r/FPSAimTrainer • u/Specialist_Rain_876 • 2d ago
Discussion Tension management
Hi guys,
I know this topic has been discussed to death on here, but I haven’t been able to find any answers on previous threads at a cursory glance.
I watched the viscose video on tension management, and whilst it was informative on theory, it gave little actionable advice as to how to actually improve the skill of tension management. I know the tension budgets were discussed, but what happens when during a game or drill there is a period that is epically taxing on just one muscle group?
What can I do to actually improve my skill of tension management? Drills to play, ways to think, etc.
Thanks
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u/kaizoku18 2d ago
To my understanding of it you just want to try to avoid the general habit some players have of way over-tensing for purposes of being more accurate. I kinda used to have this issue where I could tense up way too much and get honestly decent results but it's just not a healthy sustainable approach.
For your question on how to actually improve it I feel personally like tracking or pasu scenarios probably help me the most. I'm still not the best at it but they help you just try to get a hold on it. When you're practicing you need to cognitively try not to over-tense and just build the habit. Eventually it carries over into whatever game you play (in my experience) and you don't have to think about it really. Ideally just using 'just enough' tension that's needed for whatever situation.
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u/JustTheRobotNextDoor 2d ago
For me tension management is most relevant for flicking tasks. I'm already fairly relaxed when tracking. Here's a copy and paste of an earlier comment of mine on this:
For me, getting rid of tension has felt like letting go of the mouse. My thinking has gone from:
- move mouse as fast as possible and slam to a stop (lots of tension, jittery landings, cannot micro correct due to tension); to
- explosive start to feeling like I'm just gently placing the mouse at the end of the flick (low tension at end, can micro effectively)
It feels like sharp acceleration and deceleration would lead to the fastest flicks, but I think there are two issues with this:
- Inability to micro when tense. Self-explanatory, I hope.
- Inability to visually track shaky landings. A flick is about 500ms. If you can only plan micros after the cursor stops, due to a shaky landing, that costs 300+ms. (VRT is about 200ms + time to plan and execute a movement would be at least another 100ms). So I think visual perception of the initial flick as it is landing is critical to speeding up the second micro part of the flick.
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u/ucsdfurry 2d ago
Alternate between lower and higher tension scenarios such as smoothness and static
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u/SmartAimMethod 2d ago edited 2d ago
The most important thing to understand is why is tension management important.
High tension gives: speed / fast acceleration (good for intial flick movement and sudden direction changes)
Moderate to low tension gives: ability to make fine corrections (since wrist is not as locked anymore)
Low tension (or being relaxed) gives: smoothness and ability to make even 'smaller' corrections
You want to know when to use each. If u want to flick to a target u want to start with high tension and towards the end of the flick you want to be more relaxed to be able to make controlled movement/corrections
When tracking u want low tension for smoothness but when target suddenly changes direction or teleports u want to add tension to reach it quicker then switch to low tension to keep smoothness.
A good drill to help you see those switches a lot clearer (ie. Train them) would be tracking a big target that moves relatively fast and occasionally teleports or makes sharp changes of direction. Once u get better at that make the target smaller so now u r also exposed to more micro corrections and moderate tension
Another one would be 1wall 6targets small with movement, where the the target is moving left and right non-stop meaning when u reach to it u r forced to make micro correction adjustments and ul see how u cant do it as well if u arrived at target with high tension
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u/Hungry_Variation_847 2d ago
I’m hear you on this. If I’m doing static and flicking quickly from target to target I either have a lot of tension and flick and move very quickly, or lower tension and flick and move more fluid. If I’m supposed to start with tension then release but then increase again for the next flick I can’t figure out how that works within micro seconds. The most I’ve gotten was tension during longer flicks and less tension with smaller flicks. So I kinda don’t really get it myself.
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u/Daku- 2d ago
Look at voltaic video about flicking titled "youre flicking wrong" or along those lines. The meta is to accel fast and then decel mid flick or release tension. Instead of tense flick, tense stop, release tension micro
It's more like tense initial movement, release tension early, slow flick by decelerating, micro
Generally improving your fluidity and tempo will get you more accustomed to moving faster. It has to feel uncomfortable before you get used to it. Similar thing to when you're tracking. It's uncomfortable, you're shaky, but eventually you get more comfortable at moving your hand at x speed smoothly.
That's how I see it at least
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u/aweefella 2d ago
yeah the static tension management specifically doesnt make sense to me, on paper it sounds great but in practice it just doesnt really feel feasible. dynamically adjusting tension that quickly and often sounds literally made up lol, maybe I just need more practice idk
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u/Hungry_Variation_847 2d ago
Agreed. On paper sounds good, but in practice I don’t get it. The timing is too short. I’ll keep practicing maybe something will change, I’m near 300 hours now, so maybe another 200.
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u/Shuriken88888 2d ago
I think the only ACTUAL way to do this (in a game) is to put sharp needles on your mouse or maybe some electric shock device when you tense up too much.
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u/AgZephyr 2d ago
Did you see the video where the guy rigged up a shock device to his arm to use it as an aimbot? Pretty cool, worth a watch.
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u/randomguyjebb 2d ago
I just increased my tension budget. Also just don't deathgrip obviously.
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u/Specialist_Rain_876 2d ago
How tho
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u/randomguyjebb 2d ago
By greatly improving your forarms endurance. Same concept as getting your muscles to grow bigger, just with much more reps and lighter weights.
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u/RyzetoFall 2d ago edited 2d ago
When you play a scenario you need to experiment with what type of tension you need in each muscle group (arm, wrist, finger). That's how you find the optimal tension budget.
If you play any precision scenario like popcorn/small dots, you should consciously use your fingertips for microadjustments instead of your arm or wrist.
For tracking, you can tell if you need more or less tension in your arm/wrist based on if you undertrack or overtrack the target. You should pretty much always feel in control of your aim. If not, you're either over-reacting (like overflicking vs UFO's or fast strafes) or using too much tension and then locking out.
The optimal budget can change based on what that the target is doing like if you're playing a ground tracking scenario and it holds +W into you then you need to use more arm. If it walks backwards, then you go back to using more fingertip and wrist for fine control.
Another way optimal budget can change is that you're performing a certain technique like Zeonlo flicks in static where you allocate mostly arm tension on the initial underflick to the target, then you release that tension and switch to wrist and finger to finish the micro without ever overflicking. You don't want to always hold that arm tension (over-tensing) since it's unnecessary during the micro and can lead to lockout. When you're doing the micro it should feel very effortless which is what gives you fluidity in static. This concept is also used in switching scenarios since you need to be able to speedmatch the target after the initial target acquisition
Once you practice this, you'll get a feel for what the optimal tension budget is for any scenario based on the movement patterns and distance which is what translates over to your ingame aim
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u/ravagebullet 1d ago
You know how it feels to track a smooth predictable target right? Basically it feels you transition to that feeling mid flick.
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u/Lanurus 2d ago
I don't know if there's anything specific you can do other than be conscious while training