Gaming is not an easy task. There are many places for “newbie” mistakes, and we want to avoid them. But, we are humans, and sometimes, even the best players fall to these “newbie” mistakes.
But keeping them in mind and fixing what we can is the best way to approach these mistakes.
1. Playing With The Wrong Sensitivity
If you are new to gaming, you probably play with the wrong sensitivity.
Sensitivity is probably the most important setting you can change now and positively affect your gameplay. So many people play with crazy-high sensitivity, which ruins their precision and tracking up-close.
There is a reason that almost every pro player plays with low sensitivity. It is just better. (learn more at Best Sensitivity For FPS Gaming)
How to find the perfect one for you? Check out How To Find Your Perfect Sensitivity, but in a nutshell, use the pro players’ average eDPI (DPI * In-Game Sensitivity) and use it as a starting point. To get the pro players’ average sensitivity, use prosettings.net, go to your game and use the average sensitivity and DPI.
Then, play with it for a few matches, see how it feels, and adjust it accordingly. Again, I would argue that sensitivity is the most critical setting you have to nail down before continuing your gaming journey.
You might also be interested in BEST Mouse Settings For Gaming Guide With Pro Players Analysis.
P.S for the love of god, disable VSync in your game!
It is crucial to play with the proper sensitivity for you. Playing with the wrong sensitivity will negatively impact your performance. In general, sensitivity should be low, as it will increase your precision and accuracy.
2. Aiming At The Floor
Well, I’ve never seen an enemy popping from the floor. So why are you aiming at the floor? Actually, I know why you are aiming at the floor.
New players tend to aim at the floor so their gun model won’t block their vision. But the downside is that you will need extra adjustments when you encounter an enemy. Instead, you should aim head height to decrease the number of micro-adjustments needed when you encounter an enemy.
Your crosshair should be head-height at all times. When you enter a building, peek at an angle and slide through a window, you should place your crosshair in positions that are likely to see enemies.
The extra time and adjustments needed when aiming at the floor will probably cost your life.
The power of good crosshair placement is unbeatable. I remember reading about an outstanding Valorant player, and people praised his aim skills. He said that he has one of the worst aim skills in the esports scene and that his crosshair placement is near perfect. How powerful is that?
Good crosshair placement is placing your crosshair head height and aiming at spots where enemies might appear, like windows, doors, common angles, etc. Good crosshair placement eliminates almost every micro-adjustment, leaving less room for errors.
3. Not Utilizing Your Utilities
Utilities are there for a reason. We are all guilty of not using them enough. I may find myself dead but with a full backpack of stuff that I could use like smokes, flashes, nades, etc.
There are no shortcuts to this. We must constantly remind ourselves to asses our situation and utilize our utilities. This goes into the learning method I’ve discussed in How To Get Good At Gaming FAST. Learning from our mistakes is crucial for success.
Did you die? Analyze what went wrong. Is your backpack full of utilities? That’s okay. Pay more attention next time. After dozens of hours in which you die because of poor usage of utilities, this is when you will be finally free from the not utilizing your utilities curse!
Utilizing your utilities is a must when gaming. Whether it is throwables like grenades, abilities, or even killstreaks. Learning how to use them effectively is one of the things that divides very good players and pro players.
4. Poor Map Knowledge
I can’t stress this enough, the importance of map knowledge. Not knowing the maps, the routes, covers, etc., is a recipe for a loss.
You have to know every inch of the map. No excuses. Even in big Battle-royale games with massive maps, you should know every corner of the map. Being unfamiliar with the map will lead you to be outclassed by people who know the map.
For example, Rainbow Six Siege has many complicated maps. Do you really think you can reach the top 1% without knowing every map like your own hand?
You can learn and understand your map by going to a custom match and just exploring the map. Messing around and trying different things. Another method is watching pro players (Game Sense Guide) and seeing how they move around, make callouts, etc.
The rest comes from experience. By playing and grinding matches, you will eventually learn about every map corner.
Every player must have rich map knowledge. Being unfamiliar with the map will cause you to be outclassed by people who know the map. The recommended learning map methods are utilizing custom matches and watching pro players. The rest comes from experience.
5. Not Being Focused
Focused gameplay is one of the most underestimated aspects of gaming. I’ve talked about it so many times, and you will hear it again.
Often referred to as “The Zone”, “Flow State” or even “Presence”. You must be present when you are gaming. You are at peak performance only when you are truly present. You are entirely in the zone. Without being focused, you leave some of the performance at the door.
Being present means that you don’t think about your actions. You just do them unconsciously. For example, you don’t think about slide canceling in Warzone. You just do that. You don’t think about strafing. You just do that. You don’t think about aiming. You just do that.
How to achieve this state? With proper focus. It is easier said than done. That’s why there are many resources online on how to improve your focus, mine included. (How To Improve Your Focus While Gaming).
You have to focus and ensure you don’t wander off when gaming. You should be focused on the task at hand. Nothing more, nothing less. You should be dedicated to gaming and nothing else. You will feel in yourself when you are in the zone.
Focus comes from a calm and relaxed mind. Make sure you take care of your chores first. Then, make sure you can relax, and 100% be present on gaming. If you have a job interview in a few hours, you will probably feel a bit of tension in your body, and you won’t be able to achieve the kind of present we wish for, which is totally okay!
But generally, focusing and going into the zone is more about clearing your mind. So make sure you meditate, sleep well, eat healthily and drink enough.
Every player must be fully present and focused on the task at hand. Players can achieve this state when they are entirely focused on playing and the present moment without interruptions or their minds wandering off. Only during this state can players reach peak performance.
6. Playing With The Wrong Setup
Not all setups were created equal. Some are better than others. That means when in a competitive environment, some players have an advantage over other players.
That doesn’t mean you have to invest thousands of dollars in milking everything you can, but choosing the right peripherals for you, can make a huge difference.
Every peripheral is essential, but I would argue that some are more impactful than others. For example, playing with a low-quality mouse can massively drag your performance down.
My little brother has one of these gaming mice from eBay that cost five bucks. I can’t even begin to describe the pain I get from even navigating on Desktop.
But anyways, get a good high-quality mouse that properly reads your movement without any issues. I recommend getting the Logitech G Pro. (Review).
The mousepad is another vital piece of the puzzle. Playing on a low-quality mousepad can cause shaky and jittery aim. Instead, get a high-quality one like Logitech G640.
The last one I want to talk about is the monitor. In 2022, 144hz is the new standard. Playing on 60hz is just a massive disadvantage. There is nothing we can do about it. (60hz vs 144 vs 240 vs 360) I recommend getting BenQ Zowie XL2456K.
While there is a headset, a gaming keyboard, gaming chairs, and even a gaming desk, I would argue that these are the most critical peripherals you have to nail down. These are the ones who bring the most advantage in the competitive field.
It is recommended to invest in a good high-quality setup. The most important peripherals for FPS gaming are the mouse, the mousepad, and the monitor. Playing on a low-quality setup or a setup that is not comfortable for the player can massively bring their performance down.
7. Lack Of Teamwork
Most of the games today are team-based games. Of course, some are more team-oriented than others, but almost every game revolves around teamwork.
Failing to teamwork will ruin your chances of winning the match. Lack of team is 101 in gaming mistakes. Everyone wants to be a hero, a lone wolf, to carry the game. But they don’t realize that it is the reason they are stuck on the ladder.
Teamwork is vital when gaming. That’s why you must work on your communication and emotional skills (How To Not Get Tilted) to be the best teammate you can be.
Plus, playing with a well-oriented and connected team is so fun. It increases your chance of winning and is more fun than playing in the “lone wolf” role.
Teamwork is vital to success in gaming. Lack of teamwork is one of the most common mistakes in gaming. Since most games are team-oriented, the benefits of good and proper teamwork are massive. Therefore, working on communication and teamwork skills are highly recommended.
If you are thinking, but Yaron, my teammates are bad, how to win games with a bad team? I got you covered at Why Your Teammates Are Bad And How To WIN Games With A Bad Team and How To Escape ELO Hell: How To Start Ranking Up.
8. Camping
Camping in gaming is worse than you think. First of all, you become the most hated person in the lobby. Second, it slows down your improvement journey.
If you are camping, you have far fewer engagements in a match, and you are catching people off-guard without many confrontations.
Let’s say you are playing Warzone. It means that you barely work on your movement skills as you are standing on a closet in a corner, you don’t work on your map knowledge, and because you have fewer engagements, you improve less as a result.
When I am playing Warzone, and it’s the last team standing, and they are camping, we always laugh that it will be an easy win because they are probably bad at the game.
This might seem controversial, but in the end, camping hurts you more than you think. Plus, many games reward movement and exploring while punishing campers.
But, there is a place for camping, of course. It is a strategy in a game, after all. If you are low on resources and have to camp for a bit to win the match, so be it. But if you are camping, you know you are camping.
After all, it is the reason aim trainers are worth it because competitive gaming has a lot of downtimes and not many engagements to work on your aim in a match. Camping reduces that number even further.
Camping in gaming is not recommended as it slows down your improvement journey. Campers have far fewer engagements in a match, which means they work on their gaming skills less. Plus, many games have mechanics that encourage movement and exploring and punish camping.
9. Not Controlling Your Emotions
Not controlling your emotions during gaming can be hazardous due to two reasons.
One is that gaming is a cognitive sport [src], and a bad mood might ruin your performance. The second reason is that you might get angry and frustrated with your teammates, who can cause even more problems for the team.
First, let’s talk about performance. It is a no-brainer that you won’t be able to play effectively if you are in a bad mood. That’s why tilting (How To Stop Tilting), getting frustrated, mad, or even sad might drastically reduce your performance.
That’s why you should stay as calm and collected as you can. Lack of sleep can affect this as well. You obviously noticed that sleep deprivation causes you to be more irritated easily and frustrated[src]. So make sure you sleep enough!
Second, not controlling your emotions in team-based games can break your team morale. If you get upset at people and constantly acknowledge their mistakes in team voice chat, you are in for a ride.
The moment you start to flame, your team members might also lose control over their emotions, which causes a giant snowball that only stops once you see a big “You Lost” sign in the end.
By the way, even getting stressed during clutches will hurt your performance. It can cause shaky aim, bad decision-making, and break your focus. If you can relate to some of these symptoms, check out How To Be Calmer And Reduce Stress While Gaming.
Not controlling your emotions during gaming can massively impact your performance. Whether it is anger, stress, frustration, or even sadness, these can cause worse decision-making, lack of focus, and worse aim. Therefore, it is highly recommended to control your emotions for peak performance.
Final Words
This has been a long ride. Hopefully, you managed to acknowledge some mistakes you see yourself making and are working on fixing them. Good luck on your journey, and keep slapping!
