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Everyone who wants to increase their proficiency – regardless of their current level of speed and accuracy – can benefit from this amazing pistol drill that takes only 50 rounds to complete.

The Dot Torture drill (DTD) originated from David Blinder at Personal Defense Training. The DTD will keep you completely honest about exactly where you are in your journey to mastery and adapts perfectly to your skill changes with a simple increase in distance or a time component.

The drill goes like this:

Starting at 3 yards with a target of ten 2-inch circles (download target here), place five rounds in each circle. You have mastered the drill at your distance and speed when you have no misses.

  • Dot 1 – draw and fire 5 rounds at an even pace (you decide the timing between shots)
  • Dot 2 – Draw and fire 1 round, then re-holster. Do this 5 times
  • Dot 3 and 4 – Draw and fire 1 round in 2 and then 1 round in 4. Repeat for a total of 8 rounds.
  • Dot 5 – from Low Ready fire 5 rounds strong hand only
  • Dot 6 and 7 – Draw and fire 2 rounds on 6, then 2 rounds on 7. Then re-holster. Do this for a total of 16 rounds
  • Dot 8 – From Low Ready fire 5 rounds supporting / weak hand only
  • Dot 9 and 10 – Draw and fire 1 round on 9, speed reload and fire 1 round on 10. Re-holster and repeat 3 times for 6 total rounds

When you can do this without missing at 3 yards, increase the distance to 7 yards or you might choose to add a time component to speed up your shots. Combining a faster firing pace with a distance change is another way to mix things up.

There are many variations of this drill across the interwebs, so take some liberty with the drill to keep it exciting.