TargetTalk

Hi,
I am new to air pistol, and I'm looking for some advice on my current situation. I started shooting a couple of months back, and was making decent progress with my Izzy in my home range. I was scoring in the low 500s, and focusing mostly on posture and technique. Unrelated to the shooting, I had a cervical disc herniation that became problematic a few weeks into my shooting, and resulted in some (hopefully temporary) nerve damage to my right arm (intense pain and loss of strength in the shoulder).

The result of this is that I went from mostly holding the 8 ring, to needing a barn side as a target. Being impatient, I decided to try shooting left handed (with the Izzy's RH grip, which I've ground a bit to accommodate my right hand). To my surprise, it has been not as bad as I thought it would (I can get most pellets into the black). I'm left eye dominant, so I guess that has something to do with it.

I wonder, then, should I just carve a set of LH grips and start shooting left-handed, or focus on trying to re-train my right arm?
Any advice is welcome!

The very first thing I would attend to is the herniated disc condition. Shooting must take a back seat in my view.

Having said that, I see no reason not to shoot left handed, if your doctor does not see it as a problem.

[quote="mvr"]... should I just carve a set of LH grips and start shooting left-handed, or focus on trying to re-train my right arm?/quote]

I'm right-handed and developed a back problem that caused much pain when when holding with the right hand. To stay in the game, the only option was to switch hands. Surprisingly, a month later my scores improved. That was many years ago and I'm still shooting 10's as a southpaw.

If you get along with the change, put a set of LH Rinks on that Izzy.

Pheyden wrote:The very first thing I would attend to is the herniated disc condition. Shooting must take a back seat in my view.

Having said that, I see no reason not to shoot left handed, if your doctor does not see it as a problem.

Yes, of course, that comes first. The shooting doesn't affect the situation, but rather the other way around...

slofyr wrote:

mvr wrote:... should I just carve a set of LH grips and start shooting left-handed, or focus on trying to re-train my right arm?/quote]

I'm right-handed and developed a back problem that caused much pain when when holding with the right hand. To stay in the game, the only option was to switch hands. Surprisingly, a month later my scores improved. That was many years ago and I'm still shooting 10's as a southpaw.

If you get along with the change, put a set of LH Rinks on that Izzy.

Good to know, I'll give it a try left-handed, then.
Thanks for the feedback!

MVR, check your PM.

Best,
Mike