Glossary

Short definitions of the aim-training terms used across this wiki, in our own words, each linked to the page that explains it in more depth.

Benchmark¶

A benchmark is a fixed set of scenarios you run once and compare against a wider player base. You re-run it later to check whether you're improving, rather than judging a session by feel. See Benchmarks.

Clicking¶

Clicking is the category covering acquiring a target and landing a single shot or short burst on it. Dynamic clicking targets something already moving, static clicking a stationary target, and linear clicking a hybrid where the target moves along a single predictable line. See Clicking.

cm/360¶

cm/360 is the physical distance your mouse has to travel across the pad to turn your in-game view a full 360 degrees.

Because it's measured in real-world distance, it's comparable across any game, engine, or mouse, unlike raw DPI or sensitivity numbers on their own. See Sensitivity.

Death grip¶

Death gripping is holding the mouse far harder than control needs, often under pressure or when coordination is still developing.¹

Held for long stretches, that grip irritates the hand and forearm muscles, and pain from it signals inflamed tendons.¹ See Tension Management.

DPI¶

DPI (dots per inch) is how far your mouse cursor moves on screen per inch of physical mouse movement. It's set on the mouse itself, not in a game.

On its own it doesn't tell you how a sensitivity feels in a given game. eDPI and cm/360 exist to make it comparable. See Sensitivity.

eDPI¶

eDPI (effective DPI) is your mouse DPI multiplied by your in-game sensitivity multiplier.

Two players with the same eDPI move their crosshair the same amount for the same hand movement in that game. But eDPI is only comparable within one game, not across different games. See Sensitivity.

Flick¶

A flick is the fast, committed mouse motion that acquires a target you're not already on. It's the core motion behind clicking scenarios.

Good technique lands the flick on the target with only a small correction left over, rather than a rough first pass fixed up afterward. See Clicking.

FOV¶

Field of view (FOV) is the extent of the game world visible on screen at once, usually set in degrees.²

FPS¶

FPS (frames per second) is how many frames your game renders each second. Blur Busters' testing found that with V-Sync off, a frame rate above refresh still lowers input lag.³ See Setup and Gear.

Hz¶

Hz (hertz) is a monitor's refresh rate: how many times per second it redraws the screen.

A higher refresh rate shortens the time between frames the display can show. A 240Hz display refreshes more often than a 144Hz one, so less time passes between frames. See Setup and Gear.

Micro-adjustment¶

A micro-adjustment is a small correction made mostly with the fingers and wrist, rather than a large arm-driven motion. It's used to settle precisely onto a target or hold a track. See How Aim Works.

Overflick¶

Overflicking (also called overshooting) is landing a flick past the target. The crosshair has to reverse direction and drag back onto it.

That costs more correction time than landing slightly short in the same direction.⁴ See Clicking for how this wiki describes a clean flick.

Playlist¶

A playlist is a pre-built list of scenarios, usually published by a trainer or community. You can run it as-is, or adapt it instead of assembling a routine from nothing. See Routines.

Raw input¶

Raw input is a setting. It lets a game read mouse movement more directly from the device, instead of relying only on the Windows pointer path. That makes sensitivity more predictable. See Setup and Gear.

Routine¶

A routine is the specific set of scenarios you run in a session, in some order, for some length of time. It's usually built around whichever category a benchmark shows as your current weakness. See Routines.

Scenario¶

A scenario is a single drill inside an aim trainer, built to isolate one specific mechanical skill such as tracking a moving target. It doesn't reproduce a full match. See Aim Trainers.

Sensitivity¶

Sensitivity is how far your view turns for a given amount of physical mouse movement. It's set through a combination of mouse DPI and an in-game multiplier. See Sensitivity.

Smoothness¶

Smoothness is whether your crosshair moves as one continuous motion that matches a target's speed. The alternative is lagging behind, then snapping forward to catch up.

It applies to tracking, flicking, and switching alike, and is not a separate skill. See How Aim Works.

Switching¶

Switching is the category covering moving your crosshair from a target you just cleared to the next one. You close that gap quickly, without losing the accuracy needed to land the next click.

Speed switching emphasizes the transition itself. Evasive switching adds targets that keep moving after you arrive. Stability switching is a hybrid, where targets hop or jitter in place. See Switching.

Tracking¶

Tracking is the category covering keeping your crosshair on a target that's already moving, rather than acquiring it fresh.

Precise tracking follows smooth, largely predictable movement. Reactive tracking follows a target that changes direction and speed less predictably. Control tracking is a hybrid of the two. See Tracking.

Underaiming¶

Underaiming is deliberately withholding extra motion on a target, so that reading the target or taking the shot becomes easier.⁵

It is not the same as edge tracking, which is underaiming applied in a tracking scenario in an aim trainer.⁵ It is also not an underflick, which is a fact about one flick rather than a habit.

Underflick¶

Underflicking (also called undershooting) is landing a flick just short of the target.

It's cheaper to fix than an overflick. Your hand is already moving in the right direction and only needs a small forward nudge, rather than a full reversal.⁴ See Clicking for how this wiki describes a clean flick.

References¶