ok so i bought a DJI Mini 2 like three days ago and ive been reading so much stuff online that my brain is just fried at this point. everyone says different things and i cant figure out what actually matters for a beginner vs what is just people being overly technical about stuff i dont need to worry about yet.

my main thing is i dont really know how to practice. like do i just go outside and fly around or is there a proper way to learn this? i keep hearing about hovering drills and stuff but i also heard i should put it in sport mode to get used to it faster?? that seems backwards to me but idk. also how close to trees is too close, i live in a suburb and the only open space near me is a park with some trees around the edges

sorry if this is a dumb question i just dont want to crash it on day one

definitely do not start in sport mode lol, that advice is terrible whoever told you that. sport mode turns off a lot of the obstacle avoidance and the thing gets fast really quickly, not what you want when youre still figuring out which stick does what. keep it in normal mode and honestly even cine mode for the first few flights if it has that, things are just slower and more forgiving.

for the tree thing, honestly just stay away from them entirely until you have a solid feel for the controls. wind does weird stuff near trees too, you get these little gusts and eddies that can push the drone sideways when youre not expecting it. open grass area, low altitude maybe 10-15 feet, just practice hovering in place and doing slow figure eights. boring but it actually works. my first drone lasted about 6 flights before i got cocky near some branches so trust me on this one

I was in the same spot like 8 months ago with a Mini 3. The hovering drills thing is real and not as boring as it sounds once you get into it ? basically just getting your thumbs to stop overcorrecting is the whole point of it. I spent probably 4 or 5 batteries just doing that before I felt comfortable moving around and it paid off.

The park sounds fine honestly as long as you stay toward the middle away from the tree line. Just check if there are any restrictions on flying there, the DJI Fly app will usually flag it but it's not always 100% accurate so maybe double check on the B4UFLY app too.