One evening, just after 10:30pm, Lindsey K. sat down to watch TV and do some work.

Her husband had just left their home for his graveyard shift and their two-year-old daughter was asleep in her bed.

Shortly thereafter, Lindsey heard a knock at the door, but she wasn’t expecting anyone and most friends or family know to let her know if they are coming over.

After hearing the knock Lindsey got off the couch and heard a male scream, “Let me in!”

Lindsey quickly looked through the peephole and saw a man that she didn’t recognize. Meantime, the male was yelling, “They’re gonna kill me! Let me in!”

Next, the knocks and screams at the door turned into hard pounding and trying to open the door. Immediately, Lindsey grabbed her phone and dialed 911 as she went to the master bedroom to retrieve her gun.

She explained to the dispatcher that someone was trying to get inside her house and then she heard a loud crashing noise.

As she went to investigate the noise, Lindsey confronted the intruder and fired two one-handed shots from her handgun, while continuing to hold her cell phone to her ear so she could keep talking to the dispatcher.

The second shot hit the intruder sending him backwards, landing on his back. Lindsey kept a safe distance from the man while keeping her firearm pointed on him, staying in contact with the dispatcher.

Lindsey told the dispatcher, “There is no way I’m going to give that man a chance to stand up and hurt me or my daughter.” Police arrived quickly and the man was transported to the hospital where he was expected to recover.

Lindsey and her husband have always had firearms in their home. The one condition of having the firearms was that they would practice shooting, including different scenarios, until they were both comfortable.

One of those scenarios they anticipated was exactly what happened to them.

Lindsey had practiced shooting one-handed while talking to someone on the phone. Not only that, but the family had practiced shooting one-handed with either hand in case their dominant hand was injured.

Clearly, this type of training paid off and may have saved Lindsey and her child from the crazy home intruder.

This begs the question, how often do you train to shoot one-handed or with your off/weak hand? There could be a number of different scenarios where you may not be able to shoot with two hands.

For instance, what if you were on the phone with 911 like Lindsey? Or what if you were shopping with your children or grandchildren and needed to grab them while engaging a shooter? Or perhaps your hand gets injured from gunfire from the attacker?

Bottom line, shooting one-handed could easily be a real life scenario that you are forced into.

For this reason, I want to share with you a few ideas that can help you prepare for a deadly encounter when you may only be able to use one hand…

Concentrate on your grip. One of the most important things when shooting one-handed is focusing on your grip. You will need to grip the gun hard.

You should be gripping the gun so hard you can see the imprint the grips leave in your hand. (Basically, grip hard enough, just before the point it causes your hand to shake.)

Use your thumb. Another factor when shooting one-handed is the importance your thumb plays. Your shooting hand thumb will replace the pressure you would apply with your other hand.

You will want to use pressure from your thumb to help keep the gun pointed straight and to control recoil. Now, when shooting one-handed, many folks will cant their firearm a little to the side, which is certainly fine, and it is what I personally do.

Don’t lock your elbow. When shooting one-handed, you don’t want to lock your elbow out straight, but you want to lock your wrist so you maintain control and don’t drop the firearm or limp-wrist it.

(Your elbow should have a slight bend like how you’re supposed to hold a steering wheel.)

Your other hand. What you do with your other hand is going to be different depending on the specific situation. For example, your other hand may be holding a child or maybe it’s injured.

For training, if your other hand is not being used, you simply want to bring the hand into your chest to give you a more balanced position and to keep the hand out of the way.

Next time you go to the shooting range, I would definitely try shooting one-handed and with your off/weak hand.

And remember, during a self-defense shooting, your accuracy and speed will most likely diminish when shooting one-handed or with your off hand. Never will it be as important to take your time and make your shots count.