Let me start with noting that I already know - if you aren't having fun, don't play.

I am really frustrated right now and trying not to feel like all my skill has vanished.

I've been speedrunning a category for about 7/8 months. I've improved a lot. Obviously the more you improve the less you break PBs. My issue is that right now I don't feel like I'm making or seeing progress at ALL.

I've been stuck trying to get full runs done. I do Kh3 Limit Cut APC so you can generally tell when a run is bust, at this point a death means it's over. I'm dying a lot more easily than I used to. Seems like I can't focus, keep forgetting strategies and I'm just way more mistake prone.

Unfortunately I have disabilities including dyspraxia and adhd so prolonged breaks just make me 10x worse instead of letting me reset. That said I'm considering it because the way I've been playing and feeling is starting to get me low.

I'm not coming here asking for a pb. I'm here asking what's wrong with me and why am I in a slump, and how can I get around it? When I get a rare focus session and it starts going, I love it. Sadly I barely ever am able to get a run started right now. Would love to know how to stop being so mistake prone too.

Hi there! Unfortunately I do not know anything about the game that you speedrun, the best I can do is give my own experience with this sort of thing. A while ago I speedran What Remains of Edith Finch, a walking simulator, and in that game I plateaued hard after running it for about 2 months. So I somewhat get your pain, though it seems like you speedrun individual games much longer than I do, which I am sure makes the frustration even higher.

If applicable, and if you don't already, I found it useful to use video software to line my runs up next to the world record to see where I could best improve. I did this a lot with Bugsnax when I was trying to squeeze an extra second or so out of each area. Once you identify where you fell behind in your personal best, that is when you can use that to practice that particular area. I've probably done a thousand attempts of each individual area in that game just in practice alone. So if possible and you aren't already, practicing your problem areas can help a ton. Until you are doing it perfectly without even having to pay much attention.

I can also totally relate to feeling like you lost your skill or "touch," happens in all competitive hobbies not just videogames.

It seems like when you do runs you are so burnt out that you start to drift your attention away from it. Which is understandable for a run that is nearly an hour long. Perhaps there is either something distracting you (music in the background for instance) or you need something to distract you during boring sections so you can actually focus during the important parts. I've done plenty of games where the first third of it is boring and easy so I put something on in the background to keep my attention until its over, and I turn the video off during a cutscene or something.

Alternatively, this is a bit more niche, but I find talking to myself during a speedrun can help me refocus. By saying something like, "Okay remember at this part you need to go two thirds up the platform and then jump to the left" out loud to myself, I am forcing myself to focus on that. Sometimes I'll even repeat it to myself over and over, "two-thirds, two-thirds, two-thirds."

But either way, there is nothing wrong with you. Plateaus are natural, though I'm sure you know that. If I was in your position, I would either try to find the root cause of your unfocus, practice trouble areas, or indeed as you suggest: simply take a break.

There's a reason that there is the phenomenon of speedrunners taking a prolonged break, and then getting a world record soon after they come back ;)

Hmm. Difficult to say. It depends on the game and particular aspect of what is aspect of gameplay is plateau exactly.

But, yeah, plateaus and even regression, are common enough. It's ideal to always be progressing, or even mostly always, but, it's not always going to be that. Moderation is good, and it's different from one person to the next regarding how much a person should play to progress faster. Putting more play hours and practise in, doesn't directly translate into faster time, it correlates, but it can be detrimental too. Finding that balance is good to have.

I would say, new PB isn't as important as new best individual segments, or individual aspects/bosses/traversal/etc. The fundamental to faster time, is having faster AND consistent individual parts, which amounts to a new PB. But, what should one do? How often should one reset? Certainly, if you're dying at certain bosses more than you'd like, it'd be better to practise those particular bosses rather than just restarting the run. Any hic-hup in the run that you don't feel confident in, practising those individual moves, will make your chances of a new PB better. In the overall, even if you don't get a new PB, it still makes you a more consistent runner. You'll have more confident when you tackle those bosses than before.

My game only runs average 30 minutes. I didn't start resetting till like 3 months in, and I played a lot. With a run that's 2 hours 30 minutes, and 7/8 months in. I imagine some no resets run, are still quite beneficial. Otherwise, you're seeing a lot more of the early run than the later part. You don't want half your run to be rusty 'cause you only see it 20% of the time you start a run. Have to make up for it through practise of 2nd half of the run or something like that. 'Cause my game is only 30 minutes, not resetting isn't that costly to me, I understand that if no reset for a 2 hours 30 minutes run, is time consuming. But the idea is still pretty sound.

Something I didn't know for a long time, is you can compare your current run to "sum of best segments". It'll show you a theoretical best time that you can achieve and already have achieved in those individual splits, just not in the same run is all. This was a bit of a game changer for me. Cause I realised even if I don't get a new PB, occasionally, I'd get a new best split, which lowered my theoretical best time. And more and more runs, I lowered the theoretical best time lower and lower, my PB followed too, just slower is all.

What I'm trying to say here is, if you feel like you've plateau or regressing. Maybe that's true, but it's unlikely the whole reality. And it's likely you'll return to where you were before eventually. Some worries and thoughts about it is necessary, but too much worry and not letting it rest probably isn't good. Plateau is different from one to the next person, regarding what a person considers is a plateau. In my own definition, I think a runner need to take a break and step back a bit when they plateau or tired. You don't have to step back completely, you can do other things like analyse your recent gameplay, you'll notice so many things if you watch your own runs, more particularly on the bad runs.

If it's "frustrating" or you feel like you're getting nowhere. I think should really step back even more then. Don't even watch others gameplay, just let it rest for some time and for it to leave your mind. You'll be more rusty when you return, but you'll have fresh perspectives, and that's super important.

It could also be there are other factors at play. It's difficult to focus when you have something going on in life for example. And yes, good sleep and exercise in my thoughts, helps a lot. Even if you can get a 1% boost from it, that's a 1% that can be obtain. Something I also didn't do, and still have problem doing, is stretching fingers and hands before starting to warm up, which decreases the time it takes to ready to actually try for a PB or practise. You'd likely progress more, if your hands are ready quicker than it would take if you didn't stretch. Over hundreds of gameplay hours, it adds up. I think it's pretty niche is why I keep forgetting, but when I remember, I do think it makes a difference.