Some players are vocal about their belief that aim training is ineffective and that all necessary skills to succeed can be built by playing the game in question. While it’s technically true that skills are developed over time by simply playing the game, it certainly can’t be said that this is the best way to get better. More importantly, aim training is not to be a substitute for playing in a real game environment, but to optimally train for that environment.
Aim training, specifically the flavor found in KovaaK 2.0, is designed to provide an isolated training environment for specific skills. For example, an Apex Legends player might be weak in their tracking. When playing the game, they are inclined to avoid this weakness to increase their odds of winning engagements. They may position themselves such that tracking fights are avoided, avoid picking up tracking weapons entirely, or, if they are forced into a tracking engagement, lose the fight quickly and only practice the skill for a very short duration. Aim training in a controlled environment allows for both the rapid repetition of situations and the prevention of avoidance tendencies, both conscious and subconscious.
This kind of training is strikingly similar to practicing a musical instrument. A violinist may struggle with specific movements like string crossing or octave shifts. Such movements certainly do occur in pieces they may practice, but to practice these motions violinists do not simply repeat these pieces in bulk playing sessions. Instead, they focus their efforts on repeating the specific weakness in isolation, external from the context of the piece. Studies have indicated that targeted practice has measurable benefits compared to bulk practice.
Esports competitors have the capacity to target specific weaknesses the same way. For example, a player may identify a weakness in their ability to rapidly acquire small, moving targets accurately. Instead of relying on the game to present them with situations where this occurs, they can instead use a scenario like 1wall5targets_pasu – track to repeatedly practice this skill. An Apex Legends player may have difficulty tracking players at steep vertical angles. These situations occur in typical games much less frequently than engagements on level or near-level ground. In the sandbox, however, there are a large selection of scenarios for this specific weakness (for aiming both up and down!).
For musicians, practicing these targeted skills in comparatively large amounts relative to existing skills allows for the existing skills to break through plateaus. These studies also showed that “deliberate restructuring” of the way a musician practices allows for them to more quickly and easily overcome blocks in their growth. “Deliberate restructuring,” in this case, means both reorganizing the way the subject practices and injecting new practice methods into their existing routines. This is what is often referred to as leaving the “comfort zone,” where musicians and athletes attempt new techniques that require undeveloped or underdeveloped skills.
Aim training allows for such measures to be more easily taken for esports competitors. Most esports titles today offer a relatively limited amount of training resources, making it difficult to drastically change the way players practice in the game itself. Players typically need to have a partner help them with specific situations where they find weakness, and as such may not be able to practice as often or as long as necessary to make significant improvements. KovaaK 2.0 lets players create their own scenarios to recreate these specific situations and play against realistic dodging opponents without the need for sparring partners or advanced scripting knowledge. Players have the capacity to drastically change the way they practice with a few button presses, helping them break through plateaus more rapidly.
A related topic that has been vocalized by some players is the belief that aim training is unnecessary for some games that require what they perceive to be a single, restricted skillset. For example, at no point in a game of Counter-Strike will you need to track a target to perfection. Why bother practicing these skills? There are two reasons. First, the act of aiming is not one “style” of aiming in isolation. Even with one-hit-kill weapons, the act of acquiring and hitting a moving target requires tracking motions. Practicing exclusively one skillset leaves these areas comparatively weak, resulting in deficiencies in aim. Second, training currently underdeveloped skillsets enables the motor cortex to build novel connections, which improves the ability of the brain to route existing connections.
While it’s true that aim training (and aim itself) is not the single, definitive way to practice and is no substitute for game reps, it is a key component of long term success. Consider the scenarios KovaaK 2.0 to be your exercises with your instrument, or your drills for your sport. Watching game film and playing scrimmages is still critically important, but there is always room to improve your mechanics and technique. Matches are where you prove your skills and demonstrate your improvement. Play the game, identify your weaknesses, and solve them in KovaaK’s.