Touch Points

Feeling touch points is a technique for building muscle memory. As you grip the gun or grasp a magazine, concentrate on how it feels. Focus on what part of your finger or hand firsts make contact. As you practice and find out what particular technique works for you, make a mental note of how it feels. After you know how it feels with your hand, do it that way every time.

Here are a few examples to illustrate the point. As I take my handgun and acquire a good two-handed grip, I feel for how the knuckles of my support hand line up with my work hand. I know that I have a proper grip just by that feel alone. This is done by first working on your grip. Make sure you have a good grip, just as you have learned in the LTAC Pistol Marksmanship Foundation Series. Then do a few different types of drills: single shot from the draw, control pairs for the draw, and a string of rhythm drills starting from position 3 of the draw. As you do these drills make sure that your support hand is covering as much of your pistol as possible. Rotate your wrist a little forward if you have to. Make sure that you have good thumb placement, with your work thumb over (on top of, NOT on the side of) your support thumb, pointing toward the threat.

 The first two drills will make you grip your handgun repeatedly. Take it slow at first to make sure you are doing it right. During the last drill, the rhythm drills, you have to focus on keeping the grip as you shoot strings of at least 5 rounds. As you are practicing and are doing it right, that's when you start to focus on how your fingers or hand feel. Where and how is your thumb resting?  How do your knuckles feel?  You will be able to tell in the first milliseconds of a draw if your grip is right.

When I first started shooting my pistol with a mounted light on it, it took me a little while to get used to it.  I had to adjust my support hand slightly because I couldn't place my thumb as far forward as I usually do. This threw my whole grip off and my shot placement was not what it normally was. I finally felt where I could place my support thumb by finding a touch point with the tip making contact with a specific part of the light. As soon as I figured this out and did it that way every time, my shot groups went back to normal.

Another touch point tip is that you should place all of your mags facing the same direction. When you go to grasp a new mag, concentrate as to where your hand or palm first touches it. When I perform a mag change, I hit the mag with my palm first and then wrap my hand and fingers to grasp it. My index finger goes along the side of the mag as I pull it out. This allows me to know the condition of my magazine just by feel. I can then, with confidence, move the mag to the waiting magazine well. There is little to no fumbling around.

If you do all these things, focusing on the smallest touch point area possible, you will speed up your muscle memory for all of the various actions that you are working on.

 Thanks for reading,

 Jared