The two halves
The first half is height. Enemies stand on the floor and their heads are at a predictable level, so the crosshair lives there, adjusted for ramps and stairs. The second half is hugging the angle: keeping the crosshair near the edge of whatever corner, doorway, or piece of cover an enemy would come out from, with a small gap where their head will actually be.
Put together, every fight starts with the crosshair already most of the way to the target. The shot looks pre-loaded, because it was.
Why it beats raw flicking
Human visual reaction time sits around 200 to 250 milliseconds and training barely moves it. If two players see each other at the same instant, the race starts even. What decides it is how far each crosshair has to travel after the reaction, and how precisely it lands.
A big flick takes weeks of practice to speed up. Better placement can turn that flick into a small adjustment inside a single session, and a small adjustment is faster and more accurate for a player at any level. That is why coaches in every tactical shooter teach it first.
The two common errors
- Crosshair on the floor. The eyes drift toward where the feet are going, and every fight then starts with a vertical correction on top of the horizontal one. Enemies are never on the floor.
- Glued to the wall. Holding the crosshair on the corner itself. A peeking enemy appears slightly wide of the edge, so you flick anyway. Hold a small gap off the corner, at the spot the head will occupy.
Where it changes shape
In CS2 and Valorant, where time to kill is short and headshots decide fights, placement is close to the whole game. In hero shooters and arena games targets fly and dash, so rigid head height matters less and placement blends into prediction: hold the space a mobile enemy is most likely to move through, then stay attached once the fight starts.
The full crosshair placement guide has the drills, including a ten-minute solo walkthrough that builds the habit where it has to fire: while you are moving and thinking about something else.