Learning The Hard Way: I Injured My Dominant Arm And Now I Can’t Shoot

I’m still not quite sure what I did, but it happened in my sleep. I woke up with an elbow that hurt like you wouldn’t believe … but only if I moved it a (few) certain ways. I have had this happen on one other occasion with my left elbow, but it wasn’t nearly as bad when it didn’t include my dominant arm.

Now comes the problem: I’m not good at drawing with my left hand, and I’m just an ‘ok’ shot with my left hand (and some patience). I’ve even read articles over the years that say something along the lines of “Why you should practice shooting with your not-so-dominant hand” and I thought, “Yea, that’s a really good idea!”

Although I never really practiced it because, hey, my good arm works!

Well, now I’m kicking myself. I would loved to head to the range today, but I can’t raise my right arm up to shoot. If I could shoot left-handed … one-handed … I’d be in good shape. If I could draw from a left-handed holster sufficiently, I’d be all set to carry.

At the current time, if I needed to draw my firearm where it usually resides with my right hand, I’d probably be able to get it out of the holster, but then I would more than  likely drop it on the ground from the ridiculous amounts of pain that my elbow is producing.

So, I’m using this as a life lesson and during this time of right arm healing, will start the (soon to be) regular practice of drawing with my left hand. Then when my elbow is back to normal, I’m going to practice left-handed shooting — one handed.

Wait, now I need a left-handed holster.

I’m going to buy one, I feel at this point it’s worth the investment.

The video at the top is for left-handed shooters and offers some really good advice for people who are also looking to train this way. Give it a watch, it’s good stuff.