I've been playing the single player for a long time, and just recently started playing multi.  However, I seem to be really missing something here.  I can empty a clip into the back of someone's head, then they turn around and shoot me twice and I'm dead.  And we both have the same gun!! (And I'm fully armour/health of course).  Or, these people are jumping around like psychos and pointing all kinds of directions, but they still seem to land every hit.  Is there some some kind of configuration in the controls that helps you to aim better or something?  Or do they just play a whole lot?

if ur emptying a whole clip in one go then most of ur shots will completely miss them.  Fire in short bursts, but still leave the gun in full auto mode, also if ur shooting from a long way away from them u could just be missing

there are some people who make a game their main priority and play it like most folk watch television, 6-10 hours a day.  With that kind of practice time and even a little bit of talent you can get supernaturally good at racking up the kills.

 play more and you'll get better...  

- g

A few tips.
Short bursts.
Kneeling when you can helps too...or it appears to help.
Aiming at upper torso and head works great.
Use a big monitor and wear headphones. You'd be surprised at what you can hear hear even with cheap headphones.
Strafing from left to right really fast as you center the crosshair on your target helps as well.

Jumping is overrated to me but it tends to help when there's nowhere else to go.

And of course practice in multiplayer rather than single. you'll find that your human opponents can be quite unpredictable. . Which helps the practice in aiming.

Lastly, USE COVER WHEN YOU CAN. When you stand still in the middle of the courtyard, I will stab you or even shoot you in the head with my pistola.

Use ^ his advice.

I forgot to add that jumping when you go around a corner tends to keep you from getting your head blown clean off. Well sometimes.

id say the most useful thing i do is aim.
practice by running around in a circle, around maybe a box at first, and practice shooting at it. then move on to skinnier objects, such as signposts (mp_hk2 is a great practice area).
pick a gun that you like, and get used to it. usually, different guns require different types of skill.

have fun  

Thanks much for the advice.  Aiming is ####, though.  I've found that lowering mouse sensitivity seems to help, but aiming still sucks.  Somehow, people usually kill my with a couple of shots.  I have to hit them at least 6+ times before they die.

Aim at the head then. 2 shots with ak on head and they die. Imo it should be 1 shot though