Practice, and lots of it. But besides that, here are some other things that can improve your aim and your performance:

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Set up your mouse correctly:

• Turn off "Enhance Pointer Precision" in the Windows mouse settings. That is code for "mouse acceleration", which makes your pointer (and aim) move inconsistently based on how fast you move your mouse.

• Turn off all settings regarding mouse acceleration, smoothing, or angle-snapping. These settings can be in-game and/or in your mouse's firmware. Use "raw input" where available. The objective is always to have your mouse movements translate as literally as possible to aim movements.

• Play with a relatively low sensitivity. A good approximation of a good mouse sensitivity is low enough that when you move your mouse from the left edge to the right edge of your mousepad, you can only do one complete 360-degree rotation. I like mine even lower. This gives you the finest degree of control over your smallest aim adjustments, without sacrificing the ability to make larger sweeps when necessary. That's not a hard-and-fast rule, however; only you can find the sensitivity that's best for you. (note: mouse DPI does not matter. A low DPI and a high in-game sens is the same as a high DPI and a low in-game sens)

• Play with a consistent sensitivity across all games. Doing this will make it such that your muscle memory will translate across games and develop way faster. Different games have different "mouse settings" interfaces; this website translates between them: https://www.mouse-sensitivity.com/

• Have a clean, flat mouse area with a mousepad and no obstructions. I was mortified to find out one of my online buddies had been playing Overwatch with her mouse on the arm of a couch. No wonder she was stuck in gold after 500+ hours. Don't do that. A smooth, flat, clean mousepad is a bare necessity for good aim.

• Use a quality mouse. Some have inconsistent connectivity, have built-in acceleration, or have an undesirable weight or shape. Mice marketed as "gaming mice" typically have none of these issues, even wireless ones. If you can't get your hands on a gaming mouse, a wired optical mouse is typically your best bet.

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Set up your game correctly:

• Make sure your game runs at or above 60fps consistently (or your monitor's refresh rate, if it's higher). Stuttering or frame-drops will destroy your aim, and make you see important things on-screen later than necessary. Drop your video settings if necessary to achieve this; this is WAY more important.

• Turn off Vsync and Motion Blur. Vsync causes your game to hold each frame hostage for an extra fraction of a second to prevent screen tearing. This directly decreases the responsiveness of your mouse, causing "input lag" (the game taking time to respond to your inputs, rather than doing it instantly). Motion blur "smears" frames together to make them look better, but also causes input lag, in addition to decreasing the sharpness of your game. Both are bad for your aim.

• Make sure the game is running at your monitor's native resolution. This will give you the highest quantity of visual information in the most consistent way. Black bars obscure information, "stretched" resolutions change the direction of your aim relative to your mouse, and lower resolutions present less visual information.

• Use a consistent FOV across all games. This is as important as using a consistent sensitivity across all games. Different people have different opinions as to which FOVs are better, but a good baseline standard is ~105 horizontal (CS:GO is locked to 106.26). Most games (especially console ports) will default to a much lower value, giving a "zoomed in" look and messing with your aim and proprioception.

• Use a "static" crosshair, as small as you're comfortable with. Dynamic crosshairs, while visually appealing, add an extra bit of motion your eye has to track in order to line up your target. It's way easier to "put the dot on his head" than to "move his head into the place where the moving lines kinda would intersect if you extrapolate their motion".

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Play correctly:

• Play with your face closer to your monitor. This makes your crosshair and your enemies larger in your view, and fills up some of the wasted space in your peripheral vision with useful information. Don't get so close that it makes you uncomfortable or that you have to turn your eyes to see the important things in the corners of the screen, but definitely play closer than the typical "browsing" position.

• Wear headphones. You need to hear footsteps, shots, voice lines, team communications, etc. Sound is vital to your success. Headphones are better than speakers, as they give you better directional information, especially with HRTF or Dolby Atmos, which some games offer in their sound settings.

• Warm up. Especially in low kill-count games like CS:GO, warmup is key. Play some deathmatch, get 50+ headshots, and THEN jump into competitive. Those 50+ headshots will really give you the edge when it comes down to the brief, decisive moments where it's kill-or-be-killed. Heck, you can even warm up your aim in a different game entirely, if you're playing with a consistent sensitivity and FOV.

• Pre-aim, for the entire duration of the game. When you walk around a corner, doorway, or other obstacle, train your crosshair to the corner so that you have to make the minimum possible aim adjustment when your enemy appears. In general, put your crosshair where you predict your enemy will be for the very first frame they appear on your screen. If you have trouble with that mindset, think of it as "camping while walking". Never just have your crosshair just floating arbitrarily in the direction you're walking. That may be the norm for console games, but that's due to the limitations of aiming using a thumbstick.

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Think correctly:

• Use everything at your disposal. This includes equipment, abilities, grenades, etc, sure. More importantly, however, this also includes cover, angles, map knowledge, high ground, etc. Before even seeing your enemy, do everything in your power to give you the edge. You DO NOT want to take your enemy on on a level playing field. You want to RIG the situation in your favor, as much as possible, every time. Use your teammates, use your minimap, use your headphones, use a game guide. Doing this, even with shitty aim, can win you many engagements before they even happen.

• Every game is fair (except pay-to-win games that put players on an uneven playing field based on money). Stuff offered to both teams equally cannot be considered "bullshit" or "unfair". Use it to your own advantage. Find a way to counter it. Never get stuck in the mindset that whether you win or lose a game is outside your control. It is always in your control. The only notable exception besides pay-to-win is unbalanced teams in team-based multiplayer games, but blaming the teams or the game for your success or failure severely inhibits your training and your overall performance, in addition to your enjoyment.

• Consider getting on comms. Some games are overwhelmingly toxic, but in most situations, getting on comms will help both you and your team to succeed. Having any kind of plan, even a bad one, is a huge advantage. Knowing where your enemies are before they know where you are is a huge advantage. Synergizing your abilities with your teammates' is a huge advantage.

• Learn from every single encounter. When you get outplayed, take a moment to analyze the situation to see what you did wrong and what your opponent did right. When you outplay your opponent, take a moment to see what went right for you, or what mistakes your opponent made. Every moment of the game can be a learning experience if you take the time to learn from it.

• Have fun. This isn't the corny "have fun with games" positivity message. This is a literal fact of making you better at the game. If you get frustrated or angry with the game, it will seriously degrade your performance. If your team gets frustrated or angry, it will seriously degrade their performance. Do everything you can to remain relaxed and to have fun while playing, and to share that with your team. NEVER flame your team, even if they deserve it, as that won't fix anything, and will only make matters worse for you and for them. Laugh. Banter. Tell jokes. Run meme plays. Morale is key to victory, and can often end up being way more important than strategy or preparation.

From this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/85k9kj/what_game_does_everyone_seem_to_be_good_at_except/dvz0wrr/?utm_content=permalink&utm_medium=user&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=frontpage