IMPROVE YOUR GAME

In this last chapter I will try to give examples and tips for you to improve as a player and get ready to perform in matches and tournaments.

FIND YOUR STYLE

TRAINING METHODS

PRESSURE HANDLING

FIND YOUR TEAM

[forum.maniaplanet.com]

STAY MOTIVATED

GOOD LUCK!

[facebook.com]

Whatever driving style you choose, the most essential part of becoming a better driver is to understand the car physics and traction on all the different combinations of blocks. This can only be achieved by driving a lot on different tracks and by studying your own mistakes and others success. The best way to do this is to compare your own replays to the replays uploaded on http://tm.mania-exchange.com . Just search for the track you want and find good replays to watch. Based on player statistics, TECH is the style that has the biggest community and the most tournaments both online and offline.As a new player your first focus should be to find the fastest lines with the help of the driving techniques explained above. Once you feel you've got these under control your next move should be to get match and tournament experience and compare yourself against others. To make it a bit easier I tried to separate the most traditional training method into four stages.Set a good time as early as possible to find the limits of both the track and your driving. Try to experiment by changing between wide and tight racing lines to see which one gives the best result. Watch out so you don't push the limits for too long, because it usually ends up in a lot of resetting. This is very inefficient because you won't get to practice the end of the track as much as the start.As you practice, your fingers will get familiar with all the break and release points on the track. The more you practice, the more your muscle memory will adapt and remember. This is why it's important that you practice safer lines and figure out at which points of the track you need to be more careful. This will prevent you from making the mistake of driving safer in the match compared to what you did during training which will confuse your muscle memory and ultimately produce more mistakes.If you want to take training to the next level, you can do practice sessions where you drive to the finish line every round even if you crash. In this way you will build up knowledge on how to recover in the fastest possible way. It might turn out decisive in cases where players do equal mistakes in the same round in a match.Map awareness can be very decisive, especially in 1vs1 situations. Many players like to drive with the HUD disabled until the finish to avoid distraction. However, being able to check on your opponents now and then can be very useful. If you are aware of your opponents making mistakes then you can easily capitalize on it by driving more safe. Try to locate the best points on the track where it's easier to take a quick look at the checkpoint list or switch your opponents on and off.Circling between the different stages is a good way to continuously improve. It's not really necessary to know about these steps to become a better driver, but it may come in handy if you want more dedicated and measurable practice.Many thanks to finalist mode in TrackMania cup format, pressure is something that is imperative to overcome if you want to be a consistent winner. Why do we often choke under pressure and why is some better at it than others? Time and experience is usually the key to improve your match mentality and driving under pressure. When you know that one single mistake will cost you the win and possibly prize money, your mind tends to panic or try to focus too much onmaking that mistake. Here we see similarities to the muscle memory problem, because this is not your mental state while training and your mind is not used to it. One method to overcome that panic mode is to calm your self down somehow and try to forget that it is an important round. Accepting that you might do a mistake and that someone else is better than you may also help you avoid mistakes under pressure.Others may find that simply not caring about the outcome of the match will lower the pressure. If you have the mental strength and will, you can also enter a focused mindset where you go all in for the win. Convince your mind that you are the best and you can win it. Note that this method usually has a bigger mental downfall in case of failure. There can only be one winner and in most cases that won't be you. However, you can increase the chances of being that winner by not giving up and learn from your experiences.At the end of the day there are a lot of factors playing a role in how you perform in high stake matches. Make sure you are rested and have eaten enough before the race starts. Also make sure to take drinking pauses in between matches in longer tournaments or cups to keep the focus up and avoid dehydration.You can create your own team with friends or join existing ones by searching on servers and asking people in the chat. You can also add players who are on your server to your buddy list for private chat sessions. Many teams also operate with external forums where they recruit new players. You can look for bigger forums that have "Player searching team" threads. Just make sure to read the requirements before applying. Things that will help you find teams is to behave nicely, try your best to improve and be active on the servers.When moving up the ranks, better teams start to scout for talented players by watching their Dedimania records or positions in tournament matches. If you stay active in tournaments and try your best to reach the Dedimania on tournament maps, that should put you in a good spotlight for teams to pick you up.Motivation is important to keep your momentum when practicing to become a better player. If you are stuck in your training and don't see much improvement you might want to consider small breaks to release some pressure. Things that might keep you motivated are watching videos of good records, change perspective and discover new driving styles or even start making your own tracks or videos with the built-in tools.Noteworthy videos to watchIf you have any further questions, please leave a comment below or contact me on my facebook