As League of Legends and esports continue to grow bigger and bigger, team owners are becoming more willing to invest more money into their team if it means a better shot at taking down the large prize pools. Sports psychology is hot right now among professional League of Legends teams. Considering gaming is almost exclusively a mental exercise, it makes sense that tuning player’s thoughts would deliver better results on the Rift.
The number one name in esports psychology within the League of Legends realm is Weldon Green. Weldon has worked with CLG, Cloud 9, Fnatic, Renegades, and other LCS teams on a consulting basis. Officially Weldon is head coach for NA CS team Ember, but he is free to consult other teams as well. You have probably heard of the name Weldon Green before. Countless LCS players have credited Weldon in interviews after a big win. In a scene where players rarely synergize with coaches, Weldon has appeared to figure out how to get results.
In Weldon’s latest YouTube video (shown above) he breaks down the methods he uses in order to erase tilt, and reveals how he climbed two ranked tiers in just over a months time by following a perfect League of Legends training regimen.
How to Erase Tilt
Weldon claims he rids himself of tilt by taking a break. Instead losing LP trying to win one more game before bed, he purposely stops playing the moment he is unhappy with his performance. He then re-calibrates his brain into a state of gratitude. When you are on tilt, your head is filled with irrational, toxic thoughts. Reminding yourself of just 3 things you are grateful about – no lag? no bug splat crashes? no head ache? – can help you reset and enter a more positive state of mind.
The Perfect League of Legends Training Method
Weldon starts explaining the perfect training method by explaining the essential ingredients; motivation and deep focus. Motivation is the key to deep focus, and deep focus is the key to performance. Therefore, if we focus on maintaining our levels of motivation, we can improve our focus.
The number one way to increase motivation is to limit your playing time. Having unlimited time to improve at any given skill doesn’t mean you should be working on it 24/7. Having unlimited time to complete a task actually hinders your motivation. If you were given an assignment with no due date, when would it get done? Never. Weldon reveals that Renegades AD carry Freeze limits his play time to increase motivation and deep focus. Perfect training is when you are bound by a limited amount of time to accomplish your goals.
Finally, Weldon suggests that you set priorities before you jump into solo queue (what specifically are you going to focus on in-game?), chunk your session into 2 game blocks; taking 5 minutes to stretch and review between games, and ensuring you stop for snacks often. Using this training method Weldon climbed from Silver to Platinum 2 in 4-6 weeks.
Try out these professionally recommended improvement techniques for yourself. If the reviews from LCS players are any indication, you might just set a new personal record.