Roy Tang

Someone on quora asked:

How would you improve as a competitive player: by playing vs people of the same skill level or by playing vs people of a higher skill level?

Playing against better people forces you to improve faster. But at the same time, if there is too large a gap in skill level, you may not be learning too much because what they’re doing may be too far above your skill level. Losing too much due to the skill gap will also increase frustration which will dampen your learning as well

There is a sweet spot where you are playing against people who are slightly better than you such that you still have a small chance of winning and at the same time you are still able to effectively learn and sharpen your skills.

Playing against others of the same skill level can also still help - but instead of learning new skills or techniques, the practice will help develop and reinforce the basics of your execution.