What is a flick shot?
A flick shot, sometimes referred to as a snap is where you perform a very fast crosshair movement onto your target. The purpose of the flick shot technique is to mitigate the impact of enemy movement on your aim and to acquire and dispatch targets as fast as possible. A flick shot helps mitigate enemy movement by moving so rapidly that in the time it took to perform the flick, the target has either not moved at all, or has only managed to move a tiny amount.
Flick shots allow for near-instant target acquisition which means you are poised to pump out the highest amount of damage possible in the timeframe available to you. If you are slow to acquire targets they are far more likely to take you down first or move to safety. Besides flicks to acquire targets, flicks will be most useful for single fire or semi-automatic weapons, rather than rapid fire weapons.
They are done by performing a very fast mouse movement opposed to a slower, controlled tracking movement. With practise and the right sensitivity for you these flick shots can become amazingly accurate and can seriously elevate your play.
Add These Three Flicks in Your Toolkit
1. Micro: A micro flick is a very small but fast adjustment, usually used to make tiny corrections to aim. An example of this is if your crosshair is very close to, but not quite on the head of a strafing target where a smooth mouse movement is going to be unreasonably difficult to line up with your target.
2. Minor: This is the most important and common flick to master. It occurs in what can be referred to as the ‘minor flick zone’ where a flick can be performed without excessive real life and on-screen movement. “Aim small, miss small” is very relevant to flick shots. The further the distance you flick, the more likely you are to miss. Consequently you want to try and keep your crosshair close to the target as relying on flashy big flicks is a good way to miss a lot of shots.
3. Major: A major flick is a massive on-screen crosshair movement. The purpose of this flick is primarily to acquire your target as fast as possible. Hitting your shot is a bonus but can’t be relied upon with such a large movement. These can be great for those times where flankers attack you from behind or the sides and you must react as fast as possible to survive. Major flicks are often combined with minor and micro flicks to great effect. For example if you are playing a game like PUBG and you get shot from the side you have a very small window of time to react before you die. A major flick will hopefully land your reticle on them, or near them. If your crosshair lands nearby you can instantly perform a reliable minor flick and have a good chance of taking them down, despite the disadvantageous situation.
How to master flick shots
Becoming a master of flick shots comes down to consistency. Any player can get lucky and land a few crazy flicks, but what separates an average player from a pro is being able to consistently land flick shots.
The key is developing a sense for how much mouse movement is needed for certain distances on-screen. Members of the KovaaK’s community have put together a large number of scenarios to help train this very skill. Here are some highlights:
1wall6targets TE. Considered by many to be the “classic” click-timing scenario, 1wall6targets provides a relatively forgiving medium for practicing all three kinds of flicks. Because of the more forgiving target size, this scenario is great for building speed.
1wall6targets small. The “small” flavor of 1wall6targets helps emphasize precision and is a very effective way of practicing micro and minor flicks. The more accurate one can get their initial ball-park targeting to be, the higher their scores will become. Prioritize accuracy and build speed gradually for best results.
Target Acquisition Flick. In 1wall6targets, it’s typical for a player to immediately aim for the nearest target to their crosshair. This can cause deficiencies in larger flicks. Target Acquisition Flick forces the player to aim for targets that are further away than the often comfortable distances found in traditional scenarios by having ordered targets.
Wide Wall 6 Targets. This scenario provides a wider field of fire, forcing larger flicks across the X axis. This is ideal for games like Overwatch and Quake where targets tend to come from further apart, unlike Counter-Strike and other tactical shooters where more predictable angles dictate fights.
A tip for managing this is to develop a comfortable ‘reset point’. Jump into your desired game and find a comfortable flicking distance. Once you learn the mouse movement required to move that particular distance on-screen you have access to a reliable, near-instant flick shot. When fighting an enemy, after firing, purposely move your crosshair away from your target to the predetermined distance you chose and then flick again. The position you move your crosshair to after firing is considered your reset point.
With practise you can take the guesswork out of flicking and master several different distances and eventually get a sense of how much force to put into the mouse movement for flicks outside of your practised ranges.