The Crazy Training Schedule Of Pro Gamers

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I think most people would take this "crazy training schedule" and a six figure income versus manual labor and minimum wage. ;)

Ruiz's two Korean teammates, Chae "Piglet" Gwan-jin and Kim "Fenix" Jae-hun, are notorious for pushing the physical boundaries for how much a person can practice. They often sleep only four hours a night and practice between 12 and 14 hours per day.
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to me its not much different than American IT folks:
a. go to work 8-12 hours
b. go home game 1-4 hours or 8-12 lol.
 
jroe52 said:
to me its not much different than American IT folks:
a. go to work 8-12 hours
b. go home game 1-4 hours or 8-12 lol.
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Totally different.
Most people do not work their entire shift.
example: an 8 hour shift you would do 5 hours of work.
These guys play the entire 12-14 hours.
 
shatterstar said:
Totally different.
Most people do not work their entire shift.
example: an 8 hour shift you would do 5 hours of work.
These guys play the entire 12-14 hours.
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That wildly depends on the job. I've had some before where they'll monitor you to the second.

I think the bigger distinction is wouldn't this be practicing this much for a CHANCE to win money? At least with most jobs, you get paid wages.
 
Although doctors tell us 8 hours of sleep is needed to stay healthy, its a general rule of thumb, not a definitive requirement for healthy living. Some people require more than 8 hours, some require less. For me, I rarely sleep for more than six hours. Doesn't matter when I go to sleep, I am generally awake six hours later and if I force myself to sleep longer I end up feeling groggy. My girlfriend on the other hand will do 8-12 hours when given the opportunity. These guys, if they're truly going off four hours of sleep are just really 'gifted' or are fucking themselves up and will feel its effects sooner or later.

I'd definitely take their training schedule though if I could. Competitive gaming isn't something someone can transition into from another job unless they were pretty well off. Those of us on the bottom end of middle class could never make a "career transition" into pro esports.
 
Ehren8879 said:
how does one sleep only 4 hours and stay mentally sharp?
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You can't, you can only maintain such state for a short period. Doing it this way you are slowly ruining yourself for the long term, especially at this age, Drugs are no solution, they just worsen your health. There are many studies about how much sleep a human being should get and most point at 7 to be a healthy minimum for an adult.
 
Have you seen these guys practice? It seriously does not look fun at all. You know that moment when you're playing BF4 or whatever and you're like "hmm, im kinda tired/bored now, think I'll take a break"... Now imagine having to continue on for another TEN HOURS. Christ these guys have rather miserable lives. It's just the same thing non-stop every single day in and out. I'd never take that gig for 100k, because I could be making 100k in 10 years anyway with a skillset that can be used anywhere in the world. These kids are ruining their futures.
 
eSports atheletes *snerk*

If they were actually good at something, they could work for 8ish hours a day and make the same amount instead of crossing their fingers and hoping they win a little something from some obscure tournament and a company that tosses them a few dollars to use their "pro gamer" keyboard festooned in blink-y LED lights, but that'd require bathing, getting their own mailing address, and developing a useful skill.
 
So, most teenagers this summer are going to be putting in some overtime, then?
 
With all the hours I put into Skyrim, Team Fortress 2, and CSGO, shouldn't I be considered a Pro Gamer by now?
 
tetris42 said:
That wildly depends on the job. I've had some before where they'll monitor you to the second.

I think the bigger distinction is wouldn't this be practicing this much for a CHANCE to win money? At least with most jobs, you get paid wages.
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They get money from sponsors though, not just tournament winnings.
 
cvinh said:
With all the hours I put into Skyrim, Team Fortress 2, and CSGO, shouldn't I be considered a Pro Gamer by now?
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If I added up all the time in Civ 2-5, and Sim City 1-4 I would be a FUCKING BILLIONAIRE.

lmao.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
eSports atheletes *snerk*

If they were actually good at something, they could work for 8ish hours a day and make the same amount instead of crossing their fingers and hoping they win a little something from some obscure tournament and a company that tosses them a few dollars to use their "pro gamer" keyboard festooned in blink-y LED lights, but that'd require bathing, getting their own mailing address, and developing a useful skill.
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Well, I wouldn't go that far as you could say the same thing about any "real" athlete, the difference being that they get many more dollars to wear Nike's "pro athlete" sneakers festooned with the latest and greatest in rubber-tech :) They also get upwards of millions in wages but why is that? Only because there are so many people who care about that.

The smarter of these kids continue their regular education while keeping the eSport on a side, kind of like teen athletes. I think it is too early to properly evaluate the long-term consequences of taking up the eSports career as it only started in the last few years. For example. many past players who "retire" go into commentating. But right now it's probably a safer bet to continue your standard education and keep this on a side. The problem though is that this way leaves you with limited time so then how can you compete with dudes who play 12h/day ?
 
Not a good life. So when you're 30 and trying to find a job, I don't pro lol will get you very far.
 
You can't "keep it on the side" if you are trying to win the big money. Just like any pro or semi-pro sport.

14 hours a day is just stupid kids and stupid managers doing stupid things. I compete in some odd competitive sports also. There are some universal truths. One of them is "Perfect practice makes perfect." Half-assed practice while your mind is fried on 4 hour sleep schedules isn't practice. It's flailing around and hoping something sticks.

Besides vascular problems from sitting for so long, the potential for repetitive motion injury is not just high at 14 hours a day but virtually guaranteed.

All I can say is that some of these teams aren't managing their player's physical and mental health at all. It's still the wild west for esports.

And if they are taking drugs to push this far, then it's already past time to force testing.

I know some of you don't understand how big this has gotten, but these guys really can make enough money to justify the lifestyle. Which means doping scandals like baseball are imminent. You wouldn't think baseball players would need it, but when big money is on the line some teams will do anything to win.
 
M'ichal said:
You can't, you can only maintain such state for a short period. Doing it this way you are slowly ruining yourself for the long term, especially at this age, Drugs are no solution, they just worsen your health. There are many studies about how much sleep a human being should get and most point at 7 to be a healthy minimum for an adult.
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Summed up like this. You need X hours to sleep, if you don't get that sleep you'll create a sleep deficit. Should that deficit get too big (accumulative), your body will pull your sleep note and you'll be forced to sleep (sickness, etc.).

These guys are doing a detrimental thing to not only their health, but their practice. The brain creates new connections from what it learned during the day during sleep. So by not sleeping, they're wasting time awake.
 
trick0502 said:
Not a good life. So when you're 30 and trying to find a job, I don't pro lol will get you very far.
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Why not I would rather hire them then the next know nothing idiot who drank its way through college and cant even remotely apply anything they learned. This person whom is a pro gamer is going to have a lot of skills you can't find in your average employee, its just a matter of extracting those skills for the job.

Dedication, Hardwork, knowing what it takes to compete, getting really into something. How is that not better than you overly common half assing employee whom never won anything in their life.
 
rudy said:
Why not I would rather hire them then the next know nothing idiot who drank its way through college and cant even remotely apply anything they learned. This person whom is a pro gamer is going to have a lot of skills you can't find in your average employee, its just a matter of extracting those skills for the job.

Dedication, Hardwork, knowing what it takes to compete, getting really into something. How is that not better than you overly common half assing employee whom never won anything in their life.
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Your average employer is not going to take "Pro Gamer" on a resume very seriously.
 
Ya but your not going to write pro gamer on your resume, second if you are high performance like these guys you don't want to work for an idiot like that in that position anyway. Look for an employer who can see the benefit and make use of it, you will go much further.

I have beat candidates into many jobs based on how I spun my resume, its not pro gaming, its a lot of things, leadership, coordination, teamwork, computing expertise etc.... Are these all not things that employers not only want but often say are completely lacking in employees now days?

The fact you cant seem to see that or understand how to put that on a resume says a lot less about them and a lot more about you. If being a progamer is useless garbage then what does that say about volunteering, internships and all the other "not" serious positions people try to get to build a resume early in life? Why would I not laugh those guys resumes into the trash just as quickly as a pro gamer?
 
You are talking solely about soft skills. The other side of the coin, usually the more important one (depending on the field, of course) are the hard skills. Yes, they can dedicate, work hard, focus...but what can they actually do? That's the important part. The skills you mention are absolutely necessary and valuable but they are just part of a career path. Every employee should strive to possess those. The differentiating factor are the concrete skills to perform a given profession and being a gamer does not seem like it could get you many doors open.

Think about military veterans. Many have problems finding jobs and it is not because they do not work hard or are not dedicated (lets put the whole psychological impact of war aside for the sake of argument).
 
Hard skills are a separate issue most pro gamers are going to learn early if their skills are not sustainable and even if they are they will probably still get to old fast. Then they can go back to college, trade school or whatever they want. Even if they don't learn "hard" skills they can still find work, shit people think liberal arts is a valid degree which has no hard skills so what would you make of that?

As for the military sure lets ignore PTSD etc.... What about the reality that most people who join the military are already behind in life at 18. They often choose the military because they are already not really getting any traction or direction in high school. Maybe the military sets them on the right track but now they are just equal to a high schooler. So I don't think that's a valid group, you are comparing people whom are the best in the world at gaming to the people with no options coming out of high school? The high performers in the military are probably just fine and or will go back to finish their free college and gain new hard skills.
 
And besides these adjectives that you are listing "hard working, leadership, dedication, etc.', they have no real world job experience other than gaming which employers would take one look at, then throw your resume into the garbage.
 
They have as much real world experience as your average college grad who doesn't have any either.... I am not talking about them applying to be the CEO, we are talking about foot in the door jobs you know the same shit everyone else with no experience has to fight for. We all started somewhere or were you clowns born with 4 years industry experience? How do they get those jobs? You write on your resume things that would suggest you are more deserving or capable then the next guy who is applying for the job with no experience.
 
Sorry we don't live in a fantasy world where 30 year olds with no real world job experience are going to be taking jobs over people in their 20's.
 
cvinh said:
And besides these adjectives that you are listing "hard working, leadership, dedication, etc.', they have no real world job experience other than gaming which employers would take one look at, then throw your resume into the garbage.
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You really don't have a damn clue what you are talking about, both in respect to pro gaming and what hiring managers look for.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
You really don't have a damn clue what you are talking about, both in respect to pro gaming and what hiring managers look for.
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We are talking about 30 year old whose only "work experience" is playing video games. If you really think that flies in the real world, keep on dreaming buddy.
 
cvinh said:
Sorry we don't live in a fantasy world where 30 year olds with no real world job experience are going to be taking jobs over people in their 20's.
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Most pro gamers are going to be off to the next phase in their life long before 30. Not worried about it. Second there are certainly some employers who care how old you are but honestly most I have seen don't. Lots of college kids need time to mature, and start college later. Doesn't effect their ability to be hired IME. If it does, you don't want to work for that clown anyway. These guys probably aren't looking for jobs where they have to bang their boss to move up.
 
Not sure why you're calling us clowns. You seem quite aggressive about this, I don't think there's point to further discussion.

If you are in a position of hiring people, and you deem high-profile pro-gamers more worthy than college graduates for the position - it's your choice. As it is now, this is not the case in the marketplace outside of the pro-gaming ecosystem.
 
You are getting called clowns because you are making wild assumptions across the board. First if you were even remotely familiar with pro gaming you would know that many are actively in college getting their degrees. You would also know that the bulk of them currently are Korean and they enter mandatory military service for 2 years after their gaming career is over and move on from there. There also has been numerous studies now that show those with this kind of experience are desirable because they already have a proven track record of teamwork and leadership in addition to their degrees. Very few who go through the pro gamer circuit end their career with no degree or no plan. So like I said, you don't have a damn clue what you are talking about. Yo are just ignorantly ranting about something you have a clear bias against because "in my day old man rabble".
 
M'ichal said:
Not sure why you're calling us clowns. You seem quite aggressive about this, I don't think there's point to further discussion.

If you are in a position of hiring people, and you deem high-profile pro-gamers more worthy than college graduates for the position - it's your choice. As it is now, this is not the case in the marketplace outside of the pro-gaming ecosystem.
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Because if your argument fails, insult the other person cause you have nothing intelligent to say.
 
rudy said:
Hard skills are a separate issue most pro gamers are going to learn early if their skills are not sustainable and even if they are they will probably still get to old fast. Then they can go back to college, trade school or whatever they want. Even if they don't learn "hard" skills they can still find work, shit people think liberal arts is a valid degree which has no hard skills so what would you make of that?

As for the military sure lets ignore PTSD etc.... What about the reality that most people who join the military are already behind in life at 18. They often choose the military because they are already not really getting any traction or direction in high school. Maybe the military sets them on the right track but now they are just equal to a high schooler. So I don't think that's a valid group, you are comparing people whom are the best in the world at gaming to the people with no options coming out of high school? The high performers in the military are probably just fine and or will go back to finish their free college and gain new hard skills.
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I am biased as I spent time in the Air Force as an intelligence analyst, but I would hire just about any veteran over a "pro" gamer...everything else (such as hard skills) being equal. That veteran will actually know how to use those soft skills in the real world where there are actual consequences. Pit a veteran who's seen combat vs. a pro gamer in a real high pressure situation and lets see who comes out on top (hint, my money is on the veteran).
 
Dekoth-E- said:
You are getting called clowns because you are making wild assumptions across the board. First if you were even remotely familiar with pro gaming you would know that many are actively in college getting their degrees. You would also know that the bulk of them currently are Korean and they enter mandatory military service for 2 years after their gaming career is over and move on from there. There also has been numerous studies now that show those with this kind of experience are desirable because they already have a proven track record of teamwork and leadership in addition to their degrees. Very few who go through the pro gamer circuit end their career with no degree or no plan. So like I said, you don't have a damn clue what you are talking about. Yo are just ignorantly ranting about something you have a clear bias against because "in my day old man rabble".
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Being familiar with "pro gaming" *snerk* isn't really that important. Having an inside perspective doesn't matter. People who are seeking employees are largely unaware of the supposed skills and presume that pro gamers are fat, lazy, smelly, irresponsible, and uneducated. They also assume that someone is a pro gamer because they couldn't hack it in holding down a stable job and actively selected dedicating energy to playing instead of putting that energy into something constructive that can be used by a company to generate profits. The result is that perception rules the roost on hiring regardless of your personal feelings.

And, honestly, I think that perception is pretty accurate from what I've seen and from how obtuse eSports proponents are about defending their position from a stance lacking any understanding of the working world or human resources processes.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
Being familiar with "pro gaming" *snerk* isn't really that important. Having an inside perspective doesn't matter. People who are seeking employees are largely unaware of the supposed skills and presume that pro gamers are fat, lazy, smelly, irresponsible, and uneducated. They also assume that someone is a pro gamer because they couldn't hack it in holding down a stable job and actively selected dedicating energy to playing instead of putting that energy into something constructive that can be used by a company to generate profits. The result is that perception rules the roost on hiring regardless of your personal feelings.

And, honestly, I think that perception is pretty accurate from what I've seen and from how obtuse eSports proponents are about defending their position from a stance lacking any understanding of the working world or human resources processes.
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The problem is people like you don't understand the difference between pro gamer and just a regular hard core gamer. The reality is it doesn't matter what you believe, all you have to do is look at those who have already aged out and see what they are doing. Some now make a living professionally casting events, some are in the military, some in acting and many more now work regular jobs . So despite your ignorance amd continued mockery here, most of them I would dare say are more successful in their post gaming career than you are. The reality is I've never encountered someone who actually hires that would dismiss proven experience in a competitive team environment. That only seems to be something a few blowhards on a forum do.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
The problem is people like you don't understand the difference between pro gamer and just a regular hard core gamer. The reality is it doesn't matter what you believe, all you have to do is look at those who have already aged out and see what they are doing. Some now make a living professionally casting events, some are in the military, some in acting and many more now work regular jobs . So despite your ignorance amd continued mockery here, most of them I would dare say are more successful in their post gaming career than you are. The reality is I've never encountered someone who actually hires that would dismiss proven experience in a competitive team environment. That only seems to be something a few blowhards on a forum do.
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No one needs to understand the difference because there really isn't anything significantly different and saying there is boils down to hair splitting over playing in an attempt to get sponsorships to travel to someplace where being better than other people might mean winning a paltry sum of cash, but given the odds, usually isn't the case as there's really only one winning person/group and a sea of losers who made fewer make-believe kills.

I'm sure lots of those people have gotten mediocre work-a-day jobs, but I don't know how you can compare their "post gaming career" to my "post gaming career" since I never had a "gaming career" and you have like not any kind of just how much moolah they or I have for comparisons beyond your own bias over having been an almost gamer (which you already have said in a roundabout way you weren't so while the aspirations are clearly still there, the personal experience to speak with authority isn't and you're no more or less qualified to perform an analysis UNLESS you factor in your own bias in which case, your perceptions of human resources and the hiring process are heavily influenced by your dreams of a past that no amount of wishing will make yours). Anyhow, since I have an amazingly awesome amount of moolah compared to you lesser humans, I really doubt that anyone is more successful than me.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle, either your successfully trolling again or you really have no clue and a serious bias against gamers for some weird reason. First, I wouldn't call a million dollars a paltry sum of cash. While that's only one esports game, it goes to show that their are lucrative opportunities out there. Additionally, those make-belief kills are a culmination of decisions made in the heat of a situation, usually less than a couple seconds in time..at their level its a lot less "Skill A always follows Skill B" type repetition sets. They've already determined based on their opponent and research into their gameplay a way of countering their opponent.


To the others that want to shit on veterans as being behind the curve....you can suck it :p . I scored a 30 on my ACTs and was reading and writing at a college level during my sophomore year of high school (At least according to those standardized test...). I joined the Corps cause I didn't know what I wanted to do in life, not because I was somehow inferior to my peers. The fact that you can join a government organization and get paid to train in a field of your choice and then get four or more years of experience in that field as well as all the other shit military life gives you is a pretty good deal. Not to mention, if you figure you don't like that job after all, you get PAID to go to college after you get out to retrain yourself in another field if you so desire.
 
USMCGrunt said:
CreepyUncleGoogle, either your successfully trolling again or you really have no clue and a serious bias against gamers for some weird reason. First, I wouldn't call a million dollars a paltry sum of cash. While that's only one esports game, it goes to show that their are lucrative opportunities out there. Additionally, those make-belief kills are a culmination of decisions made in the heat of a situation, usually less than a couple seconds in time..at their level its a lot less "Skill A always follows Skill B" type repetition sets. They've already determined based on their opponent and research into their gameplay a way of countering their opponent.
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Well, let's look at this stuff for a moment to kinda underscore the point I'm making:

Dota 2's combined prize pool, funded by the sale of a virtual program to fans, is $10,887,235, awarded to 14 teams comprising 5 players each. The winning team at The International 2014 will get $5,008,128. With five players to a side, that's $1,001,625.60 each.
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So there are a total of 14 x 5 = 70 people competing and 5 of them get 1 million each of the total prizes. Great and whatever if you manage to be first in the lottery. Everyone else? What does the second place team get? Third? Your odds of being a winner are pretty low (better than a lottery, but not great) and as with most tournament-type events, the prize purse rapidly dwindles as you move down the stack to the first, second, third, and so forth of groups that lost. Even averaging the remaining 5 million out over 65 other people there's only like $77k per person to go around (unrealistically assuming everyone gets an equal portion of the remainder rather than many people going home with nothing at all for all their effort). That's a huge waste of time to spend 14 hours a day for years to get so little money and take the risks associated with gambling on you versus everyone else when it's a lot easier and more reliable to make more money for less effort and have leisure time plus a healthy amount of rest.
 
USMCGrunt said:
CreepyUncleGoogle, either your successfully trolling again or you really have no clue and a serious bias against gamers for some weird reason. First, I wouldn't call a million dollars a paltry sum of cash. While that's only one esports game, it goes to show that their are lucrative opportunities out there. Additionally, those make-belief kills are a culmination of decisions made in the heat of a situation, usually less than a couple seconds in time..at their level its a lot less "Skill A always follows Skill B" type repetition sets. They've already determined based on their opponent and research into their gameplay a way of countering their opponent.


To the others that want to shit on veterans as being behind the curve....you can suck it :p . I scored a 30 on my ACTs and was reading and writing at a college level during my sophomore year of high school (At least according to those standardized test...). I joined the Corps cause I didn't know what I wanted to do in life, not because I was somehow inferior to my peers. The fact that you can join a government organization and get paid to train in a field of your choice and then get four or more years of experience in that field as well as all the other shit military life gives you is a pretty good deal. Not to mention, if you figure you don't like that job after all, you get PAID to go to college after you get out to retrain yourself in another field if you so desire.
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All of the above. I usually don't respond to him for that reason. I did this once because it was tied into responding to others art the same time. That said I won't be making a habit of giving any credibility to his trolling by responding to him. He jumps in every gaming thread he can to show his contempt for gaming.
 
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