don't burn yourself out playing, take a break.

The most important thing you can do if you want to have consistency is to find a setup that you feel comfortable with. People throw around this idea a ton but I feel like very few actually understand what it means. Find a sensitivity that feels natural and smooth and stick to it. Your main goal is to find a setup that you wont notice ever. If you ever find yourself thinking about your HUD or config or sensitivity during a game then you know you're not comfortable. You should never have to think about your game's settings, they should just feel natural. Find a hud/config that gets the job done and stick to it. It took me awhile to find a setup that I really liked, but I've used the same sensitivity for almost two years now just because it feels perfect for my setup.

One other thing that helped me a lot is to try to contribute the same amount of comms each game. Some players will talk a lot when they're playing well and be mute when they are off their game. Try to figure out what comms your team needs from you provide the same level of communication each night.

Stick with a single sensitivity that you're comfortable with. Having a bunch of stuff inconsistent will always throw you off.

I also am constantly playing with 20-40 ping on west coast pub servers, then I go and play DM/MGE/Scrims/Matches and they're all on east coast servers where I always get 100 ping. The transition always screws me up and makes it difficult to stay consistent. I play pocket, so one minute my rockets are coming out all nice and instant, the next I'm missing all my shots and shooting myself because of that small delay.

Just don't let it get to you. There's not much you can do about the ping issue, so just make sure to warm up on a server with similar ping to the one you plan to be playing on later so you get somewhat accustomed to the way it effects you.

looking at your profile, you have 98.2 hours in the past two weeks

it's really hard to maintain a high level of focus for that level of playtime in a single day, let alone days in a row. from what i know most people get burnt out if they dm or mge for more than an hour

the best thing you can do is take a break, and make sure when you approach whatever you're doing in tf2 that you're fresh and can pay attention

dont change your sensitivity ever. find one you think feels good for rocket jumping/movement and stick with it. unless your ping is above 100 dont give it too much credit. when you're playing shitty were you short on sleep or did you have a long day or something? try a better diet and maybe some caffeine. gl

Don't get hung up on slumps. Take little breaks. A great way to do this is by a scrim schedule. Most teams don't scrim on Friday or Saturday, so try not to play too much on those days. If you don't have a team, just pick 2 days and don't play so intensely on those days and try to focus on something else.

What I've gathered so far:

Take a break
Don't worry about ping unless its above 100
Find a good set up that works and stick with it

So how long does it take for a setup to stick? When I change my sensitivity it feels 'off' for a bit, but after a while I get used to it. Is it better to just 'spot check' a few sensitivity levels and then stick to one that feels the best and just stay with it? Or experiment on different ones for a certain period of time each?

If you get really frustrated or seem to be doing really bad, switch up games.
I have StarCraft 2 to fall back on after I start doing torbull.

as long as you aren't changing your sens every day, it shouldn't be a problem. doesnt take very long to get used to.

you are probably getting burned out, just take a day or two off and you should be good. you won't ever be completely consistent but the more you play the better it gets

id find another game to play somewhat casually besides tf2

as far as sensitivity its really a ymmv thing, some dudes constantly toggle accel/in per 360 and seem to be able to deal with it while other guys have had 9 inch 360s for years and swear its the only way to go

id also be careful about playing tf2 just to play tf2, yeah mindless pubbing/lobbies or even pugs are fun once in a while but you can develop some nasty habits if youre only focusing 25% of the time youre playing

also you should work on building a group of buddies who like to play with you- friends make everything easier

When you are playing TF2, don't force yourself to DM or MGE. Only do either of those if you're feeling up to it. If you're DMing or playing MGE as a "routine thing" only, then you're gonna get bored and burn yourself out. Having as much fun playing as possible is also a good way to prolong chances of being burned out or feeling off. At least that's what I think. When I'm having a blast I find myself doing better than if I'm 100% serious. I also can play longer when I'm having a blast.

If you find yourself burnt out and not playing well in the middle of a match or scrim, you can't just go away and take a break however, in this situation you need to try to focus as much as you can on the mental aspect of your game and try not to get upset when your DM fails you.

take a break and rub one out

Thanks everyone - I'll take a break, crash a pub for fun, and find a good sensitivity. Really appreciate the advice!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_D_Z-D2tzi14/S8TRIo4br3I/AAAAAAAACv4/Zh7_GcMlRKo/s400/ALOT.png

[/grammarnazi]
I get good days and bad days too. I kept changing my sens before because I couldn't find one I felt comfortable with, but now I just try to never touch my sensitivity or my config.

I'm still bad by most standards though, but that's just me.

i'm not rly good enough to play competitively yet, so i spend a lot of time on dm servers/mge/etc, and what i've noticed is that i tend to stop playing well after an hour or so. if i force myself to play past that point i just get frustrated & start making stupid mistakes. from what i understand almost everyone has a point like this, and most of the time it's after one or two hours. if you're playing seven hours a day there's a high chance you're doing well for e.g. the first two hours and after that not doing quite so well & possibly feeling burnt out.

also, for some reason, spending long periods of time not playing tf2 seems to improve my aim, i don't know why >.>

Some tips I accumulated, hope it helps:
Get good sleep; do not over-force yourself (every above reply); move around away from computer; bad days can become good days, just find the practice that best suits you, foods can influence your game. Also: "Gotta take notes, or you'll learn nothing, get a piece of paper and write what you did good and what you did bad, mouse position, grip. What was different from today and yesterday? What can I change to improve? You just gotta ask yourself those questions" - Lange (i faintly remember what stream vid it was since it was long ago but some wise words to help, thnx Lange).

Use a routine, that helps me
Stay up all night talking to americans
Play TF2 a couple of hours
Sleep
Oversleep dinner
Repeat

Don't change your sensitivity.
Sleep like an angel.
Use the most comfortable setup possible. (I sit on a couch with my laptop ;)
Go for a run, clear your mind.
MGE/dm until you feel that you've done enough. Only you can tell.

Weirdly I feel like I play significantly better after taking several days off from TF2. When I moved in the fall, I didn't play for over two weeks and when I came back my aim was way better. You can think about it like any skill, really—you can get burned out if you work it too much and don't recover. There is probably even some physiology applicable here...learning neural patterning and muscle firing patters, etc. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyhow, take a break for a few days. Go play some Super Mario or something if you need to subsist on video games. At the end of the day, though, aim is a fickle friend.

I have been playing mge with a 360 controller for fun lately. Just do weird things that'll challenge you or join a pub and only go for market gardeners or something.

I got a double airshot with a controller on my roamer which was hilarious

1) Keep your sensitivity at what feels comfortable. If you feel you can't react fast enough to scouts or something fast, raise it. If you're overshooting, lower it. If you're undershooting, raise it. Just don't change it a whole lot. You won't magically have perfect aim after 1 or 2 days of using a new sensitivity.
2) Don't play for ridiculous amounts of time without taking a break. You'll just feel like shit if you play too long, especially if you tense up when you play (don't do that).
3) Find a HUD that YOU like. Just because b4nny or yz50 uses something, doesn't mean you'll do just as well with it.
4) If you're having an "off" day, just focus on what you're doing well with that day. So, if your aim is off done day, practice your movement. If your movement is off another day, practice your aim, etc. That way you make the best out of your time. You always need to be working on something. Eventually this will come together and you'll learn to adapt better. And off days are normal; treat them as an opportunity to improve.

GL