Adjust.

A good start is:

MGE isn't the be all/end all. Look at it as something for warmup/practice/bit of fun, nothing more. It's not like it's the end of the world if you lose to people that play MGE more than you.

On the note of the kind of mouse: I typically say to stick to what's comfortable, but using a trackpad is a bit over the scales there. You won't get the proper feel with a trackpad compared to a normal mouse. Get used to the normal mouse - you won't regret it.

I always play a bit of tr_rocket_shooting2 if I ever change mouse and or sensitivity to help me get used to it pretty quickly.

if you plan to play roamer, demo, or medic, you can stick with the trackpad if you want, as long as you use mouse accel. it's really a question of your physical setup. personally, i found switching from a couch/bed after 8+ years to a desk with the raised mouse just too different from what i was used to. (actually, i guess an actual bonus is the right side of your keyboard is more quickly acessable for binds)

however, if you want to play a hitscan class or improve as a player overall, then you're going to want to just force yourself to play with a mouse. pick a sensitivity that roughly feels right at first (don't keep tweaking it after the first day or so) and get as much experience as you can. if you used mouse accel, the big thing will be getting used to rocket jumping again, so spend enough time in jump servers until you're comfortable.

Thanks for all the tips and all I think I'll try and stick it out with the mouse and see how it goes I wish I would have started with a mouse but it is what it is.

Play Heavy in pubs. I know it sounds stupid, but it's a nice way to acclimate yourself to a new sensitivity. You move slow enough that your movement won't interfere with aiming, and tracking other players will help familiarize yourself with the feeling of playing with a mouse.

sounds like how i felt when xbox360 first came out and i tried to play halo3 with friends who were used to controllers

WHY DONT MY THUMBS WORK

Practice using hitscan

http://teamfortress.tv/forum/thread/2777

please make a video of you playing with a trackpad, it really intrigues me.

Is it possible you have mouse acceleration on and don't know it? I seem to recall mac OS had some really bad mouse acceleration for gamers- so you may want to look at how to make sure that's disabled in tf2 first...I'm not sure if m_rawinput 1 is sufficient or if it's handled differently on mac's.

Once you sort out the mouse acceleration thing and you're getting true 1:1 input with your mouse movement you'll basically want to practice in situations where you can get as many repetitions as possible in a short period of time. I'd recommend something like tr_walkway where you can get lots of reps in a short period of time to start building muscle memory.

First things first make sure you don't have mouse accell on!

This might sound silly but if you're serious about learning how to use a mouse, then I promise you one of the best ways to simply create and condition your muscle memory is surfing.

I often tell people they should try surfing because it forces you to test the limits of your mouse control, and the space available on your desktop on which you move your mouse.

It also forces you to air strafe properly.

Basically, your ability to surf is directly correlated to your ability to control your mouse. The more precise and smooth your mouse movement is, the better surfer you will be.

It's also less personal than mge. I'm not saying that surfing isn't frustrating at times, especially when learning the basics, but you can do it at your own pace. I find it a relaxing yet challenging way to spend time outside of scrims.

Here is the IP for susurfit - a surf server with beginner - intermediate difficulty maps. I recommend starting here. 66.151.244.243:27015

Also, if you've never surfed before and have no idea what to do. Just go to the server, and spectate people who seem like they know what they're doing. Type "!skeys" without quotes in your chat. This will show you the keys that the person you're watching is pressing. That is the best way to learn how to surf.

Don't touch w btw

As a player who used to play on a trackpad: you won't regret switching.

Hitscan aim will be really difficult. Worry about getting to know your mouse with projectile classes before you try to aim hitscan.

Holding a mouse feels so natural it's like an extension of my body.
Every time I use a laptop I always instantly go to grab where my mouse would be after typing.

Trackpad really isn't that bad for no hitscan classes but my fingertips hurt like hell after using that. You really won't regret switching. You need to regain a lot of muscle memory but at the end of the day you will be better.

Reminds me of switching from using arrow keys and a trackpad in Minecraft then going to WASD. So much better.

If you are using OSX (and not bootcamp), get this
http://smoothmouse.com/
apart from the horrendous osx accel curve which clips with high dpi mice, the input lag is a joke. this fixes both.

as an ex rat 7 user I can vouch for the fact that anything>mad catz

As a current rat 7 user I can vouch that I hate my mouse and never buy a madcatz product ever.

I can't really make a video but I could get you a demo of a scrim or something? My sensitivity is on 7 while on the trackpad so its pretty funny to watch.

Thanks for all the tips guys! Going to try out my mouse and all starting today doing surfing, heavy pubs, tlr_walkway, and more things like that and see how it goes. Really appreciate all the help!

Really hope this works I have done several things to turn off mouse accel and all but it still doesn't feel just right never would of thought of this though.