human image stabilization

Here's a little visual help. This is our 10 year old w/ 1D MkII and 24-105. You'll see that she has a wide stance, her elbows are mostly in and her left hand is under (not on top) of the lens to provide support. Both provides a stable shooting platform.

If you have to shoot handheld at a shutter speed that's too low, you can set your shutter to high speed burst and rip off 5 shots or more. As the camera moves back and forth slightly there's always a point where it's reversing direction and not moving at all. Catch that instant and you have a sharp shot.

This is the principle of "Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while".

number six wrote in post #9345762
This is the principle of "Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while".

Uh, well, uh........Makes perfect sense to me.

Im still trying to learn how to handhold properly. A couple things, is stance, breathing (some say hold, some say let out slowly - use what works for you), and squeezing not poking at the shutter button. Moose Peterson has a good video about it:
http://moosepeterson.c​om/blog/?p=3649
Whole series of handholding on his site

I bring in my elbows as far as I can as well. Still not perfect but getting better

One thing that i forgot to add to my post is a very simple and very, very important comment - RELAX!

All the technique in the world isnt going to help if you are standing like a coiled spring. You need to be comfortable and relaxed.