Okay so here’s the thing. For months, I’ve been absolutely getting wrecked playing Valorant on my PlayStation. My buddies on PC? Laser beams. Me? Spraying prayers like a garden hose. It got ugly. Promised the squad I’d stop embarrassing us in Deathmatch. Time to fix this console aim situation.
Felt Completely Lost At First
Honestly, jumped into practice range thinking muscle memory from PC would magically transfer. Big mistake. Snapped the right stick like I was trying to break it, missed stationary bots entirely, felt pure panic. That tiny thumbstick travel is a whole different beast. My thumbs felt clumsy and slow. Realized this wasn’t just about practice; I needed to rebuild aiming from the ground up.
Stopped Trying to Be a Hero
First, dropped my ego. Went back to basics:
- Settings massacre: Wiped my old sensitivity clean. Started super low, like insanely slow. Focused on just moving the crosshair smoothly onto a bot’s head. Felt ridiculous but forced control.
- Thumb discipline: Seriously pretended my right thumb was made of glass. Tiny nudges only. Practiced strafing left/right while keeping the crosshair level – felt like patting my head and rubbing my belly at first.
- Firing range became home: Spent probably two hours just on bots. Slow strafes, tracking heads, tap firing. Only moved the sensitivity up a tiny notch when I could reliably hit ten strafing bots in a row without whiffing.
- Focus on feel, not numbers: Ignored online “pro settings”. Just cranked up my horizontal sense a little because turning corners felt like wading through mud. Vertical stayed lower – looking at the sky/floors constantly helps nobody.
The Painful Deathmatch Grind
Thought I was ready for real players. Nope. Deathmatch was brutal. Got shot in the back constantly because turning still wasn’t fast enough. Panicked, jerked the stick, overshot everything. Almost rage-quit.
Changed tactics:
- Camped corners (shamefully): Yeah, I know. But I picked one busy spot on a map (like Bind B Hall) and just held angles. Focused ONLY on smoothly moving from pre-aim spot to the enemy’s head when they peeked. No crazy flicks.
- Counted my shots: Forced myself to stop spraying. See an enemy? Breathe. Center. Tap-tap-tap. Didn’t matter if I died after landing one headshot – celebrated that one clean kill.
- Slow is smooth, smooth is fast: This became my mantra. Stopped trying to react instantly like on mouse. Prioritized that initial smooth movement onto target first. Speed came later.
It Finally Started Clicking (Literally)
Played probably thirty Deathmatches feeling like a bot myself. Then, one round… it happened. Caught an enemy sprinting across Ascent mid. Didn’t panic. Strafed slightly right, tracked smoothly onto their head, and just tapped R2 once. DING. Headshot. Clean. Felt incredible. Kept grinding Deathmatch, focusing ONLY on those clean kills. Slowly, my kills per match started creeping up. Started winning more close-range duels because I wasn’t spraying like a maniac.
Bottom line? You gotta accept it’s a new skill. Thumbsticks aren’t mice. Start slow, get uncomfortable, focus on control over everything. Grind the range, embrace the Deathmatch pain, and celebrate tiny clean kills. My K/D still isn’t amazing, but it’s climbing, and trading spray n’ pray for actual aimed shots feels so damn good. Now, back to the grind!