Does the Gas Pedal require a particular stance or arm position?
No, this is one of the real beauties of the opposable grip method. You can shoot it with any foot stance or any arm or torso position. Other methods encourage a particular stance or arm position. With the opposable grip, ANY position works well because recoil is tamed significantly AND the natural “true neutral” position of the wrist allows any arm position from extended to close to the shooters face.
This flexibility of shooters position enables quick acquisitions in awkward shooting scenarios, such as tight ports with wide arc of fire.
I tried a thumb rest once and the dot seemed to dip or move sideways, Does the Gas Pedal do that too?
No, The Gas Pedal Method itself does not cause that. However those that are used to the traditional methods of grip, will usually use too much lateral force with the first couple of mags they fire with a Gas Pedal® grip. Or with traditional thumb rests that are mounted forward, the shooter will still be using the old set of muscle reflexes which causes overcompensation and can yield dot “dip”, “bounce” or side to side movement. After a few mags or sometimes a second practice session with Gas Pedal , it becomes MUCH easier to control the gun and the dot moves much less. The OPP Grip method of shooting is far easier to learn than the traditional method, but those who have the old style committed to muscle memory may take a few mags or even a session or two to unlearn the unneeded, counterproductive muscle tension of the old style.
Does it make my draw faster or better?
Yes, for most of us. For those gifted shooters at the absolute edge of human performance it wont make you faster, but for 99+% of the rest of us, it makes your draw faster and much easier by making a perfect grip every time. Instead of trying to get your non dominant hand in perfect position, all you have to do is index (your non dominant thumb) on the Pedal and the rest of the perfect grip comes every time without further effort. No more long frequent practice sessions to get a perfect consistent grip.
Are there any particular advantages of the Gas Pedal ® method in tactical situations?
The Original Gas Pedal ® competition grip was designed for Open class USPSA competition. The racer versions opposable grip have dominated World and National Championships.
For carry Guns use the Gas Pedal®CG. The traditional cam forward technique puts a lot of restrictions on shooting style which are eliminated by Opposable Grip. . For example, whether you choose Weaver, Isosceles, balanced or any other stance you almost HAVE to master one of those stance techniques to shoot well. Also the traditional grip requires a fair amount of arm extension otherwise you simply can not cam the wrist forward.
The OPP Grip allows you to shoot from ANY position of feet and ANY position of arms ANY body position. Further it allows arc of fire to be generated with short axis wrist movements instead of long axis arm and torso movements. This is a huge advantage in action sports or close quarters combat. In tactical situations it allows the pistol to be shot very close to the face lessening the chance of being disarmed.
How is the Gas Pedal® Grip made?
The GoGun® Gas Pedal® grip is made using precision production techniques, a variety of metal and polymer processes are used depending on model, but all are first quality. It is 100% conceived, developed, designed, trademarked, patented, and manufactured in the USA.
Physics, Anatomical Principles, and some numbers
Although somewhat simplified, here is the Technical explanation
- Traditional cam forward position: Maximum potential human force around 30 lbs counteracting higher gun torque because of longer radius.
- Opposable Grip.: Maximum human force about 100 lbs counteracting lower gun torque be-cause of shorter radius. WITH INCREASED LEVERAGE
In a nutshell, with pistols, recoil consists of two main components and two smaller components.The man components are a straight back impulse sometimes referred to recoil only, and flip which a rotational force (angular momentum) created by transient torque. Although the Gas Pedal grip also helps to manage straight impulse recoil, the real culprit in pistol shooting is managing flip. The two minor components, Windage and Twist are automatically controlled by the trade dress Monolithic Wing.
THE ONLY way to counteract rotational flip is with an equal and opposite torque. (To be absolutely scientifically accurate these forces change in very short periods of time and are said to be complex functions of time. However one need not know the intricacies of this to understand the principle)
How you get this opposing torque is what causes all the confusion.
To simplify a complex topic torque is the arithmetic multiplied combinations of forces times distance from the rotation point. (Force times radius).
Torque = Force x radius
When forces are not exactly perpendicular other factors become involved like trigonometric functions of angle (but again, it is not necessary to know the details to get an understanding)
The traditional way to counteract torque with pistols involves two concepts. First the dominant hand is placed as high on the pistol as possible which reduces the radius component from the dominant hand but paradoxically INCREASES it with the non dominant hand. Second a counter acting torque is applied by combination of compressing the grip with opposite forces from both hands. This with friction creates a counter torque but unfortunately it has a high radius and is anatomically inefficient. Thus the shooter has to use a LOT of effort and practice a lot to achieve a satisfactory counter torque.
With the Gas Pedal Method, still a counter torque is applied but in a much more efficient manner. First counter torque effort is drastically reduced because the radius is dramatically reduced. Second instead of using highly inefficient bilateral compression, the much stronger hand grasping or pincher muscles of the hand and thumb are utilized which are anatomically much more efficient.
For the anatomically technically inclined, this is capsule summary.
In traditional Cam forward position, recoil flip is managed principally by the “Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Tendon” (a very small muscle of forearm attached to the wrist via a small tendon not designed or accustomed to high repetitive forces and susceptible to chronic repetitive stress injuries). A secondary anti torqueing force is applied by combined shoulder forearm and wrist compression (combined adduction), which thru friction produces the anti torque.
The Cam forward or “ulnar deviation” position is well known to physicians to extremely inefficient, lacking and power and susceptible to repetitive stress injury, which is why great care is taken when repairing wrist fractures to avoid putting the wrist in this position.
With the Gas Pedal ® opposable grip, the much stronger muscles of the hand including the large thumb muscles and pincher grasp are utilized. Not only is this much more efficient, it mostly eliminates the need for muscle tension in the arms and shoulders allowing for a variety of shooting styles.
Here are some VERY approximate numbers to give you an idea based on 100% effort of a moderately strong male in non dominant hand.
- Hand grasp in true neutral with out cam forward position, about 100 lbs
- Hand grasp in cam forward (ulnar deviation), about 30 lbs
- Hand grasp in cam forward (ulnar deviation) without use of thumb, about 15 to 20 pounds.
- Maximum adduction of combined arms, wrists and hand in cam forward position about 30 lbs.
- Although somewhat simplified, here is the bottom line.
BOTOM LINE:
Traditional cam forward position: Maximum potential human force around 30 lbs counteracting higher gun torque because of longer radius. Due to poor efficiency a major portion of the 30 lb potential is required (read high perceived effort).
OPP Grip: Maximum human force about 100 lbs counteracting lower gun torque be-cause of shorter radius. But due to increased efficiency only a small fraction of potential force is used (read low perceived effort)
