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the bruised knee
 

For most of my SC2 journey so far I’ve been using a very rigid 20-games-per-day program to keep track of my progress & make sure I haven’t been slacking off. I haven’t hit 20 games per day every single day for the past 1.5 years, but I think I can safely say that I hit 75%. On average my daily played games would hover around 16-18 SC2 games.

What I didn’t calculate into this was that 20 games was actual in-game games played. This didn’t include replay analysis, build refinement, reading up on strategies, VODs etc. I think I can safely say that when I’m not working, or spending time with family, 95% of my ‘off-time’ is spent on SC2. Probably explains the complete burnout in the past 2 weeks as I kept this up for over a year.

So the problem with 20 games a day was this. I was always in a mental battle with the number 20. When I don’t hit 20 games, I feel guilty and disgusted that I haven’t worked hard enough to achieve my dream. When I do hit 20 games sometimes it’s forcefully mashed out & feels like work instead of pleasure. Sometimes hitting 20 makes me want to stop even though I still have the energy to go on as well.

For the past weeks I’ve been trying to play games without a quota. Simply playing games, till I feel physically or mentally fatigued. The results? I went for bonus pool clearing session on both my accounts 2 days before ladder lock to get a last minute GM promo, in 2 days I played 56 games. The games felt healthy & enjoyable whether win or lose, perhaps because I wasn’t chasing a quota, but something else for a change. I sat for a few sessions days after that to refine mechanics, by the time I was done I had played 16 ladder games in 2 hours.

What now? I feel it’s time to try something new. The old scheme has helped me climb the ladder & understand the basics/fundamentals of SC2. I feel I’m starting to graze on something deeper, more refined. The new training program that I’m embarking on is simply being water.


“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
- Bruce Lee


I will still train everyday, taking 1 or maximum 2 days off a week but the number of games played a day no longer has a limit. I’ll simply train until my brain or wrists say “ENOUGH!”, whether that’s 12 or 24 or 36 games. Today’s the first day of this program, only hit 10 games today going 6W4L. Every game felt amazing, win or lose I was learning something, and no longer just adding a number~




the bruised knee,
Reere.

Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/ReereSC
Twitter: @ReereSC
Blog: http://reeresc.tumblr.com/

Re: the bruised knee
 

Just popping in to say...

My favourite Bruce Lee quote!
Bruce Lee > Chuck Norris

Re: the bruised knee
 

Jesus Christ 20 games a day. Amazing effort.

Re: the bruised knee
 

Only thing I could think of while reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5reDsSIiAk

Keep at it! Be water!

Re: the bruised knee
 

i play 3 games a day atm then rage at something that isnt imba but i call it imba and play LoL

Re: the bruised knee
 

Reeeeeeeeeeeere

Re: the bruised knee
 

Completely agree, except Chuck is still alive ;p

Thank you! 20 games is actually not THAT many imo. Consider a average pro player hits 60-80 on a daily basis. It should take 2.5-4 hours to hit 20 games depending on how swiftly you chain your "Find Match" button after a game.

HAHA awesome clip! Water's the plan!


In the few games I've dabbled in LoL lately, the rage that follows LoL seem stronger than SC2 haha and some imba champions too!

Baaaaaaaaaaallllllllllldddddddddddddiiiiiiiiiieeee eeeeeeeeeee

Re: the bruised knee
 

20 games a day without practicing specific things is okay, but you don't forget to always be focusing on 1-2 key things in certain matchups. Also, getting a buddy to analyze replays for you is very refreshing, as often we glaze over our mistakes with our eyes since we know our train of thoughts of why we did things, but other say "the **** did you do this for". That's something that has helped me at least, and increasing your knowledge of what can be done in what situations seperates the gm's from the high gm's etc!

Re: the bruised knee
 

Yep yep! You're absolutely right!

The 20 games a day quota I put on myself is just that even on a day I was feeling lazy or out of it, I still had the commitment to complete it. On days like those my mentality was, 20 games is better than 0 games no matter what the training was.

The 20 games wasn't specifically ladder games too. Any games, that required a full game run-through, be it practice with a buddy on a specific matchup, build order refinement, or plain mechanics treadmill training vs AI.

I wholeheartedly agree that it's very important to focus only on a 1-2 things during training. Playing games for the sake of playing games perhaps it helps in BSGD simply for experience and exposure, but imo mid-Master+ the little details start to matter and small hiccups start to add up.

Currently I've found it most useful having a practice buddy. Playing 10-20games in a row of the exact same thing is something so valuable and scarce in SC2~

Re: the bruised knee
 

I barely play 8 games a day or so, 20 games a day is insane. Are games shorter in GM than in masters or something? I sometimes play a full 8 hours in weekends and still barely fit in ~20 - replay analysis not included.

I should 6pool more often

Re: the bruised knee
 

I've found games to be similar lengths in all leagues actually. Hmm, I think you might be doing other stuff in between, as even a 2-5minute breather in between games add up over 20 games. I've found again and again that if as soon as a game finishes i spam the find match button, 4 hours is more than enough to hit 20 games. I never cheese, never 6pool. My play-style is more macro oriented.