Aiming Consistency

Hello, fellow FPS gamers!

For as long as I've played ET, or any other shooter for that matter, I've had problem with my aim. It's extremely inconsistent. I'm not talking good days and bad days, or even good matches and bad matches. It varies from round to round, and within rounds.

I don't understand why, but sometimes my hand just moves the mouse in the correct place, and my crosshair goes on the opponents head. Other times, no matter how much I will myself to aim well, I'm shooting walls. I see that I'm aiming badly, but when I try to correct it, it just gets worse. In fact it feels like the more I try to aim well, the worse I aim.

During the good times I don't focus on my aim; it just happens instinctively. As soon as I have a few bad duels, I start overthinking it and it's all downhill from there. Until I forget about it and start hitting well again. It varies how long I stay in this rut of bad aiming.

Lately my aim has been mostly on the bad side, and I have trouble getting into a flow state of aiming where it just happens naturally.

Does this sound familiar to any of you? Can you think of a solution? Do you consciously focus on your aim, or is it just natural to you? Have you found any ways to improve your aim, temporarily or permanently? Any other thoughts?

Discuss.
Comments
57
Yes, and just like any other activity it's a good thing to be fed, hydrated and somewhat rested so you can maintain focus and concentration (for instance I'm almost always absolutely rubbish at games right after work and before dinner). Talent will only get you so far, the rest is practice and a proper mindset.
When I was a teenager, I didn't really notice the effects of those factors. Now that I'm a bit older I have noticed that if I'm not rested I perform poorly. Also right after a big meal I can't focus as well, my mind feels groggy.
Parent
Its all in your head
I never think of my aim, i just play and hopes for the best and when in doubt i press my panic button
/bind mouse2 aimbot; ?
Parent
lold at this journal
please, this is a wery serious discussion for wery serious men
Parent
Put a 20% higher sens or more if u still think u suck, force ur brain and hand to adapt. Once u are godlike, put ur normal sens again. Might sounds like magic or useless stuff but it worked for me when I used to struggle.
Fucking hell, this is the way i tried to make myself aim better and eventually ended up using absolutely retarded highsens and my hand isn't able to go low now...
Parent
It's all about getting used to it after some minutes for both the higher and lower sens. I use the same "strategy" as him.
Parent
the best way is to play without cgac and insta 3hs everyone with some cheats
try play without hitsounds for a while
Damn, it's been a long time since I played without hitsounds. :D

Maybe I should see what kind of a difference it makes.
Parent
I play with just hs hitsounds - i find the bodyshots put me off, whilst the headshots just let me know how close I am to cunting some nerd
Parent
thats what i wanted to say as well, cheers!
Parent
Since you tj alot, on etpro you should put pmove fixed to 0. Trust me
In etpro, on global configs pmove_fixed is off on the server-side, and b_fixedphysics is on. Therefore your pmove_fixed makes no difference.

Also, I play etpro on a different installation altogether, because of all the crap that builds up in my etmain when I play TJ (not to mention the things that might be considered cheats by CGAC). I've never had pmove_fixed 1 on my frag ET, not that it would make any difference.

Edit: if you think that you've noticed a difference with pmove_fixed, it's the placebo effect.
Parent
Remember to stay curious for learning new tricks, there is lots of nerds playing with a secret hard on..
Like i have now problems on getting it up atleast i try, this is very good feedback u make me think !!!!!
It should feel natural to aim well. The moment I aim bad its not really my mechanics but my focus on the game.
almost everything has been already said here...
id say dont force yourself to play the game if you dont have enough focus and motivation to maintain decent level of gameplay, i can go from droping a 30-40 kill game @ LEM/supreme to 10 kills on next one because im getting to tired and im not focused anymore
Pay attention on how you grip your mouse on both good and bad situations. Mousegrip is the main factor to aim good. At least with me it's like that ;-)
If you see your grip is fine in any way, then:
Quote by RIpPut a 20% higher sens or more if u still think u suck, force ur brain and hand to adapt. Once u are godlike, put ur normal sens again. Might sounds like magic or useless stuff but it worked for me when I used to struggle.
Good to know. Sorry to have bothered you.
Parent
there was some gamer research comparing conscious vs instinctive gaming. maybe not so surprising, but instinctive gaming is definitely connected to quicker reaction. so try not to bother, take a deep breath and relax.
Any chance you could find the research you're talking about?
Parent
I found that a lower sens made my aim more consistent. You could also try moving your mouse not as much by deliberately applying more pressure onto the mouse. Or try to lock it in place and try to align your crosshair by strafing with your movement keys.
Changing the sens seems to help temporarily but imo it's better to always use the same sens if you want consistency.

Often bad aim is not the real issue, it's bad reaction times. If you get hit first, your crosshair moves up and it's quite hard to track the other player's movement while you're getting hit. So try to get as many headshots as possible early on. Also sometimes it feels like you're aiming really well and still don't get hits. But that's ET!

Edit: For me trickjumping seems to make my aim worse because I get used to moving the mouse a lot.
tbh bodyshits give higher knock back
Parent
i totally agree with this, a lot of aiming/tracking depends on your reaction time: i think you should try to preshoot more to get the advantage in a 1v1 fight so its more easy to focus on aim. Do you also have aiming issues when you are not getting hit? I mean if you are not getting hit & rape someone you should easily be able to shoot 1/2 hs.
Parent
Funny you should mention lowering my sensitivity. Shortly after I posted this journal I actually changed my sensitivity from 1.2 to 1.5 (800 dpi), and started hitting a lot better. I feel more free, because I don't need to move my hand as much.

But I've also noticed that changing my sensitivity only helps for a while. Let's see how long this lasts. :D

As for the reaction time, Tites's comment seems to support my theory that when I'm playing instinctively and not focusing consciously on every detail, I'm doing better.

I've never felt like I'm aiming really well and still not getting hits.
Parent
stop being so social hazz
rofl why dont you shut the fuck up
Parent
C'mon man I gotta stop living inside my head. :D
Parent
:P

I would offer you some "advice" but to me it seems kinda pretentious since I'm not much of an aimer myself, so instead I will simply wish you good luck in your endeavors instead. Good luck in your endeavors.
Parent
Thank you!
Parent
Lower your mouse sensitivity!
lol at lower your mouse sens advice

yo what the fuck ppl
fuck your mother!
Parent
maybe you should stop focusing on my grammar and start focusing on how to stop wanking so much.

it is well known that can trigger a chain reaction, loosing body vitamins and minerals and also causing severe head damage
I feel I masturbate a moderate amount, thank you.
Parent
Watch some speedybozar aiming tips on YouTube, you will improve your aim 100%
A lot of players when they are aiming make the mistake of watching the player they are aiming aty - try focusing on your crosshair, really concentrating on it. It's a strange feeling, so practice just concetrating on your crosshair when you are leaving spawn or whatever, then try it in battle - if you cvan continue it its a nice tip
Dunno, when you're good enough your aim should be instinctive... Like, if you're watching somewhere you can instantly aim there and follow wherever your eyes are. At least I've always looked at the players and followed them with my crosshair, not had my eyes fixed at my crosshair and scan for the player or whatever.
Parent
when you're playing well i think you're right, it is instinctive, but this guy is talking about when he isn't playing well
Parent
high dpi? Also you Tj around the map alot and will always have trouble hitting people while you're bouncing around :D 90fov 400dpi low sens and move around slowly and you'll hit easier XD
You're right, sometimes I'm not prepared because I'm in the middle of a jump when I'm supposed to be dueling. :D
Parent
Back when I was obsessively active, I used to warm up by playing Quake or similar faster-than-ET games... After getting used to tracking guys going the speed of light, tracking in ET became easier. Weird tip perhaps, and I don't even know if Quake Live exists anymore?
Sometimes I got same problem as you. When I got this problem, i put my sensitivity very high and i play with this new sensitivity during 2-3hours. After that I go back on my normal sens and it feels so great. Your aim will be back :))

Try it, I think RIp already told it but it works !
Good luck

EDIT : Try to play jaymod, it works too because hits are pretty nice and you will feel confident with your aim.


Sorry for the shit english :)
Nice post hazzm8!

My aim is also inconsistent and usually is only affected by my overthinking and frustration (if doing badly)
Things i have tried so far to improve:

-Only look crosshair and like nismo said "focus on it"
-Trying to focus on enemy heads and then just pulling the mouse instinctively to it ASAP
-Fov/Sensitivity change (i dont recommend)
-Trying to use very little mouse movement and use a lot of strafing to aim (worked for 1 day)
-Basic mg tracking :D (nerdy)
-Trying to find "the sweet spot" how to hold mouse for me...
-Thinking too much whether i should move with only wrist or use whole arm or only fingers (lol)

But all in all when u dont think any of this stuff, u aim better :)

BONUS:
http://www.aimbooster.com/
I've noticed that the MG tracking right before a game does help temporarily. Another temporary boost I've found is juggling. :D
Parent
cheers for the shoutout spugem8
Parent
What Frop said..

-Some MG track if you feel up for it
-Don't focus on the crosshair so much, focus more on the guy and that its actually on the middle of your screen
-Forget the whole fucking thing, stressing about it makes you just feel like being a lowskilled retarded aimer and it will just make you go deeper with your problem

The biggest advice is to drink some water while playing / before playing w/e makes you feel better
maybe good mouse important. with G400 i remember getting flow state so easily, so stupidly abusing to play. with Kana its really inconsistant. shadow of my former self nowdays. cant even get kicked from pubs anymore and there are ppl fragging more than me. so i only play casual games like csgo and hs nowdays.

or maybe try to master oldschool tactic: crouching. The idea is to crouch and then hit 3HS to the opponent before he HSes you. No aim needed, just confidence and reflexes.
just relax and let ur subconsciousness kick in - the power of flick aiming


dont force urself into doing stuff u dont wanna do - go play something else
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