shooters and their variants.

Swinging the weapon up from "low ready" (bowling) is another practice that encourages poor form IMO. Beginners can easily learn to "push" to the target if we just start them that way. But, thats a subject for another thread.

I guess coming from a martial arts background, I never even considered the idea of arching the back. DH was very clear about bracing with a good wide stance and leaning into the gun. I may have other problems but that is not one of them.

I think part of it may come from being uncomfortable with the gun. Balance is so important.

Thanks for all the info. The last trip to the range, she did much better with her stance. Now we are working on the concealed draw, becoming smooth and quick. After some practice, she has also improved tremendously on loading the double stack mags, still gets sore fingers though. Passing the CHL shoot will be a cakewalk for her :)