What distance changes
How big a player looks and how fast they move on screen both depend on distance. The closer they are, the bigger they look, and the faster they cross the screen when strafing. The farther they are, the smaller they look, and the slower they move on screen.
| Close range | Long range | |
|---|---|---|
| Target size on screen | Large | Small, maybe a few pixels |
| Strafe speed on screen | Fast | Slow |
| Crosshair movement needed | Large and fast | Small and precise |
| Main skills | Tracking, fast flicks, direction changes | Micro-adjusting, stability, first-shot accuracy |
| Margin for error | Big target; slightly off still hits | Slightly off misses |
Close range: keeping up beats pinpoint accuracy
Up close the target is big, so single-shot precision matters less. The hard part is keeping up. When the opponent strafes, your crosshair must cover a lot of ground; if they jump or circle to your side, you need a large turn.
- Use more arm. Large, fast movements are hard to follow with the wrist alone.
- Aim a little above centre mass. Heads move fast up close; the upper chest is more forgiving, then drift up.
- Stay on target. Track and fire continuously rather than stopping before each shot.
A common mistake is locking the crosshair on the head so that any movement loses the target entirely. Up close, land hits first and headshots second. See Tracking training.
Long range: stability beats speed
At long range the target is small and moves slowly, so the hard part becomes the last tiny correction and whether your hand shakes as you fire.
- Mostly wrist and fingers. Movements are short; using the arm tends to overshoot.
- Stop, then shoot. Distant targets leave no margin; shooting while still moving rarely hits.
- Tap rather than spray. Spread grows at long range; a few taps hit more often.
- Look before you move. Small targets need you to read the gap between crosshair and target, then make one small correction.
A common mistake is using close-range movements at long range: one flick goes too far and time is wasted correcting back and forth. See Micro-adjust aim.
Medium range: both at once
Most fights happen at medium range. The target is mid-sized and moves at a moderate speed, so you need a fairly fast flick to get close, then a fine correction to finish. It combines flicking and micro-adjusting and tests how smoothly you hand off between them. For braking and stopping on flicks, see Flick training.
How to divide your practice
| Your problem | Practise more | Practise less |
|---|---|---|
| Losing targets in close fights | Tracking, fast movement on large targets | Precise small-target clicking |
| Missing the first shot at range | Small-target micro-adjusting, first shots on still targets | Wide fast flicks |
| Overshooting at medium range | Braking and stopping on flicks | Pure tracking |
| Not sure which is weakest | A full skill assessment first | — |
Questions
I zoom in at long range. Do I still need unzoomed micro-adjusting?
Yes. Zooming narrows the view and makes targets look bigger, but the fine hand control is the same skill. Better unzoomed corrections make zoomed corrections steadier too.
Should I aim for the head up close?
Consistent headshots are best, but heads move fast up close. Make sure you hit first, then raise your aim gradually.
I am accurate on still targets in practice. Why do I miss at range in matches?
Matches add shooting after moving, nerves and targets appearing suddenly. Check whether you fire while moving; see Counter-strafing.
Use Micro-adjust for the last few pixels at long range, and Tracking for the big movements of close range.
Open Micro-adjust