There are usually many more features shown on the map than you need to get from one control to the next. This is not something that you do automatically, but takes practice. You can do this by looking briefly at a leg between two controls, then turning the map over and drawing on a sheet of paper all the features you remember which are important in finding the control. Look for the biggest, easiest features to find and ignore things that are subtle or don't affect your running or navigation. Trails, roads, and other linear features, big hills and valleys, and large thickets and open fields are all important in choosing and following a route.
Attack points Some parts of an orienteering course are easier than others.
It's usually easy to get near the control, but tricky to actually locate the control marker. You should adapt your orienteering technique to this by running fast in the easy sections and going slowly and carefully in the hard sections. One way of doing this is to use attack points . These situations are unusual. Some typical attack points include a road bend, a stream junction, a trail intersection, the corner of an open field, and the top of a hill.