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Practicing to Improve - Page 2

Forum Index > SC2 General
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Plexa
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
Aotearoa39261 Posts
April 07 2010 10:15 GMT
#21
On April 07 2010 15:48 zatic wrote:
Hi there welcome to TL! Keep posting like this!

Here I am thinking to myself, if everyone posted like this I wouldn't need to bad so many people!! Keep it up!
Administrator~ Spirit will set you free ~
sCuMBaG
Profile Joined August 2006
United Kingdom1144 Posts
April 07 2010 10:20 GMT
#22
very good post indeed.
you could include it in some kind of guide or something
goszar
Profile Joined February 2010
Belarus119 Posts
April 07 2010 10:21 GMT
#23
Nice article, thanks. I use the same method for practicing.
Currently I have very similar physical problem as in your SC1 example - I play most ladder matches at the edge of physical and mental skills which results in sloppy movement and stupid mistakes.
How would you suggest to overcome this in SC2?
I find that playing a lot with the same practice partner eliminates this problem in games vs that person, but it remains in ladder games.
Another problem in SC2 beta is practicing vs ladder games. Mediocre player cannot try new strategies or tricks in ladder games because he will lose every game. The only option is to stick to your cookie-cutter builds.
zatic
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Zurich15357 Posts
April 07 2010 10:55 GMT
#24
On April 07 2010 16:19 Gilgamesh33 wrote:
This post is very pointless.

If a person is losing and not knowing why they lost, they're just bad.

Every game I lose I say "what did I do wrong?" and "what do I need to work on"? If a player fails to ask that question then they will never improve. End of story. Pointless read and a waste of time. Any player taking this game seriously and actually wants to get better will not just MASS GAMES without thinking about how they lost like you said. ]

Bad post.

I suggest you read the OP first before replying. If you still do not agree with what he says point out why.
ModeratorI know Teamliquid is known as a massive building
Avius
Profile Joined October 2007
Iraq1796 Posts
April 07 2010 11:04 GMT
#25
I really liked your example with your muscles getting all tense, actually I have that problem, too, and I realized it as I was reading this post, so thank you for that.

I really gotta loosen up a little while playing and I might actually get better in the long run. Welcome to TL!
aka. Samael
SarcasticOne
Profile Joined March 2010
Australia213 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-07 11:16:29
April 07 2010 11:15 GMT
#26
i really like this post, as it gives me confidence that i'm on the right path to learning =)

i play terran, and i know my biggest issue is my in-ability to marco effectively, so what i've been trying recently, even just vs the computer, is to pay attention to completion sounds, and learn what it means i need to do.

for example "SCV Ready!" means i need to go back to my CC and build another SCV etc...

i find it very hard to do, even when that's the ONLY thing im focusing on, let alone in the middle of a battle... i'm probably missing 1-2 units per production facility (rax/starport/fact) each time i expand/transfer army/engage in battle... and that could go close to giving me 30-40% more troops in the next battle!

i think this is an excellent post, if you can think of any ways to help improve this sort of thing, or find other ways to help relax etc, please share =)

EDIT: i agree i play better when relaxed!
imperator-xy
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Germany1377 Posts
April 07 2010 11:29 GMT
#27
great post. i think its very important if you reaach a point where you just dont become better by mass-gaming
omninmo
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
2349 Posts
April 07 2010 11:47 GMT
#28
i think the muta map you are talking about is this one from GROBYC
grobyc's micro maps
tubs
Profile Joined March 2010
764 Posts
April 07 2010 12:13 GMT
#29
Very well thought out first post. I can think of a similar example from music. When learning a hard musical piece on piano, for instance, many people make the same mistake - they play the song over and over until they finally learn it. The problem with this is that it's not efficient. Generally, the beginning parts of a song may be much easier to play than the middle parts. So what ends up happening is you spend most of your time practicing the beginning of the song (say that it's 2 minutes long) and then stumble over the hard part (say that it's 15 seconds long). So in essence you're spending 2:15 minutes each practice session to learn something that you should only be spending 15 seconds on each practice session. The more efficient way to practice is to SKIP the easy part and start exactly where the song gets hard during practice. After you master the hard section, then you work on the transition between the easy to the hard section, and finally, you PLAY the song from the beginning.
"Roach dies to immortal and rockit black guy" - Tierdal.thex
TurboMaN
Profile Joined October 2005
Germany925 Posts
April 07 2010 12:23 GMT
#30
Awesome post!
nedsat
Profile Joined April 2010
27 Posts
April 07 2010 13:17 GMT
#31
Very good read. I'll give it a shot and try and prac some macro vs the computer. Even tho im not convinced it'll give me as much as playing ladder vs real people.
L_Master
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States8017 Posts
April 07 2010 14:12 GMT
#32
This post is very pointless.

If a person is losing and not knowing why they lost, they're just bad.

Every game I lose I say "what did I do wrong?" and "what do I need to work on"? If a player fails to ask that question then they will never improve. End of story. Pointless read and a waste of time. Any player taking this game seriously and actually wants to get better will not just MASS GAMES without thinking about how they lost like you said. ]

Bad post.


Really? You honestly don't see the value in this?

The OP is making the point that for the best quality practice you do MORE than just mass games and think about how you lost. Many, many people will look at a game and say something like "I lost because my macro was horrible." Then they go into the next game with the intention to improve their macro. However, "improving macro" is pretty general; you have to know WHY your macro is poor. Are you not keeping your gateways producing, do you have enough gateways, are you supply blocking yourself, if your economy bad, are you expanding appropriately, etc. Even beyond that you might need to look at why your doing each of those things. If you consistently don't build enough gateways why is that?

To continue with my golf example, take the case of a person who has a bad slice. Let's say they take the club well to the inside and get the clubshaft on a very flat plane going back and then come down over the top swinging outside-in which produces the slice. Many, many, many people; I'd argue its much greater than the majority, when you ask them what they are working on on the range will respond "I'm fixing my slice" or maybe even "I'm trying to swing more of the inside to eliminate my out-in path" The problem with both statements is that they don't realize the underlying issue. If your taking the club too inside and flat, trying to return the club on the same path is pretty hopeless; you'll end up hitting most of your shots extremely flat. Consequently, the only option the golfer has is to swing down steeper and on a more out-in path to compenstate for their initial overly inside takeway. Trying to fix this by saying "I'm going to swing from the inside" won't work well at all, because even if you do force yourself to do it, you'll have a whole new host of problems; but most likely the results will b so awful you won't even end up changing your swing path at all.

A major point here is that good practice is more than just realizing the obvious problems or dropping the same cliches as to why you did bad. It's about understanding why you make the mistakes that you do, or why your gameplay has the flaws it does. Its about realizing that your muta micro is bad because your tense and thats hurting your mouse accuracy, its about realizing your macro is bad because you never transfer probes except to your natural, its about knowing you slice because you take the club too inside and flat on the backswing; its about pinpointing and knowing the underlying cause to every mistake you make.Identifiying these underlying causes is by no means intuitive, but doing so can make your practice dramatically more efficient.
EffOrt and Soulkey Hwaiting!
RoarMan
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Canada745 Posts
April 07 2010 14:29 GMT
#33
Great read! Really gives me things to think about while practicing Sc2.
All the pros got dat Ichie.
michiko
Profile Joined April 2010
United States75 Posts
April 07 2010 14:47 GMT
#34
On April 07 2010 16:19 Gilgamesh33 wrote:
This post is very pointless.

If a person is losing and not knowing why they lost, they're just bad.

Every game I lose I say "what did I do wrong?" and "what do I need to work on"? If a player fails to ask that question then they will never improve. End of story. Pointless read and a waste of time. Any player taking this game seriously and actually wants to get better will not just MASS GAMES without thinking about how they lost like you said. ]

Bad post.


And your post was any better? Get a grip D-Bag - I bet that more than 80% (including myself) of the people who read the post already understand the concept behind what he is saying in regards to practicing and becoming a better player.

But:

a.) The 20% (or w/e) who don't really gain some insight from that post.
b.) It is a good thing for even the other 80% to be reminded and have a fresh perspective placed upon them.

You make broad, incorrect statements, in your post. "They're just bad" "Will never improve. End of Story".

What does your comments add? Nothing but negativity. You need to ask yourself why you're so wound up, and maybe your quality of life could also improve, with your attitude.

In your last sentence you actually contradict the statement that the post was a waste of time and has no point...As you say "Like you said" which means the post had a point.

Grow up a little before posting again.

--- To the OP --- Good write up -- Glad to see someone who has actually improved their game like you have.
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25990 Posts
April 07 2010 14:55 GMT
#35
Very true. I've always found it stupid that players trying to improve play more instead of actually practicing.
Moderator
Flowski
Profile Joined March 2010
United States17 Posts
April 07 2010 14:59 GMT
#36
Great post thanks!

I just recently started studying my replays, and my game has improved greatly.
SilverSeraphim
Profile Joined March 2010
United States34 Posts
April 07 2010 15:05 GMT
#37
Wow! Excellent post. Thanks for sharing. Definitely a lot of great insight into specific practice techniques here.
Stropheum
Profile Joined January 2010
United States1124 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-07 15:16:16
April 07 2010 15:12 GMT
#38
I agree to an extent. Usually when I play a game I have a particular mindset in each matchup to overcome certain large mistakes I made in the previous game. After the game, I write down all of my obvious mistakes. If I can't find at least three mistakes, then I go to the replay and look for exact moments of supply cap, poor scouting, lack of harassment, missed timing windows.

IMO if you every play a single match without trying to deliberately improve, you're being a casual gamer. Not a bad thing, just not practice.
Antimage
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada1293 Posts
April 07 2010 15:26 GMT
#39
On April 07 2010 23:55 Chill wrote:
Very true. I've always found it stupid that players trying to improve play more instead of actually practicing.


You'll need a balance of both - drilling things into your gameplay takes time and practice, like practicing when to pull off gas or how to react to proxy rax.
d0da
Profile Joined September 2007
United States103 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-07 15:34:08
April 07 2010 15:31 GMT
#40
I appreciate this post a lot and I hope you continue posting. I am pretty familiar with "real" practice through all the years of baseball I played, breaking down my swinging and pitching mechanics on film weekly.

However, this post really exposed some flaws with my approach to learning to improve my skills in StarCraft 2. I've been watching my replays to find out what I do wrong but I never really do anything specific to fix them other than trying to do better in another session of games. What I was doing was comparable to watching my hitting and pitching during a game and not running any drills or attending practice until the next game where I'd try and improve. It seems absolutely silly now that I looked at this post. It's so blatantly obvious I feel a bit ashamed.

Thanks for the inspiration to devote more time and effort into a true practice regiment.
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