Part 2 of the Perfect Practice three part article series is now available.
If you have not seen the first part of this series, or the two interviews accompanying it, please do so first by clicking HERE.
Korean Starcraft teams live together, practice together, eat meals together, and are constantly living and breathing the game together. The Koreans also have a reputation of being the best in the world, and that due to their living conditions –close to professional teammates, access to information and solid stable practice partners- enables them to surpass the rest of the world rather easily in terms of skill. Former Korean Warcraft III professional gamer, and current Starcraft 2 professional, Hyeong ‘check’ Ju Lee, is a strong advocate of this model of living with his teammates, even recently moving into a house in Seoul, Korea with his new Starcraft 2 team, prime. When asked if living together with teammates has any sort of impact, he had this to say,
“Practicing with people in a house is more helpful to improve a players skill level.
The reason is that you can easily ask for advice about your weaknesses and what you need to improve, from people around you. Also, you can share good and new strategies easier than online.”
This leads us into the topic of over exerting yourself; Koreans also hold a reputation for hosting extremely long and intense practices. Some professional teams’ coaches have even noted that some players practice up to 16 hours a day leading up to a major event. This kind of training is of course non-existent in mainstream sports as the human body can only withstand so much until it gives out. But what about the human mind? Can players who practice this much keep it up for long periods of time? The answer to that is no, most usually burn out after a few years and fall to the wayside as new up and comers with similar practice regimes soar past them. Hyeong Ju Lee even admitted that when Starcraft 2 was released he practiced so much that it took a toll on his body, and he had to tone it back a bit.
Professional gamers, much like professional athletes, need breaks to let their body and mind recuperate. Johnathan Wendel still maintains his physical exercise –running- in order to ensure his body and mind are in good health. Professional World of Warcraft player, Max ‘YoG’ Yueh, also agreed that maintaining good physical health is the key to maintaining a healthy mind,
“I also maintain a state of maximum physical fitness to ensure my WoW does not suffer. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind.”
When it comes down to it, when training as a professional gamer, no details should go ignored. Simply because a video game requires a higher mental demand than physical, does not mean that a person should not focus on their physical health as well.
Stay tuned until next week when we will be posting the third and final instalment of this series along with an interview with Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg.
Irene 'iRene' Sanchez Interview
What would you define as ‘perfect practice’?
That’s a very good question. For me ‘perfect practice’ is a match where everybody is focused. That usually happens against a good male team. I can see how we change our “mood” during those games, it’s like we become more serious, and that’s normal, since it’s impossible to play like that in all of our practices.
How do you, as a team, practice?
We play together about 3-4-5 times a week, in general. When we are about to prepare for any new tournament we usually go through new tactics on every map, each map lasts 2 days or something. Then we practice them and see what’s working and what’s not, and choose which ones are more suitable to play with at the tournament. Also at the same time we are practicing our team-play.
How do you, as an individual, practice?
I have a lot of free time nowadays, so after I practice with the team I stay awake every night to play some mixes and ladders with my Spanish friends, it’s nice because they are good and I learn a lot from it. Also I used to play CS DM.
Do your practice methods change when an event is coming up?
Not really the methods, but the time we spend playing. We of course try to play as much as possible so, 5 times a week is the minimum.
How often do you practice with people above your skill level? Do you think say, practicing with the top CS teams in the world like; FnaticMSI, mTw or WeMade FOX would help you improve more quickly than with people of your own skill level?
We always try to practice with people above our level. It’s really hard for us to find a good enemy since when you look for someone on IRC you don’t know their exact level. I think you have to play against both, higher skilled players and players around the same skill level, to improve. It’s not good to always play with people better than you because you will end up overwhelmed haha.
Do you think living with your teammates and bootcamping regularly would improve your teams overall skill, as opposed to simply practicing online and then bootcamping a week or so before the event itself?
Well, I’m not really sure of that. I mean it’s obvious that living together should make us get better, but also there are other possible problems than can affect a team outside the game, and move inside the game. I will say that we get along together perfectly; all of us, but still living together with someone is difficult.
I think I’d be happiest about living together because my Spanish connex is really, really bad and I always practice with bad ping :D.
Sadly, there is an obvious skill gap between male and female CS, do you think that gap is due to the practice methods, or available teams to practice with?
I’ll give you an example, when a team consisting of mid-high players starts, they play against good teams. Of course they don’t win in the beginning, but they get better and better. We don’t have a chance to do that. Good teams just don’t want to practice against us because we are girls. I understand most of them because the female teams are low in general, but some of us take the game very seriously, and we will act the same as those other teams that are mid-high skill.
I’m not saying that we aren’t the best just because of this practice method, just that it’s much more difficult for us to improve as fast as the male teams.
Are there any methods of practicing that you think hinder people rather than help them?
Yes sure, for example with the tactics. If you do a new tactic and it doesn’t work the first 3 times, just let it go, stop trying, because you are wasting your time when there are millions of other tactics. Also the people who just play against teams with a lower level than them, you always win and that’s good, but it’s a little bit of a waste of time when you are preparing yourself to compete.
I also think the playtime you spend with the team is important. Sometimes it’s better to play less hours and play focused and work hard, than spending many hours just droning on. It’s also good to know when it’s time to stop playing, I know there are some teams that fix a schedule and follow it, like we start at 20H and finish at 24H. We don’t work like that, we set the time we start and then we play until we all feel it’s enough, and that’s good, because we usually coincide on that.
If you had your way, what would your teams practice regime be like? How would you structure your schedule, who would you play, would you use aimmaps, etc?
Well, I like the way we practice when we are at home, so I will just explain my perfect bootcamp: the first thing we should decide will be either we play at night until late (because that’s when most of people play CS) or just play in the afternoon and go back to sleep early. I prefer the first option cause I’m a night owl, but this has to be decided by the team. In my perfect bootcamp I wouldn’t go to the computers until 16-17h. We can spend the morning sleeping/visiting/whatever. Then at 17H we can warm up a little bit, like CS DM, aimmap, mix...and then start practicing with the team. In Spain we used to have dinner very late, like at 22H so that’s the perfect time to stop practicing. After that either we can keep on playing if we feel like it, or just take free time.
In this type of practice scenario I would like to find a good team, usually one that we personally know, and play a map cycle against them. That’s a good choice.
What would you suggest to beginners who are just starting out, that want to improve their game and that might not be as experienced or skilled, as say professional players.
I will say that you should be patient, things don’t just work in the beginning all of a sudden. Look at me, I have been playing with female teams since 2004 (I think haha) and now it’s my time to ‘shine’. Try to find players with the same aspirations as you, that’s very important, and then work and work. Years ago I never thought I’d be in the situation where I am now but it happened so, it’s possible!
Hyeong 'check' Ju Lee Interview
What would you define as ‘perfect practice’?
For a league, finding a way to win no matter what your opponents do, by analyzing official maps.
For usual practice, it’s practicing more and more focusing on essential plays (such as micro, macro, improving each aspect and productivity) that you lack.
How do you structure your day to day practice?
I don’t practice with any special plans. I usually practice by ladder games and custom games to accumulate practical experience.
Do you ever focus on one section of your game such as micro or macro and simply practice to improve that aspect of your game?
I practice more to have wider range of knowledge and to know which are good and bad responses when your opponent does something.
Do you think playing in a house such as the pro teams in Korea would help to improve a players skill level quicker than playing with people online?
Practicing with people in a house is more helpful to improve a players skill level.
The reason is that you can easily ask for advice about your weaknesses and what you need to improve, from people around you. Also, you can share good and new strategies easier than online.
Do your practice methods change when there is an event coming up?
When there is an event coming up, I play more custom games than ladder games and practice focusing on a certain opponent’s preferable strategy or pattern.
Do you ever play the other races to learn their mechanics and strategies?
Yes. It’s very good practice to learn their mechanics and find a weak point.
Do you think you can practice too much? Practicing to a point where it does more harm than good?
When SC2 was just released, I practiced a lot (slept for 5hours a day) and lost 2kg weight in a week. I think that practicing with moderate brakes is good for your efficiency.
Are there methods of practicing that people use that you think don’t work?
Practicing with a player who is a lot worse than you does not work.
When you reach the top of your game, like you have, how do you continue to practice to improve? Do you ever feel like you have hit a plateau in your skill level?
I don’t play W3 anymore because I retired… I am now practicing SC2.
For SC2, I always practice overall balance (micro, strategies and improving aspects of my game) and specifically now, I think I lack multitasking and productivity compared to SC1 professional players, so now I’m focusing on these things.
What would you suggest to beginners who are just starting out, that want to improve their game and that might not be as experienced or skilled as say professional players?
First, check more GOSU’s replays.
Second, concentrate targeting unit compositions and be more careful for your heroes when you are in action. After these, you might be a better skilled player.
P.S. to my fans:
Although I am out of WC3, I’m keeping up with practicing SC2 with all of my effort to show you good play. Thus, cheer for me please!! ^_^ :D
3 comments
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To be pro, you need mental and physical balance throughout your body.
nice read!
You only think that it doesn't demand physical performance, but it does. Thinking is the hardest sport for the human body, it spend tons of calories, its fact. That's why you need to sleep, keep a healthy body, eat well and, of course, keep eating during events. Your brain cells, also called neurons, are full filled with water and as the time passes by, you lose part of it, the neuron then will get slow, you'll get tired, your body will need some sleep, or a lot of water. Srsly, it's a shame that people do not recognize e-sport as a real sport and, treat games like childish stuff, cuz its not.