As a gamer, you know that the essential peripheral equipment is the mouse you use. In this article, I will be talking about how to hold a mouse for gaming.
The best way of holding a mouse is different depending on whether it’s an optical or laser sensor and its shape. We’ll get into shapes in a second here, but before we do, let me quickly understand how an optical vs. laser sensor works.
An Optical Mouse Sensor Uses Light To Work Out How Far It Is From A Surface
The older technology, which has been eclipsed by laser sensors these days since they became available to buy from companies like Microsoft and Logitech within the early 2000s, is known as an ‘optical’ mouse. It features a laser inside the sensor that emits light when activated, which shines onto whatever surface you have it on.
When this light is reflected in the sensor, it can read how far away you are from said surface by measuring the time between sending out the laser beam and receiving its reflection.
A Laser Mouse Sensor Uses Lasers To Give Greater Accuracy Than An Optical Mouse
With advances in technology, newer mice now use lasers rather than older optical mice. Many gamers still prefer using an older optical mouse these days because they feel that they can move their cursor around faster due to having more physical room for error.
However, since laser sensors don’t work well over shiny glass desktops or mirrors, many gamers feel that they can play better using an optical mouse.
Now, onto the shapes. There are four main types of mice out there: 2 buttons, three button, four button, and five button mice with a scroll wheel in-between them all on the left side.
An example of the first would be the Microsoft Intellimouse, which is almost as old as gaming itself and is still preferred by many due to its shape and ease of use – it features only two buttons for clicking, has a rolling ball inside of it rather than laser or optical sensors (which will become important later) and has a symmetrical design so both left-handed and right-handed people can use it with relative ease too.
3 Button Mice Feature An Added ‘Middle’ Button
Three button mice add an extra button in-between the two primary buttons on a mouse for clicking – this is usually set up so that it’s used as a scroll wheel replacement. With these types of mice, you can click both primary buttons at once to perform actions such as middle-clicking and opening your browser simultaneously, which can be extremely useful in some games (World of Warcraft, for example).
4 Button Mice Add A 4th Physical Button On The Side Of The Mouse For Easier Use
Four button mice come with an added physical button on the side of the mouse instead of adding one onto any existing buttons like with three button mice. All of these buttons are programmable in most models, but they are set out to make your life easier in gaming – the main reasoning behind this is that you can flick between weapons with one of the buttons on your mouse without having to take your hand off of it.
5 Button Mice Are For The Elite Few Who Dare To Game With Almost Too Many Buttons
Five button mice are pretty much made for MMO gamers who need more than just a few shortcuts in their lives to perform certain actions quickly in-game. These types of mice have added even more buttons onto their design so that you can map different abilities or macros onto them to perform certain tasks when you click them down at once. These mice are often symmetrical, so left-handed people don’t have any problems using them, but right-handed people rarely pick them up because they’re so big.
Your Wrist Matters When You Game
Now that you know which shapes are out there and their purpose, you need to consider how to use your mouse. A lot of gamers tend to keep their wrists straight while playing games, often resting on the desk or keeping them hanging off it instead of keeping them tucked in as any self-respecting person would do.
This seems like a good idea at first glance because if your wrist isn’t touching anything, then it must be comfortable, right? Wrong – not only will this strain your wrist over time (and potentially cause carpal tunnel), but it’ll slow down your gaming as well.
Try tucking your wrist underneath the rest of your arm when playing games – this may take some getting used to, but it’ll massively help you out in the long run since you’re not straining yourself anymore.
On that note, try to keep your elbow near the edge of whatever surface you’re using so that your wrist isn’t being thrown about all over the place either since this can have a serious impact on how quickly and accurately you move too.
Lastly, try moving around as much as possible while gaming instead of staying still because doing so will allow you to get away from strain even faster!
Tilt The Way You Game To Your Advantage
One last thing to consider is how to level your mouse is with your keyboard while you’re playing too – the reason being that if it slants downwards, then it’ll put a strain on your wrist once again, so try to get a stand for it or at least some blu-tac to stick underneath the back of it to make sure there are no hills in between yourself and your mouse.
Conclusion:
It is no secret that getting the best performance out of your mouse can make the difference between winning and losing in your favorite games. Of course, many people prefer to use a claw or palm grip when gaming, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t improve.
We hope you enjoyed this blog article about how to hold a mouse for gaming. We know that you can have a more enjoyable experience while gaming with your friends with this knowledge.
