Gaming Arm Sleeves and Are They Worth It?

What Are Gaming Arm Sleeves?

Do not be deceived by the name because gaming arm sleeves are regular sports arm sleeves and there is no distinction.

Although there are also brands that make special “gaming” sleeves if you actually look at their composition you can once again see that these are not much different than normal performance sport sleeves.

So what is a sports arm sleeve then? In sports, these sleeves are called compression sleeves and because they are made out of special elastic materials they are used to slightly compress your muscles.

Various studies have proven that this light compression helps with stabilizing blood flow and aids in recovery times for muscles that have been strained.

Well, what does have to do with gaming? In reality, there have also been studies related to wearing compression sleeves in gaming but the answer was almost unanimous – compression sleeves DO NOT help much when it comes to gaming performance.

So then why are we talking about them and why am I encouraging you to get one? Well, follow along and you will find out!

Why Get an Arm Sleeve?

With the statements above clearly stating there are no feasible health benefits for wearing an arm sleeve while gaming what is the point of wearing one then?

Well after using one for multiple years and after consulting different pro players, aimers, etc some interesting conclusions and benefits have been found.

First of all the most important aspect of why you should wear a compression sleeve or a gaming arm sleeve is for the reduced friction it provides. You see when you are gaming and moving your hand around on your mousepad you inevitably produce sweat.

Sweat is not exactly great at facilitating your movements on any surface therefore it creates extra friction. This is especially evident during summers when your hand simply sticks to your table and hinders your movements.

Here is where the gaming compression sleeve enters the scene, providing consistent friction and glide over most surfaces. This is because these sleeves are made out of elastic materials which are naturally good at being flexible and provide little friction.

You can overall achieve a better, more consistent aim simply because variables such as sweaty skin are now eliminated from the equation. So basically wearing an arm sleeve can literally equate to better aim.

Another hidden benefit is the fact that a gaming arm sleeve can help preserve your mousepad for longer. You see when you use an arm sleeve all that sweat and dead skin that would otherwise be on your mousepad ends up being trapped in your sleeve.

This means that the lifespan of your mousepad is increased considerably since you do not have to wash it or clean it all that often. A big cause for slowing down the mousepad is dirt and the cleaning process so you are effectively cutting both of those processes by a considerable margin.

The equation is once again simple: clean mousepad = better glide = more consistent aim = longer-lasting mousepad. Then you add the less friction and more consistent feeling of your arm swipes because of your arm sleeve itself and you get an end result of “oh boy my aim is getting better”.

Big gains for big gamers!

The last hidden effect which is kind of an interesting topic related to gaming arm sleeves is placebo. You see studies have shown that in gaming, unlike sports there is no health benefit to wearing a compression sleeve. At the same time, there is a big mental benefit to be exploited.

When you wear a gaming sleeve you are consciously creating a pattern – you put your sleeve on, which means you are focusing on aiming well. This is something I have observed in myself as well.

I cannot open an aim trainer or a game without putting my arm sleeve on. Something feels off – lack of concentration and comfort all around.

The placebo effect is stronger the more you use arm sleeves because it creates an environment where you feel safe to aim and compete at your best. You might think this is bad, but actually a lot of sports coaches and gaming coaches use placebo as a strong motivational factor in boosting performance, so why not use it yourself.

In short, wearing an arm sleeve is a sort of self-hypnosis that leads to you feeling more comfortable while aiming therefore increasing your overall performance.

Where to Get a Gaming Arm Sleeve?

You are in luck because virtually any sports shop that can be found around your city will have compression sleeves available.

What this means is that these sports/gaming accessories are widely available and are cheap to purchase. You can get them in different colors and patterns so you can even match them with your setup.

I wear a compression sleeve only on my aiming arm as well, which means you always have a spare arm sleeve in case the one you use is getting dirty. You can effectively cycle the pair of arm sleeves for years without having to buy a replacement. As our fellow memers would say – big stonks!

Conclusions

Although compression arm sleeves have been proven to not provide any health benefit while gaming, there are auxiliary effects of wearing one which does affect the way you play in quantifiable ways.

A 10-15$ investment can result in better aim overall, better preservation of your beloved mousepad, and creates a placebo effect which can boost your performance as well. There honestly are no drawbacks, and for 10$ you might as well try it to see if it something you like for yourself!

This is all you need to know about compression (gaming) arm sleeves! Game on!