Heeling: definition please

D

dyl

New member
Guys,

I have a vague understanding about some of the vocab involved in the finer points of shooting but I'd like to discuss them with you. I'd appreciate it if you could help me clarify. Sometime later I'll ask other questions as they come up but for now:

I've read in a manual that heeling is "applying pressure with the heel of you palm".

They didn't elaborate after that. Please tell me if I'm wrong and if there is anything you can add. By heel of the palm I take it to mean that it is incorrect to engage or "push" with the muscles at the base of thumb. So all backwards/pulling force of the shooting hand should be done with the 3rd 4th and pinky if available. Simply pulling the gun into the palm of the hand and not attempting to provide a muscle cushion by flexing the thumb/thenar muscles. That would be inconsistent as you'd have to flex the same amount shot after shot (if humanly possible). I assume the idea is to remove one moving part out of the equation and it seems like it could apply to rifle shooting too.

If this is true I have difficulty doing this on my snub revolver for some reason right now - possibly because the wooden boot grips are slippery and small so tensing my thumb muscles subconsciously provides a valley for the stocks to rest in. If my definition is also correct, I believe I read Massad Ayoob advocating that the thumb should be folded down and press into the stock to get as much grip out of the hand as possible. I'm not sure I could do that without heeling. I also find I tense the thumb muscles more so on this J-frame with it's heavier trigger pull than on my N-frame or semi-auto.

Your thoughts please?
 
By heel of the palm I take it to mean that it is incorrect to engage or "push" with the muscles at the base of thumb.
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The thumb can push on the gun, which can create it's own problems, but I feel "heeling" is more the push one does with the muscles at the base of the pinkie.

Personally, I feel I shoot best with my middle and ring fingers doing the great majority of the strong-hand gripping, and the pinkie and thumbs relaxed. Even though I shoot revolvers, I use the 2-thumbs forward semi-auto grip, like Craig Buckland in the link below. For one-handed shooting, my thumb is forward and not touching the gun. The pinkie is relaxed and barely touching it as well. The 2-thumbs forward grip may not be for everyone, but the important part is that the thumbs aren't inconsistently pushing the side of the frame. Keeping them from touching the frame altogether is a good way to be consistent.


http://gunnuts.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/buckland-thumbs-forward-actionshootingpodcast.jpg
 
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In this day and age of so many folks wanting to be known as experts (and many are), each offering different advice, I have to wonder...

Should we mere mortals try to mimic someone else, or just shoot enough to develop our own methods that work for us?

I've tried many techniques used by others, but I shoot better by adapting the methods to my own build and shooting style.

I don't claim to know what's correct, or incorrect; I just do what works for me.

Daryl
 
error target

Are you are referring to the "error target" for missed shots that refers to a clock face and shows shots high right to be "heeling"?

Remember that this was developed during the age of one handed bullseye shooting, and while some of it does carry over into two handed combat shooting, the concept of heeling would not the same.

As a long time bullseye shooter, I have always thought of heeling as opposite than the 7 o'clock flinch. In the flinch the shooter anticipates the recoil and pushes forward BEFORE THE SHOT is completed.

In the heeling, the anticipation of recoil is exaggerated by the push of the heel after the shot or during the recoil, resulting in 1 o'clock shot errors. Also, there is a break in the wrist by too loose a hold making the gun recoil up and to the right. You see this error more with bigger recoiling guns.

All this applies to a one handed bullseye (duelist) position of gripping the gun, but changes with two hands. More unlikely that you would be able to heel with two hands. I suppose that with a .357 magnum in a small revolver, this would be possible, though.
 
Should we mere mortals try to mimic someone else, or just shoot enough to develop our own methods that work for us?
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Tough call. What works for a master may not work for me. OTOH, a master shooter often has valid insights, and developing a "what works for me" technique from scratch may simply help develop 2 compensating bad habits.

I've tried many techniques used by others, but I shoot better by adapting the methods to my own build and shooting style.
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A good approach, I believe. Start with the tried and true standards, and adapt from there.

I don't claim to know what's correct, or incorrect; I just do what works for me.
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Likewise. Just so happens, for 2-handed shooting, thumbs forward works for me. But since I don't have a pic of my own grip...

The important thing is consistency, though. Thumb or pinkie pressure on the gun isn't bad per se, but it's just 2 more points of contact that have do be done consistently, and some may do it better than others.

In the heeling, the anticipation of recoil is exaggerated by the push of the heel after the shot or during the recoil, resulting in 1 o'clock shot errors.
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Agreed. The root of the heel push, though, in my albeit limited experience, are the muscles at the base of the ring finger & pinkie, closer to the bottom of the grip.
 
My setter knows what the word means; she just doesn't always like to do it. :)
But, seriously, the United States Army Marksmanship Unit classifies the phenomena of "heeling" in the same category as "trigger jerk" as being one of the common points of deficiency in control. They conclude:" Jerk or heel. The abrupt application of pressure either with the trigger finger alone or, in the case of heeling, pushing with the heel of the hand at the same time."
 
My own term for "heeling" is "The Claw". The way it happens to me is that I pull the trigger in a non-straightback or jerky manner while at the same time clenching with the meat of my hand. These two points of improper pressure will send shots to that sector of ye olde diagnostic target.

The Claw sucks.

It happens to me toward the end of a long pistol shooting session, or if my hand is otherwise beat up or tired for some reason.
 
"Heeling the gun" is the opposite flinch action of jerking or slapping the trigger in the sense that misses are high rather than pulled low.

It's when the shooter pushes the base of the pistol's grip with the heel of his hand in anticipation of the recoil. The tell tale sign is when shots go high and right or high and left depending on which hand the shooter holds the pistol with.
 
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