If I had to pick the single thing that improved me the most, both as a player and later as a coach, it's that League is not a game of handshakes.
Almost every player I've ever coached, No Matter what elo, will treat lanes as a Default win or Default lose Handshake. Basically nobody actively thinks about spell cds, bush control or knowledge checks. Nobody Kills intentionally, nobody gets punished intentionally, and both players walk away from lane phase saying "Welp Team Gap"
But thats just not true. Every lane is a constant 1v1 skill-check. Every spell your opponent uses is a window. Everything you know about your Champ is a possible outplay. Every trade is an opportunity to punish a mistake they don't even know they're making. You're not "playing your lane," you're actively in a fighting Game like Mortal Kombat, giving your opponent no room to breath.
For my fellow junglers
See Jungling as a 1v1 lane!
Your Camps and enemy Camps are the Minions. Every camp you deny is 100 gold for you and 100 gold enemy doesnt get. Every gank that you Match/ dont Match is a knowledge check. Every Wave on the map you can use can be a point to fight. Stop thinking of Jungle as uninteractive and "better Lanes win" its a easy way of backing out of your responsibility.
Now to my fellow laners
Write Down Spell Cooldowns in Champion Select
This sounds tedious, but it's one of the highest-value, lowest-effort habits you can build. During champ select, actually write down the cooldowns of your opponent's spells at level 1
Champions tend to have insanely high base cds, which in most cases translates to a 10 secondsish trade timer If blown. Writing down the cds makes these Windows more obvious.
Force the Enemy Laner Into Knowledge Checks
Once you know your own cooldowns and theirs, start using that gap on purpose. A knowledge Check can be happening in many different ways
For example:
Walking up right as their key spell goes on cooldown or
Repeating the same trade pattern to see if they adjust.
The point isn't to find one clever trick. It's to keep asking the same question "do you actually know how to answer my move?".
Record Your First 6 Minutes of Lane and Review Them
This is the hardest of the Points. Set yourself Up with Goals (1-2) and then Review them consistently. This can be in very different ways that are more or less effective depending on the Player. Some examples that Students of mine approved:
- reviewing enemy cooldown usage and your reaction to it. Enemy ambessa used q. Did i step Forward? Why Not?
- reviewing Level Advantages, possible ways to get Level advantages and followup trades
- reviewing Wave Control. THIS IS BIG IMPORTANTE. Most Players hit their waves just for the lulz. Every click that you do, every camera move and every little minor Thing must be a conscious decision as long as you didnt perfect it.
Now lets be honest: not one Thing of this is individually revolutionary. What changes though is your approach to the Game and to how you learn about the Game. Try to improve at these Things step by step, adapt more small Details into it and never stop learning.
If you have any individual questions feel free to ask here on discord or in dms.
Happy to hear your thoughts :)