Train The World - Replicating the Dot Torture Drill in Dry Fire

The Dot Torture drill has roots back into the 1980’s when competitive shooters realized that there was a lot to learn with shooting at smaller circles to increase their performance.  The drill was created by David Blinder and popularized by Todd Louis Green around 2007. 

What can we learn from shooting 2 inch circles with the Dot Torture Drill?  Well, quite a bit!  The drill requires a steady hand and smooth trigger press, but also calls for holster draws, multiple shots and reloads.  One of the most important things that Dot Torture helps us understand is to stay mentally present throughout the entire drill - with 7 different courses of fire and its repetitive nature, it becomes a mental challenge to stay present throughout the entire drill, even if it is shot at 3 yards!  Thus the name “Dot Torture”, because if your mental game slips, you can easily miss shots, and it’s torture to miss a shot at the end!

Dot Torture Drill

Target

The drill has 7 distinct strings of fire on an 8x11 target that contains 2 inch circles numbered 1 through 10.  Here’s a free target available for printing, explaining all steps of the drill and the Laser Academy target can be downloaded and printed for use with Laser Academy or with the lite integration of Laser Academy in the MantisX Pistol/Rifle App.  Scoring is easy, if the shot is in the correct circle for the string, it’s a point, if it’s out, it’s zero.

It is recommended that you run the drill initially from 3 yards.  If you are able to clear the drill at 3 yards (50/50), then move the target another yard and so on.  It is a challenge to clear it at 5 yards and beyond, but if you can, then consider putting time constraints/pressure on each of the strings of fire.

Course of Fire

String 1:  From any starting position, take 5 shots slow fire at the #1 circle
String 2:  Draw and fire one shot on the #2 circle.  Repeat 5 times
String 3:  Draw and fire one shot on the #3 circle, transition, and fire one shot on the #4 circle.  Repeat 4 times.
String 4:  Draw and fire 5 shots on the #5 circle strong hand only.
String 5:  Draw and fire 2 shots on the #6 circle, transition, and fire two shots on the #7 circle.  Repeat 4 times.
String 6:  From the ready (high or low), fire 5 shots on the #8 circle, support hand only.
String 7:  Draw and fire 1 shot on the #9 circle, reload, transition, and fire one shot on the #10 circle.  Repeat 3 times.

String 1 focuses only on trigger press and sighting with no other additional stress.
String 2 puts the focus on the draw to first hit, and repeating the same exercise with the same precision.
String 3 focuses on the draw to first hit, but also a target transition and a steady trigger press after transition.
String 4 focuses on strong hand only shooting.
String 5 focuses on multiple shots, recoil mitigation, and patience, as well as a transition.
String 6 focuses on support hand only shooting.
String 7 focuses on the draw to first hit, a reload with a transition, and settling the firearm down for a solid hit after a transition.

Scoring

The target is scored 1 point per hit into the appropriate circle for the string of fire, with a possible 50 points to be scored.  There is no hit factor scoring or time associated with this drill.

Scoring Standards

It’s considered having very good pistol skills if you can get a 50/50 at 3 yards, and recommended if you can finish at 3 yards, to push it out a yard until you clear that distance and so-on.  One way to increase the challenge at 3 yards is to see if you can complete the drill, earning all 50 points in 5 minutes.

Marksmanship Matters!

The main concept that Dot Torture reinforces is marksmanship.  You must be able to limit muzzle movement with the trigger press.  With 2 inch circles at 3 yards, there’s no room for extra movement while pressing the trigger.  Having a MantisX unit or a TitanX and using the regular drills (like Open Training) that give you a shot score is measuring how much muzzle movement there is during the trigger press.  String 1 can be replicated using Open Training and can give you an idea why a shot didn’t hit the circle.  At 3 yards, and aiming at the center of the #1 circle, you only have 1 inch of clearance, and if you were exactly at the center of the circle, your shot scores would need to be greater than a 70.  Again, there are multiple factors, that’s just if everything was lined up perfectly.

Ultimately, it would be helpful to see your hits on the target, along with the score.  With the integration of MantisX into Laser Academy, you can enable your MantisX or TitanX to register your shot score, along with the shot location on target.  If you prefer the MantisX Pistol/Rifle app, you can use the Laser Academy integration using the Dot Torture smart target if you have any device that produces a laser upon trigger press.  The TitanX laser pistol is a great example because it has both the X unit and a laser.

If you do not have a Mantis device, then you can print out the free target and run in dry fire, but it will require you to be honest with yourself on whether your shot would have “hit” the circle.  It’s not impossible, but learning to call your shots takes practice regardless if you have iron sights or a red dot.  

One way you can be sure your sights stay on target during every trigger press is by implementing the penny (or nickel) drill for each of the 5 shots.  You will need a partner to place the coin on the front sight after each shot, but if the coin stays on, most likely you didn’t move the muzzle significantly during the press.  This can be helpful even with the primary or dominant hand only and the support hand only strings (4 & 6).

Draw to First Hit

As with other drills that have a draw, there is a matter of drawing the pistol and settling it down for the first shot.  Because this drill is not timed and you are shooting a very small target, it’s even more critical to bring the pistol to a full stop before the shot.  Since the drill is not timed, this should be easy, right?  I know my brain has an issue with going from having lots of movement to none, and so patience is the key.  Think of each shot as a hostage rescue shot.  It must be precise, even if it originates from the draw.  Strings 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 all fall into this category.

If you have a MantisX or TitanX, using Open Training with a ready position of holster is a great way to measure the shot scores on all 5 shots.  Even better is the Shot Timer drill, again, ready position from the holster, but also make sure the Score Floor is turned off so that any negative scores will still register.  If you use either of these drills, is your first score lower than your other 4 shots, and are your scores above a 70?  Again, that is an estimated score at 3 yards to stay within that 2 inch circle if you are not using a laser to track target hits.

Multiple Shots on the Same Target

String 5 is the only string that requires multiple shots on the same target.  Easy, right?  Not so much.  Especially in dry fire, we can get impatient and press off the shot before we are completely still.  String 5 is replicated easiest with a TitanX or a double action pistol.  It’s important that we get a sight picture for each and every shot, even without recoil.  It’s deceiving.  

Within the MantisX app, and having a resetting trigger, you can use Open Training or the Shot Timer drill with the same settings as listed above.  With a TitanX, you might also use Holster Draw Analysis Multiple Shots to capture the draw on the first shot (without a shot score), but also it will record a shot score on shot 2.

How can you do this without a resetting trigger?  Similar to what we discussed in our previous blog replicating the ASP 10 Round Skill Check, you can apply the “squishy” trigger method.  Choose what shot you want the trigger to break on, and all other shots will happen without the trigger being reset.  If you are using the MantisX app with this method, it will only track the shot score and split time for when the trigger actually broke.  

I cannot emphasize enough that if you are not calling your shots through watching what your sights are telling you, then this method may not work well for you.  Be honest and learn what your pistol is telling you at the time you press off a shot, regardless if it’s a click or a squishy trigger.

Target Transitions

Dot Torture also includes some minor target transitions within strings 3, 5, and 7.  Even though the transitions are minor (a few inches), they are enough to force you to move the sights to a new circle on the target, and in turn, adds an extra bit of motion into your firearm and an additional step in the sequence, which challenges our mental focus.  Do we keep the focus long enough to settle the sights and take the shots?

With transitions, the key to smooth transitions is moving your eyes first, then the firearm will follow.  Using this method will help reduce any overtravel or overswing on a target that commonly occurs when moving the firearm with the eyes and makes your transitions faster.  This also adds complexity to calling your shots if you are dry firing without a laser capture on target or Mantis device.

If you have a TitanX, running these strings using the Dynamic Training drill will help score your transitions and show if you have any overtravel and delay on target.  It will also show you how long you spent on a target before transitioning to the next target and the time for the shot on target.  Or choose  Dynamic Training for one of the strings, and use Open Training for the other so that you can see if your shot scores go lower after the transition, which might be an indicator of mental focus on the transition and less focus on the fundamentals of grip and trigger press.

Reloads

This is our first drill in the series that has a reload, and although it is not timed, it adds complexity to the equation for string 7.  Even though the speed of the reload is not important, the reload can easily catch us off guard and shift that mental focus away from the trigger press, which ultimately will cause us to miss shots on those tiny 2 inch circles.

To run this string, unless you have a TitanX or a double action trigger, there are going to be some trigger presses that will have to be squishy, unless you choose to rack the slide to reset the trigger post-reload.  Remember that the slide will stay open with an empty magazine unless you have dummy rounds or a Tap Rack Trainer inserted into the magazine.

Using a MantisX device or a TitanX, you could use the In Battery Reload drill and ghost your first shot by going to the wall of the trigger, but not far enough for it to break, then do the reload and get a score on the shot after the reload, as that would be most likely culprit of a lower scored shot versus the initial shot.

With a TitanX, you can use the 1R1 (one reload one) drill under Dynamic Training to execute string 7.  This is a common drill and thus why it is part of Dot Torture and a built in drill with the TitanX.  Instead of shot score, the overall efficiency of motion will be captured, including a specific transition score so you can analyze your transition, and the drill will also capture the reload time, but unless you are running the drill under a set time pressure, the general drill has no time given for the strings.

Options to Execute Strings with MantisX or TitanX

7 Strings of Fire for Dot Torture Drill:

Dot 1 – Draw and fire 5 shots slow fire.

• Holster Draw Analysis Multiple Shots (Shot Count = 5, Repeat = 1)

--OR--

• Open Training (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 5. Repeat = 1)

Dot 2 – Draw and fire 1 shot and holster.  Repeat 5 times.

• Holster Draw Analysis (Repeat = 5)

--OR--

• Open Training (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 1, Repeat = 5)

Dots 3 & 4 – Draw and fire 1 shot on Dot 3 and 1 shot on Dot 4 and holster.  Repeat 4 times.

• Open Training (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 2, Repeat = 4)

--OR--

• Dynamic Training (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 2, Repeat = 4)

Dot 5 – Draw and fire 5 shots using strong hand only.

• Primary Hand Only (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 5, Repeat = 1)

Dots 6 & 7 – Draw and fire 2 shots on Dot 6 and 2 shots on Dot 7.  Repeat 4 times.

• Open Training (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 4, Repeat = 4)

--OR--

• Dynamic Training (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 4, Repeat = 4)

Dot 8 – Support hand only from the ready, fire 5 shots.

• Support Hand Only (Ready Position = Low Ready, Shot Count = 5, Repeat = 1)
  

Dots 9 & 10 – Draw and fire 1 shot on Dot 9, reload and fire 1 shot on Dot 10.  Repeat 3 times.

• Open Training (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 2, Repeat = 3, Magazine #1 = 1, Magazine #2 = 1)

--OR--

• 1R1 under Dynamic Drills (Ready Position = Holster, Shot Count = 2, Repeat = 3, Magazine #1 = 1, Magazine #2 = 1)
  

Reaping the Rewards with Dot Torture

Once you can begin to understand and appreciate the mental acuity and focus needed to get through this drill, on top of the need for absolute stability with the trigger press, will you see the value in this drill, even with the larger round count.  Running this drill dry will help tighten up any fundamental issues with the trigger press, and once you can overcome those hurdles in dry fire, the live fire will reap the benefits!  Just remember, as much as this drill is about marksmanship, it will also help you build mental focus and being present in the moment for each and every shot, which is something we should all strive for whether it’s training for speed and accuracy in competition or for self-defense scenarios.

Here’s a link to the free target with the drill steps included, as well as a sheet helping to choose which MantisX drill might be appropriate for each string.  Let us know what you think of Dot Torture and if it has helped you with your marksmanship skills.