It doesn't mean you're inept or inexperienced in any way, and I dislike the term, myself. For those who've not done a lot of shooting, I thought a short article on the subject was warranted. Limpwristing means EXACTLY that: your wrist, instead of being held firmly and rigid, is free to swivel up and down. Plenty of people do this occasionally, and it really rears up and shows it's head with a small pistol like a Kel-Tec. Here's a true limp-wrist in action:

THAT is going to cause a multitude of problems! You name it, just about any kind of malfunction there is. Your wrist muscles need to be tightened up to the point where it's almost impossible to move it up and down with your free hand.

Let's look at a simulated firing with a weak wrist:

Expect problems! Of course I'm using a big pistol (1911) in the pics, to show up better and magnify the effect for better understanding. Chances are good that, held this way, a failure to chamber or eject an empty case will happen.

So: Let's see what a one-handed grip looks like done PROPERLY in a simulated firing:

Quite a difference! Your hand is now rigid, giving the pistol the support and rigidity it needs to function properly. There's very little chance you'll get a problem here!

Now, the method most of us use, a two-handed grip with a solid wrist:

That's the way! You're nice and taut, providing that essential platform for a problem-free shoot! Let's take another look at the correct and incorrect pics, the correct method on right:

It's not a tough problem to overcome. Most of it's mental, actually, and not a matter of strength. Use an old tennis ball to squeeze and build up the muscles of your hand; not only will this increase your comfort and steadiness will shooting, it'll strengthen your wrist to the point where it'll lock almost automatically into firing mode!

Yep, most of us know limpwristing when we do it.

However, there's a HUGE flood of new handgunners emerging, due to the widespread increase of CCW. This article's mainly for them.

Like I said in the beginning, limpwristing can happen to anyone, and it shouldn't be a stigma or a phrase to offend anyone. Hopefully this'll make the concept a bit more clear for newcomers, and a good refresher of the basics from time to time is good for ALL of us!

Good shooting!

Flyer