Your Best Tip on Getting Better

[ink]

Exactly. You need to think your way through the fight as much as you need to actually maneuver your aircraft.....

I disagree


after thousands of hours of practicing dog fighting...you no longer think....you just react.


as Bruce Lee said

"A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract; and when he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, "I" do not hit, "it" hits all by itself."



the best way to become a better fighter is to practice and never give up the fight no matter what.

the most important part of dog fighting is Aim.

[Skyyr]

You need to think your way through the fight as much as you need to actually maneuver your aircraft.

This is very true. Dogfighting is not an art, it's a science. Now there are some who learn the science like it's an art, but it requires a very active state of mind, critically evaluating every maneuver and weighing it's costs vs its benefits.

If you read the memoirs of the top aces (as in the best of the best, such as Eric Hartmann), they all had a technical, systematic approach to dogfighting. There was no "feeling," unnecessary chances, or hunches; everything was systematic and deliberate.

The same is reflected in my experience. Out of all of the flight sims I've flown, the best pilots were the ones who systematically broke every fight down to a technical level. Certainly there were good pilots who flew by "feeling," but the pilots who chose a structured approach would without fail beat down the ones who flew based on feeling/muscle memory/etc.

And that correlates to difficulty. It's much easier to learn to fly by instinct than it is to evaluate actively. It's more instinctual to fly by instinct then t is to force yourself to process and question every maneuver before you pull it. However, it's worth the extra effort as it creates a very quick and efficient approach to killing your opponent.

[mechanic]

My thought process in a friendly 1v1 is more along the lines of 'what move will make me look the most cool and daring right now?' Closely followed by 'what happens if I try this new idea right here?' and then 'how can I make this fight fun for both of us?'

Winning the fight is a secondary objective to looking like a sky ninja and trying new things whilst also making sure both of us enjoy it.

[glzsqd]

My thought process in a friendly 1v1 is more along the lines of 'what move will make me look the most cool and daring right now?'

Winning the fight is a secondary objective to looking like a sky ninja

You aren't "seeing" anyone, are you? I was wondering if we could grab a drink 

[mechanic]

buy me a few pints of Guinness and some pizza and I'm yours

[The Fugitive]

My thought process in a friendly 1v1 is more along the lines of 'what move will make me look the most cool and daring right now?' Closely followed by 'what happens if I try this new idea right here?' and then 'how can I make this fight fun for both of us?'

Winning the fight is a secondary objective to looking like a sky ninja and trying new things whilst also making sure both of us enjoy it.

.....and this is why I always love fighting bat <S>

So we are all in agreement here,

1. practice, practice, practice whether it's gunnery or flying  this is a must.
2. never give up! fight the fight until the end whether its you in the tower of the other guyS 
3. know the planes, weaknesses, and strengths not only the one your flying but the one your fighting.
4. fight people who are better than you. you can't improve if you don't push yourself.
5. leave your ego at the door. be honorable and respectful and you will have many more opportunities to learn.
6. don't be afraid to ask for help. Be it trainers or the guy that just shot you down. Ask, most will help.
7. with practice and experience learn to think ahead. Go to the place the enemy will go and shoot him there.
8. last and most importantly add Skyrr to your squelch/ignore list. The game is so much more fun this way! 

[glzsqd]

buy me a few pints of Guinness and some pizza and I'm yours

This sentence sums up most girls Ive met.

[DREDIOCK]

Here's one that hits upon a touchy subject. And also repeats a challenge of sorts I made in the GD area

If you want to to learn how to get better. Dont HO.

Forget any ethical arguments on the subject for the moment. This about getting better and not about ethics or the legitimacy of the shot

Ive seen it argued, and yes it is a fast and efficient way of gaining a kill provided you hit what you are aiming at. And/or your opponent doesnt hit you first. Or worse yet. Collide.

 But you dont learn a single thing about ACM or getting better from it or how to deal with situations where your opponent denies you the HO shot. And you better be more then a one trick pony or you can very quickly find yourself on defense or dead if you miss. A very large chunk of the time I end up on someones 6 and shooting someone down is because they HO'd and missed

Here's the challenge. Can you sacrifice a tour of not HOing or HOing and running to ack in any circumstance in an effort to get better?  Doesnt matter 1V1 2V1 3V1. 1V3 etc. Dont take the shot even if its there and even if they do take the shot

If you are used to getting kills by HO. Yes your stats will drop. But I promise you will find yourself better in the long term from the experience because it will have forced you to learn other ways of doing things and it will provide that many more things to you your bag of tricks. That many more tools for you to work with.

To put it in laymens terms and to touch a bit on what Skyyr was talking about. Think about ACM like you would tools in a tool box. Each tool has its own proper uses in the proper circumstance with some tools having multiple uses. But you need more then one too to ultimately be successful
If you're a carpenter. You better have more then just a hammer in your toolbox or you arent much of a carpenter. Sure you can drive a nail in. Or force a piece of lumber into place. But ultimately you need more tools then just a hammer and you have to know how to use them

By not taking the HO shots you are now forced to use other options. Learn new tools and their uses.
Beyond that you will also learn discipline and patience. While it is preferable to dispose of your opponent as quickly as possible. We all know it doesnt always happen that way and being over anxious to get the kill can sometimes lead to mistake that get you either killed or put into a disadvantage.

One tour. Dont HO. You can always go back to HOing next tour. But when you do. You will find thats not the only tool in your bag anymore.

[DmonSlyr]

Here's one that hits upon a touchy subject. And also repeats a challenge of sorts I made in the GD area

If you want to to learn how to get better. Dont HO.

Forget any ethical arguments on the subject for the moment. This about getting better and not about ethics or the legitimacy of the shot

Ive seen it argued, and yes it is a fast and efficient way of gaining a kill provided you hit what you are aiming at. And/or your opponent doesnt hit you first. Or worse yet. Collide.

 But you dont learn a single thing about ACM or getting better from it or how to deal with situations where your opponent denies you the HO shot. And you better be more then a one trick pony or you can very quickly find yourself on defense or dead if you miss. A very large chunk of the time I end up on someones 6 and shooting someone down is because they HO'd and missed

Here's the challenge. Can you sacrifice a tour of not HOing or HOing and running to ack in any circumstance in an effort to get better?  Doesnt matter 1V1 2V1 3V1. 1V3 etc. Dont take the shot even if its there and even if they do take the shot

If you are used to getting kills by HO. Yes your stats will drop. But I promise you will find yourself better in the long term from the experience because it will have forced you to learn other ways of doing things and it will provide that many more things to you your bag of tricks. That many more tools for you to work with.

To put it in laymens terms and to touch a bit on what Skyyr was talking about. Think about ACM like you would tools in a tool box. Each tool has its own proper uses in the proper circumstance with some tools having multiple uses. But you need more then one too to ultimately be successful
If you're a carpenter. You better have more then just a hammer in your toolbox or you arent much of a carpenter. Sure you can drive a nail in. Or force a piece of lumber into place. But ultimately you need more tools then just a hammer and you have to know how to use them

By not taking the HO shots you are now forced to use other options. Learn new tools and their uses.
Beyond that you will also learn discipline and patience. While it is preferable to dispose of your opponent as quickly as possible. We all know it doesnt always happen that way and being over anxious to get the kill can sometimes lead to mistake that get you either killed or put into a disadvantage.

One tour. Dont HO. You can always go back to HOing next tour. But when you do. You will find thats not the only tool in your bag anymore.

Agreed 100%!!

Too many guys go for the HO shot thinking it is the easiest way to get a kill, but it is by far the most dangerous and riskiest way to get a kill. I think your stats would improve if you avoided the HO shot because you probably wouldn't die as much from getting HOed back.

Most of the time avoiding the HO shot and then breaking into a BCM like an emmilman will give you the ultimate advantage as you are one move ahead of them as they are making the shot. You use timing and E awareness to pull an emmillman, you are already performing your ACM while they are still attempting to make the shot. When they miss you are already on top of them ready to loop over. The guy who HOed will be at the disadvantage and the only way they can get away is if they are going super fast, HO, and then continue to fly straight and out run you. But if they choose to pull up, you already have 2 seconds in the emmilman before they do and you can easily get the kill being one move ahead of them. Avoiding the HO is something I do on a regular basis and I gain the advanage over my opponent 98% of the time while eliminating the risk of dying by trying to HO them back. I watch people who I know are going to HO me, I set them up perfectly for a emmilman roll right over the top of them. They wonder how I got on their 6 so quickly. It is a fantastic set up to counter HOers.


And like INK said. Work on your aiming very much. If you can't aim, you are forcing yourself into a longer fight with an easier chance to get picked or make a mistake. Aiming will save you countless time by getting the kill before you get too deep and low n slow in the fight.

[JunkyII]

I wouldn't say it's aim, I would say it's putting yourself in a position that makes aim easier, knowing how to put yourself in a spot for an easy kill shot. 1v1s help you learn this a lot.

[Skyyr]

I wouldn't say it's aim, I would say it's putting yourself in a position that makes aim easier, knowing how to put yourself in a spot for an easy kill shot. 1v1s help you learn this a lot.

Putting yourself in the position for a shot without the ability to aim is worthless. Aim is the single most important skill you can have in a dogfight.

[glzsqd]

Aim is the single most important skill you can have in a dogfight.

Fighting guys like 2cmex really hit this point home for me. Anyone can feel like an super star fighting the likes of the average MA stick, but fighting/dueling guys who know how to aim will shows you just how little you actually know.

[JunkyII]

Putting yourself in the position for a shot without the ability to aim is worthless. Aim is the single most important skill you can have in a dogfight.

If I can't aim as good as someone...but at the same time can put myself into high percentage shot opportunities....am I not going to do as well as someone with great aim who has no clue how to set up a shot?

Great aim isn't going to put a target in the sight.

[glzsqd]

am I not going to do as well as someone with great aim who has no clue how to set up a shot?

Great aim isn't going to put a target in the sight.

If you can't get a target in your sight than you don't have good aim.


Thats how I feel anyway.

[ink]

If I can't aim as good as someone...but at the same time can put myself into high percentage shot opportunities....am I not going to do as well as someone with great aim who has no clue how to set up a shot?

Great aim isn't going to put a target in the sight.

setting up for the shot is part of Aim.