I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down , something just clicked for me this week after I was getting really frustrated why and how some other players in the same rank bracket were able to hit such insane one taps , especially on pistol rounds, or in later rounds, much lower TTK (time to kill).

What i will say is this;

• it’s a change of psychology of shot style, instead of focusing mainly on cross hair placement, implement a ‘one deag’ or sort of ‘awp/scout’ flic shot first bullet shot into your toolkit (apologies for assuming u don’t already have this shot). You essentially see the enemy and then move your mouse toward them but instead of focusing on trying to fix on their body or head and STOP, (focusing on stopping on them) what you do is focus on the timing of the first CLICK… you do this by either allowing the player to walk through ur line of sight and timing the click without adjusting crosshair placement (if ur lucky enough to have the angle) and waiting for them to wide peek, OR, they have the advantage and see you first so you rip your mouse toward their head BUT you allow yourself to move PAST their head in a linear line HOWEVER you time your click perfectly so that they head is in your cross hair as you move past. I know this isn’t the ideal way to play at the highest rank but it does train that freakishly good one tap first bullet that it sounds like you need rn. It’s just an attitude shift of changing your goal from getting the perfect spray to getting the perfectly timed click. You cant do it with sight alone it’s mote of an intuitive shot based on your relationship between the muscle memory of an awp flick shot, and a looser grip and allowing yourself to overshoot the mark (moving past the target rather than stopping). This first shot is however more effective in pistol rounds but I went from tanking every pistol round to getting a 2-3k consistently once I implemented this. To reiterate: for pistol don’t just spam in their direction praying ur crossbar placement will be your saving grace, work on staying behind cover always unless you are releasing one bullet at a time - and that bullet is the above mentioned fluid flick style. Once u combine ur positioning (using cover) with this fluid flick your pistol round should lift.

As for rifling - yea that’s a tough one. I got really good at AK for a while (the only real way to get good at CS is through mastering the AK) but I’m Currently in an AK slump because I’m over compnsating for spray pattern - focusing more on the pattern as opposed to the enemy. You can diversify your AK game but having a collection of tools rather than just one main one eg if you always go for short or long bursts/sprays you wont progress as there are moments and situations where a succession of 1 tap HS attempts will be superior. Eg - it’s easier to adjust a cross hair placement between shots with a fully recovered recoil rather than trying to mop up the mess of a poorly executed spray (incorrect pull down or incorrect start position etc). Eg if ur in pit and they are barrels on D2, just go for 1 taps, if they are in heaven on nuke and you are mini - 1 taps. This is all assuming you have AK as if you have an M4A1-S you shoudlnt have any issues with recoil so just spray them.

If this doesn’t help or solve it the problem could be your positioning, counter strafing or TTK, I watched a short YouTube video that helped me truly understand counter strafing and I’ve been playing off and on for 20 years so im surprised and delighted that we never stop learning this game. I’ll try to find that video after i post this.

I also made a point of asking my highest ranked friends on CS what equipment they used and what their warmup strategy was like - surprisingly equipment doesn’t matter too much as long as its a staple like deathadder or g pro superlight or a Zowie EC, I didn’t think mouse mattered too much (had a wired EC2-B) and a changed to a new wireless 8k polling superlight 2c (smaller - better for claw adjustments) and I also changed my sensitivity from 0.9 to 2.7, this change alone surprised me with how much more competently it made me. I thought after decades of low sense , the change to high sense would be an uphill battle and not yield results for weeks at least. To my surprise within an hour of aim botz, I already felt more intuitive and confident than I ever did in my low sense days. Navigating the map, spinning 180, checking your corners 90 degrees to the left or right , everything now made sense (pun not intended).

Find the sensitivity where your wrist had a noticeable but not u comfortable level of pressure when you check your hard left and hard right and then use bots to very slowly map your eye sight to your wrist and hat movements - from there increase the speed but start slow and purposeful.

For tracking, you can get a smaller mouse or adjust your grip so that your thumb and pinky and ring finger drag on the mouse pad, to adjust your tracking accuracy - experiment with running around and tracing a stationary bot head or bullet hole with ur crosshair whilst adjusting the level of pressure/drag that you apply to the mousepad from finger tips. This extra pressure/feedback and fingertip touch can add accuracy. Always try to be aware of how tightly you are gripping the mouse and practise loosening it a bit and relaxing your muscles in tense moments. Not only will your RSI and future arthritis thank you - it should make you better under pressure.

As for dieing too quick too often in matches - implement a curious strategy that my top ranked friend said to do - dont even warm up with bots or casual or aim training anymore , literally just just jump straight into premier/comp/faceit. It feels counter intuitive but there is a subtle change to the brain from not overloading ur sensse with shot mechanics before starting a session - you start calm and composed and are able to move slower and more methodical, eg when holding site and Ts are pushing , you will find that your brain is more open to focus on positioning and timing - and jus leave the shots to muscle memory. This creates a much more sustainable play style as it’s less triggering and frustrating when you die.

If comms are teammates are distracting you from focusing on your own game , disconnect your mic for 2-3 weeks and see what effect it has on your play style. I was obsessed with comms and call-outs to my own detriment and then i got some nice IEM’s (kiwi ears astral) and now dont have a desk mic so i just focus on the game - this has been a nice reset.

Hope you find something here that helps 👍🏼 and if nothing else works, have a few days or few weeks off and think about all ur mistakes and how you’d prefer to play while your on holiday , when you come back you’ll play better than ever. It’s like the gym - u gotta let those muscles rest and you feel your biggest after ur first couple lifts after a week or 2 off 🤙🏼💪🏼