“How do I improve in CSGO?” is a common question asked by many players of various skill levels, however the usual generic answer they get is:

Deathmatch

Watch pro players/demos/high skilled streamers

Throw grenades in an empty server

Play pick-up games (PUGs)

Get a coach/lessons

Those are just some example answers, however there is more to practise than you may know. Let’s say a player practises all of the above and they’re still wondering why they’re not improving. The simple answer is that players must practise according to their skill level and ensure their methods of practise can be transitioned into performance. For example, deathmatch would be highly beneficial for a new player playing their first FPS game. On the other hand, a professional player may not invest as much time into deathmatch relative to other CSGO activities.

We have all heard of the cliché “practise makes perfect”, suggesting that more practise will likely result in improving yourself as a player. While this is true to some extent, there is more to practise than the number of hours invested into an activity. It is important to note that how these hours are invested sets apart the professional, good and amateur players. This is where I want to introduce deliberate practise and apply it to CSGO.

What is deliberate practise?

Deliberate practise is a specific form of training requiring high effort, high concentration, high relevance to performance improvement and not inherently enjoyable compared to other activities. It is also the identification and working on weaknesses or factors constraining present performance.

So how does this apply to CSGO?

For a professional player, deliberate practise can be:

Team practise (scrimmage, dry running, strategy building, working with coach, bootcamp etc)

Demo reviewing (own team, self, other teams/players)

A in-house/10-man system with other professional players

Team scrims are the best form of practise to prepare for tournaments and competitions as a team, it is a method to test strategies on the T-side and CT-side. It is not uncommon for a professional team to boot camp to prepare prior to a major tournament. For example, Luminosity Gaming held a boot camp in Europe prior to Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca as a means of practise against European teams and adjusting to the European meta-game.

Demo reviewing is an excellent method to identify weaknesses. Depending on the demo being reviewed, it can be used to exploit weaknesses of the opposing team or it can be used to identify your own team’s imperfections. This includes investing time in determining why players make certain decisions, how mistakes could be corrected and if a play could have been done better.

With other life commitments, it is not always possible to practise with your team. An in-house/10-man with other professional players is the closest form of practise to a scrim, where you are actually playing against a semi-structured and coordinated team who will execute strategies. I did not mention PUGs as these are less structured games compared to a true competitive match against another team.

For a professional player, game modes like deathmatch, kz/jump maps, surf maps, bunny hop maps, retake and PUGs are key to maintaining the fundamentals of CSGO. Once those mechanics are mastered, the main difference between the skill level of players is the in-game decision making, reading of the opponent and coordination with the team. Even in match-making, although there is a slight discrepancy in aim, the main difference between the upper ranks is the ability to make quality decisions.

This is where deliberate practise comes into play, there have been many studies conducted on experts/professionals. A study by Ericsson, Krampe & Tesch-Romer (1993) found that expert violinists had recorded more hours of deliberate practise (practising alone or working with a mentor). The expert violinists recorded 7410 hours, the good violinists registered 5301 hours and the amateurs logged 3420 hours of deliberate practise.

Although this study specifically looks into violinists and pianists, it can be said that deliberate practise is the catalyst for becoming an extraordinary player. This deliberate effort and motivation to self-improve ultimately resulting in more hours logged and distinguishes experts/professionals from the good players. Therefore, in the professional scene the meta-game changes at a rapid pace and teams are forced to discover new strategies to stay on top of their game.

How about for the more casual players? (Players who do not play/compete in a team)

From personal experience, I would suggest mastering the fundamentals of the game first and then search for resources to enhance your understanding behind decision making. Too many times I have watched players in match-making have no reasoning behind their actions or that I couldn’t exactly understand what they were doing. There are many video resources and guides on YouTube that explain how to hold/take bombsites etc.

I want to draw particular attention to match-making demo reviews by credible analysts, these are an excellent way to learn from mistakes and decision making in CSGO. The beauty of CSGO is that there is no one correct method of holding/taking a bombsite and the more open you are to how the game can be played, the more you will learn. The key is to look for consistency and strong reasoning between each guide.

Hopefully I have provided you with quality insight into how to improve. Practise hard and work on your weaknesses in your own game. Best of luck!