030 - Grip and Index Finger Strength— The Tactical Edge Law Enforcement May Have Been Ignoring
Grip, Grit, and Gunplay: What Law Enforcement Can Learn from Finger Strength
When the job requires strength, speed, and precision under fatigue, every detail matters. This study breaks new ground by looking beyond general fitness and diving into the micro-movements that separate fast responders from effective ones.
Enter: Grip and Index Finger Strength.
The researchers evaluated cadets and incumbent officers during a real-world job-specific scenario, followed immediately by a live shooting test. Pre- and post-scenario grip and index finger strength were tracked to understand performance under fatigue.
Key Findings
Cadets were faster in scenario time (~10% faster), but incumbents shot 71% faster and used 40% fewer rounds.
Grip strength dropped significantly in incumbents post-scenario, but not in cadets.
Despite the drop, incumbents maintained superior shooting accuracy, likely from skill, not raw strength.
Cadets’ grip and index finger strength strongly correlated with scenario performance—their fitness mattered more than skill.
Tactical Interpretation
1. Experience Wins Under Pressure
Incumbents may be slower in movement, but training time and motor skill familiarity gave them the edge in high-stakes tasks like shooting.
2. Cadets Need Fitness Now
Without ingrained tactics or muscle memory, cadets rely heavily on brute fitness. That means grip strength, wrist control, and finger power are not luxuries—they’re necessities.
3. Grip Fatigue is Real, Train for Endurance
Job-specific tasks like drags, fights, and carries tax grip. Training should focus on both maximal grip strength and endurance capacity to keep hands reliable under load.
4. Don’t Waste Time Training What’s Already Covered
Index finger strength didn’t decrease post-scenario. Why? Officers already had more than enough to pull a trigger (avg. 7–8 kg vs. 1.3–6.8 kg trigger pull requirement). Focus training on what’s limiting, not what's already sufficient.
Stay Thick.
Lockie RG, Young MA, Lanham SN, Orr RM, Dawes JJ, Nagel TR. Retrospective Analysis of Grip and Index Finger Strength, Job-Specific Scenario, and Shooting Performance in Incumbent Law Enforcement Personnel and Cadets. J Strength Cond Res. 2025;39(4):e581-e588. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000005028