Batting Slump

[HighGTrn]

You guys know what I'm talking about. Seems like once a year for a few weeks, I get into a slump. My SA goes to the toilet and my gunnery is worse than usual. My ACM goes out the door and I keep making wrong decisions in a fight. Sure, after the fight I go "yep, I shoulda done this when he did that.." but during the fight my brain farts and stinks up the whole room. My gunnery (which was bad to begin with) is almost non-existent.

You guys ever get like this? Its so sad it makes me laugh now. That is to say I don't even get frustrated anymore, I just laugh at myself after getting kicked back to the tower.  Oh yeah, my latest practice... fly straight into the ground during a fight.

I really love this game.

S1n1ster

[EskimoJoe]

Take a week off, come back next weekend. You'll be cured   

[Soulyss]

I know I sure go into slumps on a fairly regular basis, I'm sure most folks around here have a similar experience.  Sometimes I just suffer through them, they usually last a couple weeks for me.  One thing I did during the last one was head over to the DA and have a night of 1v1's.  

My usual problem in a slump boils down to loss of fine input control or feel, and my brain is working behind the action curve.  I'm slow to react, don't anticipate and I notice I start shooting behind all my targets.  The other associated problems, lack of SA, etc. I think are fueled by my frustration to get a kill, when I can't land the killing shot or get into position I start to get more target fixated.  I don't care what the other planes are doing I'm going to get THIS guy.

Taking myself out of the MA and over to the DA for some 1v1's let's me do away with all the other factors and focus on keeping smooth control inputs and really being able to focus on the opponents E state and get the "feel" back.  

If you win some you feel good about yourself, if you lose some then hopefully you learn something about ACM or turn it into a positive training session.  

[EskimoJoe]

You certainly weren't in a slump last night, Soulyss 

[HighGTrn]

Your're right about the DA Soulyss. I need to spend more time in there when this happens. Last week, a bunch of squadies and I headed over there and mixed it up. It was a blast and I think it helped.

Besides, killing 8Spade in a K4 with him in the 38 had us laughing so hard we could barely fly.  

[maddafinga]

You guys know what I'm talking about. Seems like once a year for a few weeks, I get into a slump. My SA goes to the toilet and my gunnery is worse than usual. My ACM goes out the door and I keep making wrong decisions in a fight. Sure, after the fight I go "yep, I shoulda done this when he did that.." but during the fight my brain farts and stinks up the whole room. My gunnery (which was bad to begin with) is almost non-existent.

You guys ever get like this? Its so sad it makes me laugh now. That is to say I don't even get frustrated anymore, I just laugh at myself after getting kicked back to the tower.  Oh yeah, my latest practice... fly straight into the ground during a fight.

I really love this game.

S1n1ster

Oh man, I'm right in the middle of one of those right now.  My k/d has more than halved and my hit % has dropped from 6-8 down to 2.5 or so over the last month.  It used to happen to me in AW too, though I don't think they tracked the k/d and hit% and all that, I could just tell that I was flying for crap.  It'll go away on its own though, these things just happen. 

Personally though I'll be very glad to stop getting killed by people I've missed perfectly good shots on.

madda

[Qrsu]

I've been in a slump since 2008.

Been stubborn enough to keep at it - hoping to some day be average. 

I don't agree with taking time off (unless you REALLY hate the game) just try switching gears... DA works wonders for me. (Not that furball lake crap mind you.)

[trotter]

I've found that the more years I play this game, the shorter the duration of my slumps. Man, I used to log on after thinking I was hot ****, and I would go 5 or 6 sorties without getting a kill. Now, I still have many bad moments, but within two sorties I'm back to where I should be. "YMMV". Stick with it, and enjoy even the bad sorties.

[MajWoody]

I'm right there with ya S1n1ster. I think I've killed myself more than the nme has. I've been hitting trees, lawn darting, stalling. can't hit watermelon cept the ground.      I took a week off & am just trying it again. Still can't hit nothin but I'm flying a little better.   

[chewiex]

I'm with ya HighG, been in a slump for the past tour and a half. Mainly due to my lack of play time. My job has been providing me with ample amounts of OT finally and my usual 20+ hours per week have dropped to less than half. But, I think my increase in wages is a fair trade for dropping kill tallies any day.

[JunkyII]

Take a week off, come back next weekend. You'll be cured   

Horrible advice, when your in a slump your actually just getting really lazy without even knowing it. You want to play through it, you will end up getting better.

[68ZooM]

Well heck stop using a bat and use the guns man!! 

[Saurdaukar]

You guys know what I'm talking about. Seems like once a year for a few weeks, I get into a slump. My SA goes to the toilet and my gunnery is worse than usual. My ACM goes out the door and I keep making wrong decisions in a fight. Sure, after the fight I go "yep, I shoulda done this when he did that.." but during the fight my brain farts and stinks up the whole room. My gunnery (which was bad to begin with) is almost non-existent.

You guys ever get like this? Its so sad it makes me laugh now. That is to say I don't even get frustrated anymore, I just laugh at myself after getting kicked back to the tower.  Oh yeah, my latest practice... fly straight into the ground during a fight.

I really love this game.

S1n1ster

Take a break... maybe just a week... to get your motivation back, and then get back to basics.

Hire a Trainer to go over the bare bones basic tactics.  Youll be surprised how much of the fundamentals you neglect as you progress and get "cute" with your ACM.

The back-to-basics approach includes the plane selection.  Spitfire 9 is a good choice.  109F-4 is another.  Something early-mid war that can turn in a pinch and forces you to fly smarter.  Without an engine to rely on in times of trouble, youll find yourself relying on other tactics - the successful ones.

[Spikes]

I hit slumps regularly as well. I'm fairing well at the moment, having a few 5+ sorties in my 38J here and there. Dying less than usual. I've lost a few 262s over the past few days as well...I think I tend to fly better under pressure, rather than sitting at 20K and picking. I lawn darted a 262 trying to pick a Ki84 near the deck...completely missed him but compressed before I could pull up. I didn't get all worked up about it though...kinda laughed it off since it was my stupid mistake...turned around and landed 9 in a 38J the next sortie...maybe I should auger more 262s now

[bmwgs]

Still trying to get out of my first slump.  Coming up on three years now.   

 

Fred