1. Do The Research - Information on games is everywhere. Most people log in or fire up their games and then bang their heads against the wall over and over and cry, "OMG how does he keep shooting me in the face??" He keeps shooting you in the face because he knows something you don't. Do your research and find out how the game works...there's a lot more out there besides the manual.

2. Community - Join a guild, forum, or some kind of community. There are people out there that live the games they play and you are never going to be as good as you can if you don't have some help.

3. Upgrade Your PC - If you are lagging across the map you are not going to fare well. Make sure you PC can play the game efficiently. In may cases just meeting the system requirements isn't enough. You can tell whether your PC is up to par or not....even if you are slightly lagging constantly the other guy can pull the trigger first.

4. Take a Break - If you have been playing for 4 hours straight you are not at your best. Play a couple hours at a time at the most and take some breaks. The longer you play the more careless you become.

5. Eat and Drink - Lots of the guys I know can skip several meals at a time and binge game. You body responds slower an slower as the levels of nutrition it needs drop. Keep you blood sugar up and drink some water.

6. Training and Exercise - Video games require twitch reflexes and you need to train your reflexes and keep them sharp. Jonathan "fatal1ty" Wendel plays tennis among other things to keep his response time down. There are obviously many athletic things you can do to keep sharp but sitting on your butt playing games 24/7 isn't one of them.

7. Get Rid of Distractions - If you are answering your phone, watching TV, and IMing on XFire it is obvious you are going to suck. Get rid of the distractions.

8. Comfort - Get a comfortable chair and keep your keyboard and mouse where they feel comfortable. If you back hurts and you can barely move the mouse to get the shot of then again you will not do so hot.

9. Resolution and Setting - Your resolution and video settings can make a huge difference. There is a perfect setting or every game that will give you a edge, go find it.

10. Mouse and Keyboard - There are a ton of gaming mouses and keyboards out there. Find ones that can consolidate the actions of the specific games you play and make sure they feel good. Macros can work wonders in many games.