How To Get Good - Breaking The Skill Ceiling

When you're playing heaps and you just can't seem to get any better, it's time for a change. Breaking the skill ceiling isn't easy. You can watch the pros play, challenge people better than you and just play all day. But at some stage, you're going to hit a limit.
I talked about one kind of change in the video, but it applies to everything in life. Eat different foods. Exercise differently. Take up a new sport. Listen to new music. Do whatever it takes to get your brain trying to learn and achieve again.
Doing the same thing over and over will get you stuck in a rut. As humans, we are built to adapt and strive to improve... that's why we need change. That's part of why people go on holidays too!
So if you're stuck, make some positive changes. Challenge yourself in new ways. And hopefully, that'll get you past your current skill ceiling.
Other "How To Get Good" videos...
Focus On You kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5_Ug3mQhrqfqLs
Act, Don't React: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJzKfnlnnKiqf9k
Train for the Worst: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKDUf36HnZikZ5o
Let It Flow: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYereYOPesSFlc0
Play With Confidence: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJ_RnqGcfN9rpMk
Can "gamers" be healthy? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXfPaot9YtOreKM
Don't Be "Too Old": kzbin.info/www/bejne/a53ahnuPrdB6e68
Desensitize: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gn7Xi3ebZ5KhmJI
Get It Done: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIrZgneXaJyLabc
Keep Trying: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHabnmykbLald5Y
Set A Goal: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bajdaXiXp8aqndE
Use Your Anger: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nKa5XqCwaZqha80
Set Your Narrative: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5ycZKljg9yta7M
Do It Naturally: kzbin.info/www/bejne/maa0Zmaefqqfe5o
Play Raw: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKbWdYZnqbmtja8
Fun Not Rage: kzbin.info/www/bejne/roaTZmyfYr91bqM
Skill VS Talent: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZmtcmqFhb1oeas
Pressure Situations: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJ3KpmqZia5kpbM
Winning Mindset: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHqtd5eMfsp7mJI
_____________________________________
MY LINKS
Website: www.rocketjumpninja.com
Mouse Recommendations Direct Link: www.rocketjumpninja.com/find-a-mouse/
Twitter: @RocketJumpNinja
Facebook: rocketjumpninja
My Books: www.theheroesfall.com
My Music: soundcloud.com/zyism
The music used in this is currently unreleased, and a work in progress.

[@michaelrainone]

This one talk about skill in games gave me more feels and different emotions than the ending to titanic.

[@KindOldRaven]

Lmao! Love this comment

[@raith8032]

Another episode of life lessons with Zy

[@Hello-nx5yy]

Ikr

[@Weech.]

I've gone through some hard times" Shows CoD gameplay. lol

[@yodamunkey]

Hahahahaha I didn't even pick up on that but that is gold.

[@dfmdirt_rally8262]

1:34 "You see - life isn't about mastering one art. It's about developing the potential to master all of them." That's beautiful! As a programmer it reminds me of why learning LISP - even if you never use it beyond that point - makes you a better programmer. You could also say it's about extending one's horizon... ... just to grow.

[@Nove4life]

I had this issue, and am now just starting to "raise" the ceiling after a year of no progress. I have been focused on improving my aim for a year straight, even used the same sensitivity for a year beileving that I would develop insane muscle memory if thats all i used for a year and all I did is deathmatch and practiced and pracitced. I actually progressively got worse. I recently "changed" and I think I needed it. I changed my sensitivity. I wouldnt change your sensitivity every day or week, but if you are stuck and your working on your aim or reflexes and you aren't improving after a month or so, change it up, maybe your forcing yourself to use a sensitivity that isnt meant for you. You are right, if you play to long you will get burnt out and if you dont ever make change and you arent improving, you most likely wont. Just taking a break from the game, and playing for fun and then changing my sensitivity did it for me. And I play at a high level, I need to improve constantly, I am already at the top of the game I play, placed top 3 in a few ESL tournaments, but I dont want to be a top level I want to be the best, but sometimes if you work to hard for something you dont get results and get burnt out and need a break and change. Great vid Zy.

[@ILLSTATZ]

just curious what did you do to get beyond that ceiiling? because your situation is very similar to mines, what are you doing now that was different from trying to improve aim and muscle memory?

[@MrInstinctGamer]

Lel, me. I came back after 6 months of not playing CS:GO as competitively due to just being overall exhausted and wanting to focus on CS, I recently tried playing around with my sens and even missing with black bars. I will admit though, I ultimately went back to my old sens and feel better. It's really weird but just this sens feels like the best middle ground for my awping and rifleing, however I want to change it up again and grab a zowie ec series while i'm at, the curves on the DA are too much.

[@AweofTech]

Great advice Zy. Makes me think so much of the application of this advice outside of gaming. In my old work, I was amazing when I was hungry and brought a 1000% *will to win* and was not afraid to push the boundaries. As I got tired and burnt out even though I was "better" in theory because of more experience... I was not as successful because that drive and hunger burnt out over time.

[@smilE-vu4rz]

did not think I would find you here

[@user-kt8sx9tj2y]

Interesting video, i noticed that when all of my day is just gaming i start playing very badly, and also when i leave a game for about a week and then comeback to it i tend to play much better, its all about not doing the same thing all the time as you will just get burnt out and unmotivated.

[@RocketJumpNinja]

Same and agreed!

[@saiko361]

Same here, but I do not take breaks, I do physical activities instead. If i don't feel physically fit, I don't feel mentally fit, and it affects my gaming performance a lot.

[@braiNN]

it's different for everyone. I play better if I just play through the slump. Other people play better when they take a break.

[@user-kt8sx9tj2y]

***** yea it used to be like that, i probably still can do that to be honest, but i find that doing that can drag out a slump for a very long time for me, so what i do is just completely stop playing the certain game im having a problem with (or playing games in general if its in all games) and just generally avoid content that is related to the game/games so when ill come back in to it ill be refreshed and motivated, but of course that is just how it is for me it might be different to you/other people.

[@user-kt8sx9tj2y]

YLwSky i find that when you shift the focus in you're life away from just gaming you generally get better as you have more variety to what you do and its not the same thing over and over again which can just drive a person mad, i know it defiantly happend to me at some points of my life when all i did all day is game, it also happens for people that have jobs that take must of they're day, its just a side affect of doing something everyday for many hours, doesn't matter how much you love that certain thing.

[@KotauFPS]

"breaking" that skill ceiling is more of a metaphor for motivation, but it works the same whether you raise it or break it; there'll always be a ceiling above you that you seemingly can't go through. of course, your approach to this is something that just makes sense out of this whole analogy: you wouldn't brute force through a wall, you'd find an alternate way or you'd find tools to make your way through it. that is to say, you'd distance yourself a bit from the whole thing, so you can see the entire picture better; where you're failing or where you should be heading towards instead.

[@HomesliceHobbes]

Just wanted to say this is really what I needed in game and in my life right now. I know this is an old video so you might not see this comment but it really opened up my eyes to why I feel I actually play worse the more time I dedicate my main game. I'm stuck at the moment but I think I've found a way out now. It'll just take time.

[@RocketJumpNinja]

That's really great to hear. Keep trying new things. In my experience, it's usually not one big answer, but a thousand little ones... variety helps cover as much ground as possible when finding those little pieces to the puzzle. Same as diet really, if we eat the same thing over and over, we're less likely to get all the nutrients we need, so a healthy diet is usually a fairly diverse one. Good luck!

[@Frawt]

I think a fair point to make with the diet metaphor is also that if you eat the same thing for a long time, you go from really loving it to getting completely sick of it. Motivation is a big part of being good at something, and I feel those little changes help me, if not immediately improve, definitely make the experience more enjoyable. Getting frustrated and having exhaustion of a game on top of that will never, ever, ever lead to improving.

[@umaid5111]

great video this should teach those a lesson who sit down play all day and rage.

[@TennessseTimmy]

This is so relatable. Im currently trying to keep playing even when im tired or feeling bad. What helps is realizing that im in a rutt and seeing myself in third person. Then I realize what's wrong

[@TJ__23]

you deserve more subscribers goddamit

[@Ethiixx]

This has to be one of my favorite videos of all time, mostly because I can relate to every single thing you're saying, and a lot of what youre saying applies to outside of gaming as well. Keep up the awesome work :)

[@phy1umgamer]

I completely agree with what you're saying in this video. When I first went to uni I studied Classical Music Performance, and that degree was all about learning how to learn. Learning how to analyse all of the tiny details about how you play, learning how to practice controlling even the slightest movements. Performers don't just learn one piece really well, they have to be able to overcome any number of challenges in new pieces within fixed timeframes. It taught me a lot of really useful skills I apply all the time, even in Quake.

[@Werty]

I played Battlefield 4 competitive for about 2 years. In the beggining, I was playing really really bad. Then I took a break, and meanwhile I bought CS:GO. I played it for like three months and then I got back to Battlefield 4. The result? A ~300% improvement. I was not used to tapping and compensating the recoil in BF4, which I learned in CS:GO (whose recoil was even harder to master than BF4). Then, when I got back to BF4 and it was so easy to control the recoil, I was playing so much better. I eventually got to the point of winning a 24-team infantry only tournament, which I find my best achievement.

[@jonathannajarro8607]

2:52 "life is a process, and not a result"

[@yellowpanthermedia7481]

I really want to thank you a lot for your videos, ever since I started watching and implementing what you've talked about I have actually improved a lot.

[@RocketJumpNinja]

Glad to hear it, you're welcome!

[@johannesugb]

Zy, you are one of the greatest human beings out there! This video helps me so much, making me more confident in the decisions I take in my life (not talking about games, actually ^^) Thank you!

[@lidistus1340]

Best video to date man. Absolutely got to me not gonna lie. Been playing Reflex lately (My quake live has not been working. Stutters and shit its weird.) and boy have i been getting mad or just lost it. So thanks. Now I do see how i can get better :D.

[@IndianNinja8299]

U do the two things i need: gaming advice and gaming hardware reviews. U should have a lot more subs at based on ur content. Keep it up!

[@Jeorl_]

Thanks for your insight Zy! I love how many of your lessons apply not only to games, but to our perspective of life as well. I'm looking forward to your next videos about these lessons and of course, mouse reviews.

[@mrbluelw88]

Some of these vids have a real gem of wisdom. Strangely enough it was dark souls that helped me regain the patience to play cs without raging.

[@968Taiki]

Great video Zy! Some pretty wise words that can be applied to anything in life!

[@mccafferty999]

Zy I've watched all your videos and you never disappoint, especially this one. This is genuinely useful advice, I am a cs player always looking for new ways to improve and this video let me realise that I am too set in my ways and that's why I've stopped progressing as quickly in recent months. When I started playing cs I would always try new things and learn quickly from what worked and didn't, this video has motivated me to start taking risks again and trying new things, because the knowledge I gain is a lot more valuable than if I lose a single round because I tried something new. btw your reviews also helped me choose my mouse, I got the benq zowie za13 and its works great for me thanks Zy!

[@davidzhou3923]

It is inspiring. When I say I stuck in GM one tricking Pharah for four years ppl think I am felxing. But for real, I suck on other characters and every time I try playing some other heroes, I just withdraw when been ass kicked. Guess it is always a good time to try something new.

[@damianhenniger]

Great video man, hope your channel grows and grows. I want to see more!

[@YoloMonstaaa]

This video was super motivating bro, thanks!

[@alexismedina8065]

Well... that got real at the end. Great advice and great video. I actually improved some of my Battlefield positioning by simply trying other guns that forced me to shoot from a further distance. Trying different things showed me other ways of handling engagements.

[@harkdandy]

You are on my top 3 favorite KZbinrs, I love everything you do.

[@matthewwaring8679]

this was a deep video man! Keep up the good work man

[@honeytoasted1820]

Love these videos man. This didn't only help me in gaming but basketball

[@conorexmcbrent2827]

So true. Well said Zy

[@RotaMartin]

Hey man, this is the second video I've seen from you and it was really insightful, I've never thought about it that way. I'm generally satisfied with my life and now I think that I know why, because I do so many different things and passion for one thing feeds the other.

[@RocketJumpNinja]

Good to hear, keep doing what you do, and more!

[@RacoonAndres]

Thanks man I needed this type of video :)

[@JustValiant]

dude this was amazing! I needed this wisdom to improve again thank you

[@EdwardGordington]

holy shit this spoke to me on way more levels than gaming, powerful words and a great video, subscribed.

[@Bigmenno]

thanks, amazing video keep on doing this believe me your channel will explode one day!

[@Dawelio]

Just absolutely epic this video was!

[@droogbear649]

Favorite video of yours yet

[@jasonarnaldo8126]

Awesome video. I needed this lol

[@Technostorm153]

Great video man. Thank you

[@biocode4504]

Very helpful video Zy. :) I was struggling with improving, and I didn't know why I couldn't improve for the longest time. It especially hit me earlier today when I played incredibly bad in CS:GO, possibly my worst "bad day" yet. So for me, this video was perfectly timed. lol Thanks for making this. :)

[@RocketJumpNinja]

That's cool, you're welcome!

[@nicolasjochem1814]

wow incredible, thanks a lot it really affirmed and strengthened my approach

[@isaiahforba7733]

Well darn, that was deeper than expected.

[@overlow91]

I do really like and appreciate these How To Get Good videos you do, they make me think not only ways to improve myself but also think how have I allready improved and raised different skiil ceilings in my life. I'll share a bit of my gaming journey with you guys, to hopefully share some hope of improving. First of all, being from poor family I have had acces to games starting when I was 13 at which point it was rpg:s worms etc. I have really started playing fps in 2009 when I was 17 with TF2, after which I quickly realized I have terrible aim so I downloaded some free quake clone and played railgun only servers for somewhile to improve my aim. After I went back to TF2 I noticed that now I can aim and be decent with the classes I enjoyed most (pyro, demo, medic) and due to my class picks I started to get really good sence of what is the situation in the match and knowing who is a spy. After that came bf3 where I learned a lot of positioning and flanking and to engage enemies in "unfair" fights starting to shoot their backs to get the edge to myself who lacked the reflecses and aim of 15yo teens who have played fps games much longer than I have. Then I found Tribes: ascend, got hooked to that for a littlewhile and during that time I picked/refined my skills with projectile weapons and knowing where the enemy will be to hit those crazy long spinfusor shots. After the littlebit I spend with tribes and got back to tf2 and bf3 I suddenly found myself hitting crazy airpipes with demoman and blasting jets/helicopters our of the sky with tank shells and rpg:s Then 2 years ago my friends overtalked me to join them in CS:GO at which I was terrible and initially we only played it couple of months. After that I decided alone that well if I have this game maybe I just go and play it myself as currently it is the king of aim/reflecs shooting so maybe if I play it a bit I can get better refleckes and aim. Then in a course of one year I rose from silver 3 to dmg. Now I am in a point where I now rival all of my frieds who have played fps games 2 times longer than me. Having some unique skills they don't have despite having played games so much longer than me. Just because I always have had the will to get better and trying new/different things to achiece that.

[@thatanimeguy2880]

Tldr

[@chumbuck7872]

wow.deep.

[@n1njaweedman]

Nice lesson for anyone Zy! I am predominantly a Battlefield player, I was at top of my game 10 years ago adn started to play worse and worse as time went on, experiencing pretty much the same feelings as you. I left that series and played counter strike, pub g, Overwatch and doom MP for a year or so while not daring to look at my stats, be negative toward other players and focus merely on fun. then upon returning to battlefield i am destroying round after round as i used to! Mixing it up is the best way for any gamer to improve. dont be worried that because one game has different shooting mechanics it'll affect your preferred game, its like riding a bike, you adjust so fast.

[@PheelingCool]

Philosophical, a change of rhythm but still good.

[@ShadowxXx36O]

Love you for this

[@BEZQu4liTy]

great FPS player, who actually knows about life too. great video man, i could really relate to it.

[@Derimos]

Great one!

[@godlikekitten]

Was watching mouse review videos and decided this would be probably kinda neat also. (Overwatch thumbnail helped too). I've felt like this before as someone who has always wanted to be super good at FPS and in recent years Super Smash Bros. This video was on point and I hope more people can learn and understand from it because it has been very important. Been crazy addicted to Overwatch lately and it's helped my Smash game quite a bit despite what people in that community say. The game has taught me to think of things in Smash differently that kind of didn't make sense or were fuzzy before plus it's less stressful than a tournament so it's good to blow off steam. Anyway instead of rambling I just want to say again that I agree wholeheartedly with what was said in the video. Also just subscribed keep up the good work man :)

[@RocketJumpNinja]

Thanks for commenting, glad to have you with us. :)

[@djdelta777]

wow.. inspirational! thanks dude

[@GustavoMsTrashCan]

I see what you meant. Thanks for sharing.

[@user-ns7ps7pg8e]

Thanks man!

[@Schmidteren]

Great video.

[@matthewpaikoff3269]

amazing video like always Zy :)

[@gwendrifts7676]

wow. much inspire. very skill. such master.

[@frizbeevideo]

Great video, and very impressive gameplay! Far better than I can do! I'd love to see some vids from you of extended gameplay footage where you talk a bit about your skills/tactics, and what we, your viewers, can study/practice in order to reach your level of play. Especially with Quake, which you're evidently very good at due to thousands of hours of practice, it'd be nice if you could share some of that insight with thoze of us that are less familiar with it.

[@TheCAMPER1996]

that was deep. and very good.

[@inso3971]

Man you are awesome!

[@TheVocoderGuy]

Life is the art of mastering all abilities, nice!

[@crdtsjby]

Thank you

[@thomasmei3443]

Very inspiring

[@tinnitusthenight5545]

Come for the Quake stay for the motivation

[@fqidz]

bruh underrated video

[@raimoa1ramsky]

Best video in a while :D

[@RocketJumpNinja]

Glad you like it. :)

[@Kolop315]

10/10 great video

[@rymnd6c28]

I'm just gonna assume you're about 30-ish years old (cause you know, math..) and after watching you're how to get good videos, you're pretty wise for your age I gotta say. Love it when you gave those advise that are applicable not only in games but in life too. Really enjoyed it and really helpful for me. Thanks!

[@IAmSapphire]

Great video!

[@nyke207]

Very good Video keep it up!

[@MrMuhda]

Great and Interesting video, Thanks.

[@chrisbenn]

Nice video :-)

[@chnlng00]

Wow, that was beautiful. :')

[@masterninjahh]

i found that ninja gaiden helps me be better at other games, after playing it for a while then going to another game im just a god. in ninja gaiden you have to learn to track enemies off screen and have insane reaction times. i highly recommend trying it out, ninja gaiden 1 and 2 are known as some of the hardest games ever made and they are super fun also.

[@itsQRFxScully]

Great vid!

[@fl0w514]

Awesome / helpfull video :)

[@Azabazay5]

I didn't notice it and watching this video I understood why change is so important. Thank you Zy for doing great work. :) P.S. I enjoyed your videos and got my EC2-A by BenQ 3-4 days ago and I love it. What are your thoughts about making posts on reddit or somewhere else?

[@EnnTomi1]

everything works the same principles. games, study, works, job, business. use your brain to go forward, not just muscle

[@DestroManiak]

Wow what a heavy hitting video out of no where.

[@bdinh3130]

I came for the strafe jumping tutorial, stayed for the life advice.

[@depresskam]

came here to aim. didn't expect to get sad ov3r my life problems get a life lecture xD but your video is very good ^_^ I too got a little obsessed recently

[@raghaf2007]

well said bro

[@NickSharpx]

Awesome video ad Always Zy

[@paulboogaard4219]

this video was deep.

[@masont.bridge5872]

Holy shit why did this hit deeper than it should

[@EntersilverHD]

The last sentence was the most important ;)

[@Crowoly]

although I didn't understand that perfectly because I am a Non-English person, I agree with you!

[@patiman123]

Nice video as always, Zy. It really did teach me alot, so thank you! And btw, I recently played Quake Live (I'm a noob lol) and I am wondering, are you supposed to take damage when rocket jumping? You don't seem to do it in your videos, but when I played, I did take damage, and sometimes killed myself when rocket jumping... :D

[@steph1792]

That's remind me of some stuff said in "Gorin no sho" by Miyamoto Musashi, nice way of thinking

[@godatlas]

Ended up feeling like this was a vsauce video where I end up thinking about life itself in one of those hardcore- "who am I" moments.

[@Rekive]

words from a god

[@jonnolags]

AMAZ VID

[@joaocastro2416]

Zy you are amazing.

[@chriscorrupted]

I seem to improve if I take a few days off from playing Quake. I've been playing since 2002. I've noticed after a few days off I play some of my best games in the very beginning.

[@jbaker895]

I LOVE YOU BRO

[@cvb8778]

came out just right in time during my slump, don't even want to look at my qlstats anymore.

[@EGG-gj1dt]

a very inspiring nice

[@eastw1nd]

good shit

[@eatyofacen00b]

sic vid mang