In every sport, every technical endeavour, there exists a legacy passed down from coach to player, from expert to novice; this legacy comes as form, training techniques, tips and tricks that would otherwise be obscure and difficult to grasp. This imparting of knowledge is fundamental to the process of mastering a sport.
When a novice first enters into his chosen arena, he is beset on all sides by his own ignorance; his form is sloppy and his technique flawed, he finds progress slow and unpredictable: but he does improve. Gradually he may, if he is unfortunate enough to lack coaching, develop his own style, and in almost all cases this style is flawed. It is not the personal and often subtle differences between players which indicate these flaws to the trained eye, but the lack of fundamental skills to which even the most modest of coaches would have been able to correct. Such core aspects of a game, ones which tend to exist in the more technical of sports, but which still occur in games like football or rugby, are so entrenched in its mastery that without them, even the most talented of players will fall awry.
[img|left]http://www.aolcdn.com/ch_gamedaily/american-gamer.jpg[/img]
What then is the implication of this to the aspiring gamer? It is to concentrate on those who have already attained greatness, who have already acquired the skills: learn from their past mistakes, it is the quicker route. If you wish to accelerate the process of learning, of mastering a game, then it is absolutely necessary to learn: not from your mistakes, but from others success. If swift knowledge is your desire, learn the fundamentals from the best: how to hold your mouse, how to move your arm, where to stand; when to push and when to fall back. Most of this can be learned from demos, those wonderful recordings hold so much information that often passes the unnoticed. The rest from asking questions, or videos of LANs. However you acquire it, you must also put it into practise.
At first you will be slow and unwieldy, as often is the case when motions and thoughts are not habitual but forces; soon, however, you will have carved a path between your brain and your hands, one that requires no thought and which makes the good decision automatically. If you ask a top player what is going through his mind when he is playing, more often than not, if he is playing well, he will tell you "Nothing". This is precisely because they have already, quite often through trial and error, carved that pathway from the right decision to the right movement.
Gaming is a complex sport, but it can be broken down, chopped up into simple patterns. The professional players have done this through a journey of time and practise, but you can do the same through reason and thought. They have learned from countless games, that when an opponent goes one way they should go the other, but you can learn from them and forgo such lengthy, inexact processes.
I'm sure to some, who have already studied demos diligently, this will seem more than obvious, but to others who have never seen the purpose in watching others I hope this brings some form of enlightenment.
This should be a hlistic approach. Whilst simple tricks and gimmicks, proning on a bush or leaning in a specific point, are useful and should certainly be copied, you should also try to identify common patterns in opponent’s behaviour, and the resulting reactions of the professional; you should try to identify why they did what they did, what stimulus made them react that way. As for aiming, while it is for the most part a practised skill, there is still much to be said for certain styles and their propensity to creating great aimers. Think of how many different ways there are to throw a javelin or clean and jerk a barbell, then think of how many you've seen used at the Olympics.
When a novice first enters into his chosen arena, he is beset on all sides by his own ignorance; his form is sloppy and his technique flawed, he finds progress slow and unpredictable: but he does improve. Gradually he may, if he is unfortunate enough to lack coaching, develop his own style, and in almost all cases this style is flawed. It is not the personal and often subtle differences between players which indicate these flaws to the trained eye, but the lack of fundamental skills to which even the most modest of coaches would have been able to correct. Such core aspects of a game, ones which tend to exist in the more technical of sports, but which still occur in games like football or rugby, are so entrenched in its mastery that without them, even the most talented of players will fall awry.
[img|left]http://www.aolcdn.com/ch_gamedaily/american-gamer.jpg[/img]
What then is the implication of this to the aspiring gamer? It is to concentrate on those who have already attained greatness, who have already acquired the skills: learn from their past mistakes, it is the quicker route. If you wish to accelerate the process of learning, of mastering a game, then it is absolutely necessary to learn: not from your mistakes, but from others success. If swift knowledge is your desire, learn the fundamentals from the best: how to hold your mouse, how to move your arm, where to stand; when to push and when to fall back. Most of this can be learned from demos, those wonderful recordings hold so much information that often passes the unnoticed. The rest from asking questions, or videos of LANs. However you acquire it, you must also put it into practise.
At first you will be slow and unwieldy, as often is the case when motions and thoughts are not habitual but forces; soon, however, you will have carved a path between your brain and your hands, one that requires no thought and which makes the good decision automatically. If you ask a top player what is going through his mind when he is playing, more often than not, if he is playing well, he will tell you "Nothing". This is precisely because they have already, quite often through trial and error, carved that pathway from the right decision to the right movement.
Gaming is a complex sport, but it can be broken down, chopped up into simple patterns. The professional players have done this through a journey of time and practise, but you can do the same through reason and thought. They have learned from countless games, that when an opponent goes one way they should go the other, but you can learn from them and forgo such lengthy, inexact processes.
I'm sure to some, who have already studied demos diligently, this will seem more than obvious, but to others who have never seen the purpose in watching others I hope this brings some form of enlightenment.
This should be a hlistic approach. Whilst simple tricks and gimmicks, proning on a bush or leaning in a specific point, are useful and should certainly be copied, you should also try to identify common patterns in opponent’s behaviour, and the resulting reactions of the professional; you should try to identify why they did what they did, what stimulus made them react that way. As for aiming, while it is for the most part a practised skill, there is still much to be said for certain styles and their propensity to creating great aimers. Think of how many different ways there are to throw a javelin or clean and jerk a barbell, then think of how many you've seen used at the Olympics.
should it be from coach to players?
I blame fusen.
look:
doesn't that just dazzle you?
'hun'
xP
Good read!! But you must think of the foreign readers Sock! emparting, entrenched, habitiual, unwieldly, diligently, propensity.. you have made me put my Collins Dictionary to good use; it's certainly a comprehensive(hah, i did one! :P) article.
"clean and jerk a barbell" I had to look this one up, but i found the meaning! :D
http://www.physicalfitnet.com/exercise_video/barbell_clean_and_jerk.aspx
that and just play play play u will start to smell when opponents might be coming somewhere and where they could lean etc its the most important thing to know that someone could pop up to ur screen any moment
Works for me atleast.
If you have just started a new hobby and do it by yourself, you figure out what you need to do and then through trial and error eventually master the techniques to become good at it.
Or you simply observe someone else from the get go, learn the fundamentals and some of the advanced techniques immediately which you then have time to copy and perfect.
Sure both methods will eventually work, but one normally takes half the length of the other.
Also, from the point of view of teamplay, rather than individual play, watching demos of your team is, I would say, more valuable than watching demos of other teams. You can evaluate how each player on the team responds to certain situations, adapt your playstyle to fit in with theirs, or make suggestions of things that could be changed.
For the more experienced player then I would agree both methods used in conjunction are more powerful than either one alone.
btw agree! :D
Many people seem to think just practising automatically makes you better. Like you said, this may be true, but only to a certain degree. There's so much more to learn from demos. Because much more is going on than you can register while playing. Wolfcam helps a lot, too :)
(c)
a pracc or watching a demo is only a means to an end.
some guys really do wanna be the best. and they will do what they need to achieve this result.
i m not talking about the poor guys living through others eyes and getting a NC toy to shine. i pity those dudes.
i m talking about the one who will never be satisfied unless he s in the top 10 of whatever he does, and will work hard each time to go beyond himself and digivolve into another level.
i got huge respect for a man like this. (too bad i m not totally gay else i would go to .BE and rape ganon and shewie.)
on the other hand you got guys like me who will meditate a moment, make a list of what they need to do to become just some average med+ guy.(notice! i dont even mention being the best) and then give up cause lazyness>selfesteem.
with such a strong will, what i achieve years after years is making some friends having some fun and realising i was better 3 years ago.
with a not too bad computer, a non polak isp and some average will, we all get to be low+/med. what will make you go above that is how much you wanna go above. i dont believe there is a secret path. if i should bet on one, i would say play with/against higher skill but this is just plain logic. to get better you don t play on a low-- gaymod pub.
..when u examine game you/they played,you will never play automatically,whats (imo) one of the most important things in everyones game..
sure demos will help give you new ideas, but ultimately its how you play your own game, the key word being own
..self confident = yes
..egoistic player = no
brain >> all