Aiming 101

heading anchor introductionIntroduction

Does this sound familiar?

You’re in a match with your friends, but they’re already dead (no surprise) and are watching you 1v1 the last enemy. You are both at minimal health and this fight will decide who takes the win. Well - you miss your shot, get killed and chaos ensues in voice chat. Do you need more reasons to practice your aim 3 minutes a day?

Before taking time out of my schedule to delve into the theory and practice my aim, I used to avoid characters like Hanzo or Widowmaker in Overwatch and never picked up weapons like the Vandal from Valorant or the Sentinel in Apex. As you can imagine, I now pick them up more frequently because I outperform other champions or weapons, simply because good aim is rewarded more than any other skill in most games. A dead enemy can’t kill ya, can they?

Lucky for you, I’ve summarized my past 10 years aim practice and knowledge into this sleek guide that will help you jump-start your own aim practice and make you climb the ranks like never before. We will go over everything from the very basics like how to hold your mouse, what sensitivity will be good, up to how to make use your of your time best when practicing.

Whilst this guide is pc-centered, it does contain lots of general tips and tricks. We will additionally release a separate guide where we pick up some of the knowledge in this guide and put the focus on controller aim.

heading anchor what-even-is-aimWhat even is “Aim”?

The answer to this question may sound easy, but my answer is rather complex.

By my book, aim or aiming is the teamwork of eyes, fingers, wrist and elbow to execute a precise movement to align your crosshair (the reticle on your screen where your shot will go) with a target, and if needed, follow it.

This hints at the complexity of how aiming works at a neurological level - it’s not only a matter of practicing a single movement but actually practicing the teamwork of all the previously mentioned body parts. Similarly, it hints at the different types of Aiming there are.

heading anchor so-what-types-of-aiming-are-thereSo, what types of Aiming are there?

This is probably (and ironically) the hardest question to answer.
If you’re the straight forward type, just read the next few sentences and move on. If you have some spare time, feel free to read the next paragraph too.

heading anchor the-simple-answerThe simple answer:

There is:

Flicking - A fast movement of the wrist
Some subcategories could be microflicks and 180‘s

Tracking - A movement of the wrist and the arm to stay on a target
Some subcategories could be arctracking and strafetracking

One should also note the difference between hitscan and projectile.
Hitscan simply means that when you press shoot and your crosshair is on the enemy, it hits.
Projectile means you shoot a real projectile that usually has a travel time, a trajectory and speed. This makes a fair amount of anticipation needed when trying to hit moving targets as you‘ll be shooting where they will be, not where they currently are.

heading anchor the-not-so-simple-answerThe not-so simple answer:

You want to know the real deal, eh?
Over the last few years, more and more terms and differentiations have been developed to really tell all the different types of aim apart.

Whilst I think it’s great that there are so many terms and differentiations, since it makes it easier for veterans to tell exercises apart, I also think it makes it exponentially harder for newcomers to understand what the hell is going on in aim trainers.

I will not be using these terms in this guide, because I want people to actually understand what I’m saying, but I added all of them into our (soon to be released) glossary so you can read them up whenever you'd like!

heading anchor how-to-aimHow to Aim

If you’re reading this, you’re either really glad this section exists or you think I’m stupid for wanting to tell you how to move your hand. The most overlooked and thus rarely fixed mistakes are those you (and your coach) don’t see. It makes sense not to pay too much attention to your fingers, hand and arm when you play but I can at the very least tell you how it‘s supposed to be done.

heading anchor the-right-gripThe right grip

Let‘s talking about holding your mouse first. There‘s a variety of hand sizes, mouse sizes, finger lengths out there, that result in everyone having a slightly different grip on the mouse.

There are three main differentiations out there, however.

The Palm grip - Gripping the mouse with your hand and fingers flat on it.

The Claw grip - Gripping the mouse with your hand and only the fingertips.

The Fingertip grip - Gripping the mouse with, well, only your fingertips.

Whilst all of the grips have their up and downsides, it‘s most important that you find a grip that is comfortable for you and does not hinder your movements.

heading anchor the-correct-postureThe correct posture

Think of your arm as a tool that needs to guide your mouse into all directions. Since you cannot move anything but joints in your arm / hand, the best way to make use of this tool is to use your elbow as one contact point with the table and the lower side of your palm as the second.

That way you mustn‘t move your elbow for horizontal movements at all and have an enormous range of motion comfortably.

All in all you should still sit upright and let your shoulders hang. Adjust your table and chair if it is necessary.
The best tip regarding this is to use the arms of your chair as an extension of the table.
That way you can rest your elbow without having to sit all the way under the table.
This is especially helpful if you have a table that is slim.

heading anchor the-proper-movementThe proper movement

All movements in regards to aiming are so-called compound movements.

This means that the movement is not controlled by one but by multiple muscles.
As a rule of thumb - the further you move your crosshair from where it currently is, the more muscles need to collaborate to make it happen.
Whilst this explains why it is so increasingly hard to hit 180‘s, that‘s not the lesson to be learnt here.

What really is important is the fact that your arm does the rough movement, your wrist makes it come very close to the target and your fingers make it pixel perfect.

If you aim like this - all is well. You have a foundation to practice and improve on.
If you catch yourself aiming oddly, for instance not moving your arm at all, it‘s more often than not an issue with:
A: You having made aiming oddly a habit and thus more comfortable than proper technique
B: Your posture (which you should be able to fix by now)
or C: An inadequate sensitivity (which comes now!)

heading anchor dpi-sensitivity-and-common-hardware-mythsDPI, Sensitivity and common hardware myths

First of all - what even is sensitivity? It‘s simply said how far your crosshair moves on the screen per how far you move your mouse. Since the calculations are more complex than we need, we‘ll skip those and I‘ll explain the important things instead.

There are three things that will impact your sensitivity or, more importantly, how moving your mouse affects what happens on screen. I‘ll explain these as simple as possible - going any deeper would triple the size of this guide.

Number 1: DPI (synonym: CPI)
DPI means „Dots per Inch“ and is how responsive your mouse is to movements.

Number 2: Sensitivity
Sensitivity or sens for short is software taking the DPI and adjusting it to your screen. One should generally differentiate between the sens of your pc settings and the in-game sens as they, sometimes, work together to impact how your game feels.

Number 3: The weight of your mouse
Wait - whaaaat?

It‘s scientifically proven that the weight of your mouse has an impact on how you aim and play. Before I take sides with either the heavy or light mouse enjoyers, let me explain what your DPI and sens settings should be and then we‘ll get to it.

Before we start: Check if your polling rate is set to its highest settings (pc mouse settings), mouse acceleration is off (pc mouse settings) and you know the model and current settings of your mouse (just turn the mouse around lol).

Whilst there are lots of myths around what your DPI, sens or weight should be, there are some set things I‘ve experienced to be true. You can have a high DPI and a low sens or have a low DPI and high sens - it will make no difference in feel but the latter will (just slightly - you won‘t notice) worsen the calculation process.

heading anchor dpiDPI

With that in mind, let‘s talk about DPI first. Every gaming mouse usually has 400, 800 and 1600 DPI from which you can choose. One of them is usually the factory setting. Some mice allow you to go between those numbers, say 849, but you should generally stick to a multiple of whatever the factory setting is. Additionally, some mice function best at a certain DPI. Whilst Razer mice all consistently perform better at 1800 DPI and Zowie mice at 2300, Roccat, for instance, generally performs best within humane DPIs (nothing under 50, nothing over 4000). For other mice brands, you can often times look this up on their website.

Your best shot with most mice is to go with the highest setting that feels good to you.
For most, including me, that‘s 800 DPI.

Reminder: Generally your DPI should be high and your sens low.

heading anchor sensitivitySensitivity

Next let‘s talk about sens.

There‘s sens that is native to your pc. Factory settings are generally recommended as most games ignore this setting anyways (and take raw input). For those games that do not ignore it, it will only make sens adjusting more complex if you toy around with the native sensitivity.

If you have found a DPI that is comfortable for you, now adjust the sens in a way that it accomplishes two things for you.

A: You can freely move your crosshair within reasonable boundaries (180 degree field of view) without having to lift your mouse

B: It lets you have precise control at long range without inhibiting your close range accuracy. There‘s always a trade-off but find something you‘re comfortable with.

If you‘re still struggling with the sens, choose a very low sens and start from there. Everyday in your second game of the day, add a small amount, say 0.5, to the sens and try out how it feels. If it feels comfortable and works well in the first game of the day (with the sens from the day before) keep it for a bit longer and see how it works. From there only make small adjustments and try to give yourself time to build a good feeling for the sens.

heading anchor weightWeight

If you got your DPI and sens set, you most likely already have a mouse with a set weight. I will explain something about it nonetheless for those who have changeable weights (the Logitech people) or those who are considering buying a new mouse.

Most gaming mice are in a weight range between 100 and 130 grams. There are mice, that are 60 or 200 grams if you prefer those.
Generally said, the heavier the mouse and thus requiring more energy to aim, the more considered you will play. On the other hand - the lighter the mouse and thus inviting to move it, the more it will make you play confidently.

The main question you should ask yourself is: Do I want to aim with my hand or with my mouse? Opt for superlight if you prefer to not feel the mouse at all and use it as an extension if your hand. Opt for heavy if you prefer the mouse to stop on it‘s own more easily and give you stability whilst you aim.

For someone like me who has quite big hands and strong forearms (no flex intended) a mouse on the slightly heavier side gives me the resistance I need to hit my shots. A lighter mouse would simply mean I overshoot (pull the crosshair too far over the target).

heading anchor mythsMyths

Some common myths and traps you shouldn‘t fall for.

„Wired mice are better than wireless mice“

If you like wires, then they are certainly better. But really, there‘s no difference in performance. The wireless mouse will obviously cost more, be slightly heavier due to the battery inside and will need to be recharged, unless it‘s battery powered, but the latency that is often critiqued is really not there.
You could also just save money for a SPARK Energy subscription and use a mouse bungee, though :^)

„The mouse comes with 12 programmable buttons“

and other mice gimmicks like that.
Are you a MMO player and have insane dexterity in your thumb to press teeny tiny buttons precisely? This mouse would be perfect for you.
Else ask yourself this:
What could you use the buttons ingame for? Do you stand to gain anything from putting all the work of pressing buttons on only your thumb?
For most, less is more because it puts attention on whats really important - moving the mouse and pressing left click.

Glass mousepads, vs hard mousepads vs various soft mousepads.

There‘s a ton of mice to choose from but many more mousepads that will make shopping for one overwhelming. Lucky for you I‘ve tried all sorts of mousepads and can tell you the pro‘s and cons. For the sake of simplicity, I‘ll hand the explaining over to Mr. Table:

heading anchor how-to-improve-your-aimHow to improve your aim

This is probably the most interesting thing in this guide. The big question - how do I improve my accuracy?

The main ways to practice aim are by - well, aiming.
Some people swear by aim training games and others like to hop into custom games or play Osu!, which is a rhythm game but needs plenty of aim.

In-game custom games are great if you play a game with a unique aiming system no trainer seems to be able to replicate. Osu! and similar games on the other hand are great for those who really despise aim training and want it to feel a bit more fun.

From now on I will mainly talk about aim trainers here - not because the other approaches to aim training are bad but simply because it‘s the most common and practical way to go about it.

heading anchor aim-trainersAim trainers

Paid vs Free aim trainers

There are a variety of games and software to use. Some are free whilst most are paid.

In my opinion there is no real upside to the paid aim trainers. The difference is slim and the free ones are catching up because the userbase is populating these games with custom made aim routines that can be pretty darn good.

I recommend everyone to start off free and only upgrade if you‘ve bought SPARK Energy already and still have some cash to spare. ;)

Basic aim training setup

The general consensus on aim training is that a warm up and cool down in an aim trainer is best for improving short term and staying sharp long term. Perhaps throw in a minute or two in the practice range ingame after your warmup to acclimate yourself to the feeling of the game.

There is no general consensus on how long your aim training sessions should be, however.
Some say at least an hour, some say 10 minutes is enough. Both are not wrong - some may need more, others less time to see results.
I say - if you see improvement and you‘re not trying to get ready for a tournament, you‘re doing enough, for now. Reconsidering how much time you should be spending regularly is part of efficient practice. With that said:

heading anchor how-to-be-efficient-and-outimprove-your-competitionHow to be efficient and outimprove your competition

The three golden words

Listen up - these are the three golden words to improving your aim significantly in a matter of weeks (I am not kidding).
Time efficient practice.

Time efficiency is the key to improving your aim. What I mean by that is, you can do the best aim routines (another word for an aim practice exercise) for hours at a time but not improve, or do them once or twice efficiently, improve and do something better like actually play the game with the time you saved.

As most of you might’ve noticed by now - the deeper we dig the more complex it gets. Lets dive into how to actually practice efficiently so you can start saving time.

Learning, in this case improving aim, is on a neurobiological level done by stimulating the neurons responsible for the compound movements when aiming.
As our goal is to execute these movements faster, more accurately and most importantly automatically, our main focus is stimulating said neurons and as accurately and strenuously as possible. This is efficiency.

Best tips n’ tricks

I‘ve ranked everything you need to keep in mind and do to achieve what we‘ve just covered. As the ranking is subjective, find out what helps you the most and rank it yourself!

1st Focus fully on the task at hand. Don’t be distracted by anything. Being distracted will inevitably lessen the improvement you’ll experience as you won’t be giving it your best.

2nd Don’t let yourself down if you aren’t seeing the improvement you had hoped to see. If having good aim and improving your skills was easy, I wouldn’t have to write this guide. For some people it takes longer to improve. Others may not be practicing optimally.
Consult with one of our coaches (or me) if you think your progress stagnated.

3rd Give 101% - this is meant literally. Try to beat your past self, over and over. If you‘re only giving all you got and not trying to give more, you‘ll end up not seeing any progress past a certain point.

4th Change your routines up. It will help free your mind off the patterns that were burnt into it. A change of pace can help find joy in practicing again and thus spike your progress.

5th Don‘t overdo it. There are days where you‘re really feeling it but with all good things, too much of it and it becomes bad. To keep your motivation on a healthy level, try to find excitement in anticipating the next time you will practice.

6th Know where you‘re going and how you‘re going to get there. For some, reaching a certain amount of points in an aim trainer is motivation enough to hop into aim practice. Others just see aim training as a tool to achieve something else. Know what that is and practice accordingly.

7th Make it a habit. Practicing shouldn‘t be something you need to remind yourself of. Think of it like brushing teeth or warming up for sports. You simply do it because you always do. If you‘re still struggling with it, you can read our guide on building habits (Coming soon)!

8th Be knowledgeable. If you read this, you‘ve hopefully learnt a thing or two. Knowing how the neurobiology, the human psyche and the technology works, can help you reinvent the way you practice and optimize it in ways that only you or a professional could.

9th Have fun! May that be practicing simultaneously with your friends or throwing in a few minutes of Osu! gameplay at the end. It will help you be more consistent and see practicing less as a chore but more as a fun start to the session.

heading anchor aim-routines-szenarios--playlistsAim routines (szenarios) / playlists

The second most important thing you’re here for are probably the aim routines.

Unless you‘re a pro, in which case you should have yourself a playlist (a collection of routines) made by a coach, there is a general approach to building yourself a good playlist.
First of all, start trying out and just do. No need to look for anything special.
When you find something that is exhausting, annoying or that you‘re particularly bad at, save it or make a mental note of what it is.

After you found some things that are exhausting, sort them from what you think is your worst routine to what you think your best from the worst is. From this list, choose two of each of the types of aiming mentioned here, choosing the ones you're worst at.

If you want and your playlist is still pretty small (<10 routines), throw in some basics.
Usually they are called basics in the aim trainers too and if not, you‘ll know they‘re basics because there won‘t be many moving targets or fancy guns, just left click onto appearing targets.

If you prefer you can also use a pre-made playlist some of the trainers offer. Usually they‘re not too bad but they might not challenge you in a way that would be beneficial.
You should focus on keeping your accuracy high and building up your speed as time progresses whilst not losing your accuracy. That will help you improve the most.

heading anchor ingame-tips-and-tricks-that-help-you-hit-your-shotsIngame tips and tricks that help you hit your shots

heading anchor crosshair-placementCrosshair placement

Especially in games like Valorant or with characters like Widowmaker, a single shot can be fatal. Making these as easy as possible for you whilst making counter shots hard for the enemies should be one of your priorities. The general tip here would be to hold your crosshair at head height at all times. No reason to inspect the floor and having to flick up to the head everytime an enemy shows up.
When holding angles, especially when you have the high ground, imagine where the enemy could be coming from and at what height the head will be at. Then place your crosshair slightly away from the corner they will peek (come out of), the closer to the corner your crosshair is, the faster you have to react. On the other hand if you‘re too far, they might stop moving further into your crosshair and you‘ll have to move your crosshair nonetheless.
If everything goes well you‘ll just need to time your left-click and you‘ve got yourself a kill!

heading anchor trigger-disciplineTrigger discipline

This term refers to the fact that the best outcome out of a certain situation, might be to not shoot at all. An instance where this could be is if you go undetected when an enemy walks past you and instead of shooting, you wait if another follows to get two instead of one kill.

This term can also refer to the conservation of ammo. In games where you might be tracking a lot, it could be smart to only shoot when you are certain your crosshair is on the target, to maximize your damage and damage uptime. That way you can keep outputting damage whilst the enemy supporters run out of ammo, creating a window of unhealable damage output.

heading anchor recoil-controlRecoil control

An important skill to master in most games is recoil control. Recoil meaning your weapon shifting whilst continuously shooting. Being able to control it means being able to keep up a barrage of bullets but not at the expense of accuracy.

In some games, like Warzone 2 it’s close to impossible to control the recoil because it is random. If possible, breaking the barrage into multiple salves can help lessen the effects of recoil and make you hit more shots in total.

In other games there’s a pattern for the recoil in either vertical or horizontal and in some both.
Again: Practice is everything.

Go into the shooting range with your most used weapon / character and try to hold your crosshair in the middle of the target whilst shooting. Similarly, try to memorize what you did, when it starts shifting left, right; so on and so forth.

Whilst this is one of the hardest things to learn in regards to aiming, it definitely pays off in faster paced games where every bullet counts.

heading anchor the-zoneThe zone

Being in the zone describes a state (of mind) where an athlete performs to the best of their abilities.
Whilst this is not something anyone experiences in a regular gaming session, I am sure that every athlete in a high-stakes environment, may it be esports or regular sports, experiences this frequently.

Perhaps you’ve experienced it too - a feeling of confidence, excitement and awareness to a degree you forget everything but the next steps to take so you can win. Usually you start doing insane plays you didn‘t even know you were capable of.
That‘s the power of being in the zone.

Now, how to enter the zone?
There are three important things you need to bring.

A: Confidence. You need to trust yourself and your skills enough to not be anxious.

B: High concentration. You need to immerse yourself in the game and focus on what’s important to take the win.

C: Determination. You will want to win because it’s your own wish / goal and need to be determined that winning is the only option.

If you can bring those three things consistently and focus on hitting your shots, you will become a play-maker. When the situation is the most dire, you will start to outshine everyone.

heading anchor the-endThe End.

You‘ve reached the end of the Aiming 101 guide. I am sure everyone can take a few things from this guide, including you! Let us know what tip helped you the most and what you’re still looking to learn about!