The only thing counts is if you are having fun with the game.
I prefer not to use map updates. It is good to learn the concept of the game but if you prefer committing to the game...do it yourself, unless numbers give you a headache (a fair justification).
The biggest thing is to learn to visually guess a ships angle on the bow with the first few observations. Once you plot this on the board (F5), then this will colour how you want to attack it. Don't worry if the first observations aren't perfect. Plot them and it will improve the more time you spend working the problem with more observations.
Lately I have gotten more into taking my time. I will track something for hours (in the game not real hours
) if the ship has deck guns on it and it will take awhile to end-round for an attack anyway. And go for an attack at night.
Doing multiple observations on the map (F-5) for hours will give you a better feel for what the contact is doing.
You will get good at this after awhile and appreciate your own accomplishments better (my opinion).
Also if you goof up an attack, track the target, catch up with it later. Historically this happened a fair bit.
