Pistol Fundamentals and Performance Enhancement
When: Sunday, October 10
Where: 10321 Silica Sand Road, Garrettsville, OH
Instructor: Mike Mayo
Class Overview
Keystone Dynamic Solutions (KDS) offers a one-day intensive pistol training course designed to establish and enhance fundamental shooting skills for newer and less-experienced shooters.
This course provides a structured pathway for building a solid foundation in safe firearm handling, marksmanship, and overall shooting performance. By focusing on consistency and the core principles of marksmanship, students will leave with greater confidence and the skills necessary to continue improving their performance.
Schedule
Check-in: 8:00 AM
Class begins: 9:00 AM
Class ends: 5:00 PM
Course Description
This course begins with an individual assessment to determine each student’s baseline skills, allowing the instructor to provide personalized feedback throughout the training.
Through detailed instruction and practical exercises, students will develop their pistol-handling fundamentals, including stance, grip, presentation, sight management, trigger manipulation, recoil control, drawing from the holster, reloads, target transitions, stoppage clearance, and shooting on the move.
The course concludes with a final assessment to measure each student’s progress and reinforce the skills covered during training.
Key elements of the course include:
Isolated Drills: Focused repetition designed to develop individual pistol skills.
Integrated Tasks: Combining previously learned skills into comprehensive shooting exercises.
Consistency Training: Repetitive practice designed to improve consistency, control, and situational awareness.
Timed Performance: Individual exercises used to measure speed, accuracy, and consistency.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Develop essential pistol fundamentals.
- Identify and address areas for improvement through individual assessments.
- Improve stance, grip, sight management, and trigger manipulation.
- Improve recoil control and shot-to-shot recovery.
- Safely and efficiently draw the pistol from the holster.
- Perform emergency and tactical reloads.
- Identify and clear common pistol stoppages and malfunctions.
- Improve target-transition techniques.
- Practice and refine shooting while moving.
- Combine individual skills during integrated courses of fire.
- Build confidence and competence through principle-focused training.
Round Allotment
Pistol: 400 rounds
Students may bring additional ammunition if they wish. Actual round counts may vary based on class size, training pace, student performance, and weather conditions.
Gear List
- Reliable, serviceable pistol
- At least four pistol magazines
- Quality holster designed for the student’s pistol
- Gun belt capable of securely supporting the holster and magazine pouches
- Pistol magazine pouches
- Weapons-cleaning equipment
- Firearm lubricant
- Permanent marker
- Personal protective equipment, including eye and ear protection
- Gloves, if desired
- Weather-appropriate clothing and footwear
- Optional tactical equipment for practical drills
- Note-taking materials, if desired
Shoulder holsters, cross-draw holsters, ankle holsters, and holsters that do not fully protect the trigger guard are not permitted.
Additional Information
Ammunition Restrictions: Steel-core, armor-piercing, incendiary, and tracer ammunition are prohibited.
No Full-Automatic Fire: Only semiautomatic firing is permitted.
Student Responsibilities: Students must bring their own food, water, ammunition, firearm, and required equipment. Limited water will be available onsite.
Eligibility Requirements
KDS training is exclusively available to United States citizens. We do not provide training to non-U.S. citizens, individuals with felony convictions, prohibited persons, or those with similar disqualifying statuses.
Proof of United States citizenship is required, and applicants may be subject to background checks.
Contact Information
For questions, lodging information, or registration assistance, please contact our enrollment team.
Course Format
- Duration: 1 Day
- Training Type: Live Fire
- Skill Level: Beginner to Advanced
- Open Enrollment
What You’ll Learn
Block 1 – Marksmanship Fundamentals
Develop a repeatable shooting platform by building a natural, athletic stance that supports recoil management and consistency.
Students will learn:
- Proper stance and body mechanics
- Recoil management principles
- Follow-through fundamentals
- Building consistency under speed
Block 1.5 – Grip Development
Grip is the foundation of practical shooting.
Students will learn:
- Proper firing-hand placement
- Support-hand engagement
- Rearward pressure concepts
- Recoil management techniques
- Dot tracking and return
- Grip diagnostics
- Grip validation drills
Topics include:
- 80/20 Grip
- Horseshoe Grip
- Full-Tension Grip
- Dot return analysis
Block 2 – Vision & Target Focus
Learn how high-level shooters process visual information.
Students will develop:
- Target-focused shooting
- Dot awareness
- Visual discipline
- Speed without visual hesitation
Training includes:
- Occluded optic exercises
- Shrinking target drills
- Dry-fire visual processing
- Vision under speed
- Live-fire confirmation drills
Block 3 – Trigger Control
Modern trigger control focuses on consistency—not hesitation.
Students will learn:
- Efficient trigger management
- Finger placement
- Follow-up shot efficiency
- Distance-based trigger refinement
- Trigger timing
Live-fire progression includes:
- Doubles
- Triples
- Bill Drills
- Performance diagnostics
Block 4 – Target Transitions
Build faster, smoother transitions between targets while maintaining accountability.
Students will learn:
- Eyes-first movement
- Visual indexing
- Gun tracking
- Transition timing
- Efficient movement between targets
Training includes:
- Two-target transitions
- Multi-target arrays
- Split transitions
- Precision transitions
- Timed transition drills
Block 5 – Movement & Transition Flow
Students will combine movement with efficient gun handling while maintaining visual discipline and shot accountability.
Topics include:
- Entering and exiting positions
- Shooting on the move
- Efficient footwork
- Position management
- Movement timing
- Transition flow
Block 6 – Stage Building & Skill Isolation
Students will apply all previous blocks through structured shooting problems designed to isolate individual skills before combining them into complete stage execution.
Training includes:
- Skill isolation exercises
- Stage planning
- Stage execution
- Performance analysis
- Timed drills
- Diagnostic coaching
KDS Training Framework
Every KDS course follows the same progressive instructional model.
Learn
- Understand the concept
- Instructor demonstration
- Technical explanation
Practice
- Structured repetitions
- Immediate coaching
- Skill refinement
Train
- Timed drills
- Performance standards
- Pressure testing
- Accountability
Equipment Requirements
Students should bring:
- Reliable semi-automatic pistol
- Quality belt-mounted holster
- Minimum of 3 magazines (5+ recommended)
- Magazine pouches
- Eye protection
- Hearing protection
- 700 rounds of ammunition (minimum required for course participation and live-fire training). Students may bring additional ammunition to increase available repetitions and training time throughout the day.
- Weather-appropriate clothing
- Water and snacks
- Note-taking materials (recommended)
Who Should Attend?
This course is designed for:
- Responsible armed citizens
- Law enforcement officers
- Military personnel
- Competitive shooters
- Security professionals
- Anyone looking to improve pistol speed, efficiency, and accountability
Course Goal
By the end of the course, students will have a repeatable performance shooting system centered on grip, vision, trigger control, transitions, and movement. Rather than relying on shortcuts or isolated drills, students will leave with a structured framework they can continue using to improve speed, accuracy, consistency, and overall handgun performance long after the class concludes.