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On August 30 2013 02:29 Maegi wrote:
Lol stopped reading at "music should be turned off, it's a distraction". I'm pretty sure most pros play with music on, and anyway it is a preference issue, like most things here. Please don't give your preferences to others as facts.
im pretty sure most korean pros play with medium or higher graphics as well (as seen by myself at several dreamhacks, asus rog and for example in khaldors first person vods), then the keyboard bullshit ... oh boy, this is already too much. all i read in the op is opinion, hardly any facts. someone should mark this as OPINION.
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On August 30 2013 00:42 klup wrote:
I really like the overall tips in this guide but some look like too extreme for player that just play for fun.
I don't think it's written for those players at all  .
Great guide, i was familiar with most of the sources you were drawing from (day9 mechanics dailies, artsosis hotkey video, etc) but it was still good and you gave some new information as well. The part about ladder being bad practice i don't agree with personally but it depends on the person and if it worked for you then it isn't dishonest to present it as your perspective.
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On August 30 2013 02:29 Maegi wrote:
Lol stopped reading at "music should be turned off, it's a distraction". I'm pretty sure most pros play with music on, and anyway it is a preference issue, like most things here. Please don't give your preferences to others as facts.
He was talking about the ingame music, not kpop. Literally everything about hotkeys, keyboard and mouse position and technique, etc can be labeled as "preference". Why did you assume he was presenting it as fact? It is literally impossible to present any "facts" about these topics.
This was a good guide.
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On August 30 2013 06:09 Windexlol wrote:Show nested quote +On August 30 2013 02:29 Maegi wrote:
Lol stopped reading at "music should be turned off, it's a distraction". I'm pretty sure most pros play with music on, and anyway it is a preference issue, like most things here. Please don't give your preferences to others as facts. He was talking about the ingame music, not kpop. Literally everything about hotkeys, keyboard and mouse position and technique, etc can be labeled as "preference". Why did you assume he was presenting it as fact? It is literally impossible to present any "facts" about these topics. This was a good guide.
when you advertise something to prevent injuries while in reality it'll just augment the chance you get some (mouse position/exercise for wrists) it's not an opinion, it's just straight up bullshit and so many people go waoh great guide. Btw using 6 hotkeys for your army is stupid. All pro terrans use 2 or 3 and it's enough to win a gsl.
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On August 30 2013 05:14 SerADeadzerg wrote:
Mechanical keyboards should specify that they are mechanical... They will have a stat like Cherry Brown/Black/Blue/Red switches. You would most likely want Brown/Red/Blue (I play with Brown) as Black takes considerably more force to activate. Check out the keyboard enthusiast thread here on teamliquid, it has tones of useful information!
Black switches don't require that much extra force. They require the same force as blue and slightly more then browns (although it is right before they actuate), while still requiring ~%20-%30 less force then rubber domes. If you're going to get a mechanical keyboard, I'd recommend trying every switch, and then making a decision.
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On August 30 2013 06:12 sAsImre wrote:Show nested quote +On August 30 2013 06:09 Windexlol wrote:On August 30 2013 02:29 Maegi wrote:
Lol stopped reading at "music should be turned off, it's a distraction". I'm pretty sure most pros play with music on, and anyway it is a preference issue, like most things here. Please don't give your preferences to others as facts. He was talking about the ingame music, not kpop. Literally everything about hotkeys, keyboard and mouse position and technique, etc can be labeled as "preference". Why did you assume he was presenting it as fact? It is literally impossible to present any "facts" about these topics. This was a good guide. when you advertise something to prevent injuries while in reality it'll just augment the chance you get some (mouse position/exercise for wrists) it's not an opinion, it's just straight up bullshit and so many people go waoh great guide. Btw using 6 hotkeys for your army is stupid. All pro terrans use 2 or 3 and it's enough to win a gsl.
Mouse position comes from Day9's daily and it helped me prevent my own injuries so I felt it was worth including. I have (after the uproar here regarding it, understandably) revised that section to be much clearer. I was told to avoid strength training exercises when I consulted professionals about my own overuse injuries, simply cardio work helped me improve. This is my own personal experience, all of this is what has helped me grow, perhaps it is not for you.
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On August 30 2013 06:22 SerADeadzerg wrote:Show nested quote +On August 30 2013 06:12 sAsImre wrote:On August 30 2013 06:09 Windexlol wrote:On August 30 2013 02:29 Maegi wrote:
Lol stopped reading at "music should be turned off, it's a distraction". I'm pretty sure most pros play with music on, and anyway it is a preference issue, like most things here. Please don't give your preferences to others as facts. He was talking about the ingame music, not kpop. Literally everything about hotkeys, keyboard and mouse position and technique, etc can be labeled as "preference". Why did you assume he was presenting it as fact? It is literally impossible to present any "facts" about these topics. This was a good guide. when you advertise something to prevent injuries while in reality it'll just augment the chance you get some (mouse position/exercise for wrists) it's not an opinion, it's just straight up bullshit and so many people go waoh great guide. Btw using 6 hotkeys for your army is stupid. All pro terrans use 2 or 3 and it's enough to win a gsl. Mouse position comes from Day9's daily and it helped me prevent my own injuries so I felt it was worth included. I have (after the uproar here regarding it, understandably) revised that section to be much clearer. In response to the exercises I was told to avoid those when I consulted professionals about my own overuse injuries. This is my own personal experience, all of this is what has helped me grow, perhaps it is not for you.
/e nvm
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This is a great guide, really helpful. Thanks for sharing!
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So basically vaderseven's guide touching on some side issues and some pretty authoritarian viewpoints on currently debated topics. I liked the section on mechanical keyboards and rebinding for some control groups. I have a lot of personal differences on topics that you consider essential and other mechanics-focused (and for coaches, the pedagogy of mechanics) players consider nonessential. That won't be my focus here. I'll describe a couple main issues with the guide.
Spam
The short answer will always be YES for players focused on improving their mechanics, becoming faster players. It's too great a benefit for breaking old slow mechanics and too jump start your handspeed. It cannot be skipped.
In the normal self analysis phase (watch your own recorded VODS), late in your development you may notice you're spamming in midgame and ignoring essential actions. If that is the case, then cease spamming. Skipping the YES answer is hamstringing the learning of mechanics whether or not you have to take some time handling an addiction to midgame spam way later on (Guide already has the mechanics of spotting this problem when it rears its ugly head and affects you).
Ladder
All you know on ladder is that you will be practicing mechanics just like you trained alone. Any matchup, every matchup, any cheese, every cheese. While cheese and odd things is a distraction, you are training mechanics through distractions. If you have problems wrapping your head around that, get your head-space or try some psych tricks.
Essentially, if your problem is ladder stress, then your problem is ladder stress and not choosing to improve your mechanics during ladder. I agree that practice partners and AI come first. I disagree that ladder is necessarily bad. Anything lost in ladder can be regained, it is literally your plaything until you move from mechanics-only to the finer touches of how your race plays and responds. Reduce that medium stress hurdle to low stress and improve those mechanics on ladder!
Secondly, you don't need to focus on strategy first in the AI and Practice Partner development. You can go practice on ladder, skip the strategy, and go full mechanics. Learning the strategy behind things is in your own time, and it can be daunting to think that I need a solid grasp of both strategy and mechanics (You say "feel very confident") before you approach ladder. It is a tool for mechanics and it's as much stress as you let it have over you. For a guide that unlearns hotkeys and approaches for tons of players, it isn't an increase in difficulty in learning how to train mechanics with ladder.
Recording yourself
Do record yourself VODs using OBS or Xsplit streameds or local recording! In the original and long-standing mechanics guide on TeamLiquid, it goes over why.
Mistakes:
Look for times when you are giving the same command several times in a row (right click spamming) (You can do this early on to help spam/warm up but only if it is not causing you to be late on whatever you are supposed to do next)
Look for times when your money floats too high or when you get supply blocked and how you deal with it (missing a macro cycle and how long this effects you)
Look for times when you are not reacting to the Minimap properly (your army or base is attacked and you do not move to handle the situation as soon as it happens)
Look for times when your mouse seems to move slowly to accomplish something that a sure and quick gesture could accomplish (a great example is when you are placing a building, was an almost instant movement and click or was it a slow drag of the building placement indicator to the desired spot?)
Nice Things:
Look for times when you look at your base right when you need to make supply, units, tech, and/or buildings and you do so in an almost instant fashion
Look for times when you give one quick sure command in an exact fashion with one click (sending a probe to scout another main should take exactly 1 right click / movement command [not 5+ which many players do])
Look for times when you react instantly to things on the Minimap
Overall:
Always be looking for how fast you are able to accomplish any given task (a macro cycle, transferring workers, etc) and pay attention to EXACTLY how you accomplish it and ask simple questions and give yourself honest answers about if it could be faster.
Now you have ID'd several things about your play from a mechanical viewpoint. What now? Make connections. Where you late on starting your Forge during a PvZ where you were going Forge Fast Expand? Why was that? Where you busy scouting and giving your scouting probe 6 right click movement commands that were basically to the same exact spot? How bout in a TvT where your minerals went above 1000. What was going on then? Where you reacting to a drop you just saw on the Minimap? emphasis mine
Making and analyzing your own VODs instead of replays is an incredibly important tool in developing your mechanics. Analyzing your own replays is good and spots all kinds of mistakes. Analyzing your own VODs helps identify where you were looking someplace out (mouse cursor is captured) as well as a host of other things--mistakes you never knew you were making. It's a step removed from going out to the store and spending money and piling books, and if you hit that masters league and want to do all kinds of fun tournaments, you can add in the posture, head angle, and tension.
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Really awesome guide and I agree with almost everything on it. But one thing that can be misunderstod easily in the text: "Since our activity requires the arms I suggest avoiding all physical activity that requires the use of the arms." Yes the sentence is out of the context, but since you dont highlight the importance of physical training for your arms to avoid injuries in the text, I think it can be misleading.
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great guide but is there an alternate way to add or set control groups to 6, 7 and 8? My hands a very small and I feel that using the my other hand is incredibly ineffecient.
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i never post in guides, because they all suck, but yours is tight man. good guide. some nonsense and wrong stuff, sure, but mostly good stuff.
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Amazing tutorial Ive actually been trying to find out as much as I can the last few days on how to improve. Im glad you took the time to write such a good post about your personal experiences and findings. It is greatly appreciated
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Can't wait to read the whole thing. Looks really good so far! :D
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Thank you everyone who posted! I made so many changes and the article is much better off with all of them! It was my first post but I know you didn't take it easy on me, thanks for the honesty!
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awesome work. will read thoroughly later
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On August 30 2013 02:51 BaneRiders wrote:The most distracting thing is the wife after all. Can't shut her off either.  Very nice guide, I'm learning from this and I'm glad that at my low level I already do a few of the things I should. Getting to gold is the next (and probably final) target for me, no gold GM.
lmao haha
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damn so many useful little tips, even to masters level. Thanks for putting it all together!
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United States13 Posts
Really unique perspective, a very enjoyable read. People here are harping on things you say (like how you suggest no music), but you are just suggesting the optimal learning environment. You aren't saying that listening to music keeps a person from succeeding, but that it might help your practice not to have that distraction (even if the benefit is marginal). While not all of your suggestions are for me, I really enjoy your dedication to optimizing practice and improvement. You offer many useful tips most people probably wouldn't even think about! Considering I was expecting regurgitated info like "practice a lot" and "play with people better than you", I was pleasantly surprised with this enjoyable read. You clearly put a lot of effort into it and in my opinion you created a gem in the process. Ignore any haters, this is good stuff =]
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United Kingdom20327 Posts
Nice guide, some good stuff!
I'm glad you removed this part though Your mouse should be close to the edge of your desk so you can use your wrist as a pivot point because that's a pretty big no for extended playing. If your sensitivity is high enough to play from wrist pivot you gotta be really careful not to mess your wrists up and probably can't play for as long as somebody who can transfer that motion into a less sensitive/vunerable area like the fingertips and lower arm while relaxing the wrist
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EPT
