Women of USPSA- Nationals 2011

Will_M wrote:I've worked on getting my arms out a little more since that video was taken. Also there were some tight corners so I kept the gun in a bit more than usual.

I've found if I lock my elbows, the shock is transferred almost entirely to my wrists. If I break them slightly, my wrists, elbows, and then shoulders can absorb most of it. I DO need to work on upper body strength though. You can see the difference in recoil control in Bryant's video vs mine.

Of course I could be completely wrong and that's why he's so much faster than me.

My two cents.

Bryant being bigger (bigger not fat) then you will also allow him to control recoil better if all things else are equal. I personally am working on adding mass to my center or gravity (i.e. stomach) just for this reason

After watching the video again, I noticed that the ladies with more mass seemed to bend the elbows more then the ladies of smaller stature.

Will_M wrote:I've worked on getting my arms out a little more since that video was taken. Also there were some tight corners so I kept the gun in a bit more than usual.

I've found if I lock my elbows, the shock is transferred almost entirely to my wrists. If I break them slightly, my wrists, elbows, and then shoulders can absorb most of it. I DO need to work on upper body strength though. You can see the difference in recoil control in Bryant's video vs mine.

Of course I could be completely wrong and that's why he's so much faster than me.

My two cents.

That's funny. I actually thought you locked them out more now than in that video, but I figured the video doesn't lie. As mentioned it has been almost a year since that video though so it sounds like my memory of recent matches was more accurate than the video in this case...

I agree locking the elbows transfers more recoil to the wrists and shoulders. The bent elbows act like shock absorbers to some degree. Someone of less mass actually "gives" more in the upper body so it affects them differently than someone of more mass. You know, that whole physics thing.

After you decide elbows locked or not, then you can decide elbows up or elbows down. I think of Dave Sevigny and a few others as being very much elbows up. Although it can look like he has his elbows locked, I have heard him say that if you looked down from above you would see clearly his elbows are in fact bent slightly, he just rolls them up or to the outside:


Meanwhile, Rob Leatham and others are more elbows neutral:


I believe Rodney May teaches elbows down, tightening the chest muscles. I thought I was more in the middle or neutral camp, but maybe more up than I realize. This isn't a great picture since I am leaned a little bit to the right making the left arm look more straight than it is. I do think my left arm is straighter than the right by a bit:


I think it's fairly clear there isn't a "right" for everyone. Some more photos here, including Jerry, Max, JJ, Voigt,Tatsuya Sakai for a definitely different, elbows extremely bent style, and finally Kay Clark Miculek to get this thread back on topic. I think open shooters tend to bend elbows more than most other divisions, probably because of the comps affect on recoil: http://steelchallenge.com/media/SC-Photos-p2.html

That's what I meant when I said I've been working on getting my arms out. I've been trying to get my arms extended a little more. My old videos I look like Tatsuya with my elbows bent A LOT. Where as now I try to get everything out a bit more. You confirming that makes me feel better as it shows my practice has at least done SOMETHING.

I'm glad you pointed that out about Open shooter's stances/grips. I've noticed it as well from watching Max Jr. Maybe not all as dramatic as Tatsuya, but definitely bent more.

I'm going to have to go to the gym.