How to build online gaming skills quickly

If the rise of esports has shown us anything, it is that gaming is without question a skill that takes years of dedicated practice to build.

In fact, gaming skills are so difficult to acquire at this level of competition, that esports athletes are now increasingly approaching their training in the same way a professional footballer or marathon runner would.

This rise in the professionalization of esports has even spawned scientific journals which have looked at the best ways of structuring esports training for optimal performance. Much like a traditional athlete, esports training not only encompasses methods to acquire the physical and mental skills needed to hit peak performance, but also has a big emphasis on nutrition and recovery.

With that said, it is quite clear that the growing popularity and rising professionalization of esports has led to significant increases in the level of skill displayed by esports athletes.

However, for the casual player looking to perform at their best, a lack of time and material resources means that many of these new training techniques and approaches that have been developed for professional esports athletes are not much use to them.

This does not mean the casual player has to resign themselves to underperforming, however. On the contrary, there are several things that the amateur esports player can do to increase their skills in a relatively short amount of time.

Although more time spent playing esports at a high level of competition will obviously lead to the best results, in this article, we will set out a number of relatively simple tips and strategies you can use to make immediate improvements to your esports performance.

Noise management

A simple, yet incredibly effective, step you can take to radically improve your esports gaming performance is to manage external distractions.

This includes not only improving the physical space around you to reduce potential distractions — such as light sources or the chair and desk you are playing at — but also reducing environmental sources of distractions.

Temperature, light and sound are your biggest enemies in this regard, as they can all have an impact on how easy you find it to concentrate. Of these, sound and noise levels are the most important, so make sure you have a decent pair of noise cancelling headphones to block out any potential distractions!

Undisturbed concentration is important regardless of what type of online game you are playing. For example, even online casino game players have reported improvements in their performance when blocking out external sounds and other distractions. So, the next time you are indulging in a game of online poker at your Metaverse casino of choice, try sticking on some noise cancelling headphones and seeing how much your winnings improve.

Find a community of players

Another important step you can take to improving your gaming performance is to find yourself a community of players to play with.

As the old saying goes: you are ultimately a product of who you surround yourself with. This is equally as true in life as it is in the context of gaming.

With that said, by surrounding yourself with skilled players who are similarly committed to improving their performance, this will inevitably rub off on you.

By finding or building a community of like-minded players, you are given the opportunity to both test your skills against them — and in the course of doing so to improve your skills — but also you can extract important information from them.

There is a reason why esports has moved to a team-based model these days. With this in mind, recreate this training environment by creating a community either online or in-person that will bring out the best in you.

Don’t neglect your physical and mental health

Although the stereotype of the professional gamer tends to be of someone who is unhealthy or neglects their physical health in preference of gaming, this is no longer proving to be an accurate portrayal of the average professional gamer.

In fact, as part of the professionalization of esports, there has been an increased focus placed on physical and mental well-being as a way of optimizing performance.

This encompasses not only fueling your body with the right food to support playing sessions, but also developing a healthy attitude towards your hobby. For example, learning to take losses less personally and giving yourself plenty of time away from the screen.

This also includes getting plenty of rest, particularly given that the temptation is often to indulge in late-night playing sessions that will inevitably hamper your progress! A full night’s rest is incredibly important to optimizing your cognitive ability, which will immediately translate to your gaming performance.