Why do Counter-Strike players switch weapons so frequently?
As an avid CS:GO player I can attest that besides gaining movement speed, there are very few situations when player benefits from random switching to knife/nade/pistol. Most importantly, you limit your reaction time in a game where fractions of second determine the winner.
To understand the human nature of this behavior consider a typical round in CS:GO match:
Freezetime. Players spend 10-15 seconds during freezetime, of which they typically spend 2-4 seconds buying weapons. The rest of the freezetime players have almost nothing to do, they cannot run/walk and only allowed movements are jump/duck throwing weapons and... switching weapons.
Getting in position. Prior to any action, players have to reach their positions. This process requires pressing "w" anywhere between 5s (dust2) and 30s (nuke). Running the same route each round is not the most enjoyable part of the round, so switching weapons is an easy way to add some action without slowing down the pace, as ducking or unsuccessful jumping would do. To be fair, switching between knife and primary weapon gives you a certain speed gain compared to running with primary weapon, but why simply not run with a knife instead?
Holding an angle. Whether you are a CT awaiting "Rush B" or a T who just planted a bomb you will have to wait before any action takes place. This process requires holding an angle patiently and focused without much movement freedom. Switching weapons may be attractive option of self-entertainment during these tense moments.
In most cases, you can attribute such behavior to either boredom or emotional stress. Pressing buttons may help mentally during tight situations, like a fidget cube. The process can also be visually pleasing, especially if player owns skins he/she likes.
You can see many streamers and professional players who do that, especially younger ones. You rarely see this behavior from seasoned players in top orgs (compare 2015 s1mple in Filpsid3 with 2018 s1mple in Na'Vi).
The only advantage of having a knife out is the movement speed. The knife and the bomb have the highest speed values (250 units per second), so you run faster with one of these in your hands. Compared to an AWP (200 u/s) running around while holding the knife is 25% faster. Constantly switching weapons bears no real advantage. Most people probably do it for no real reason (or they're bored).
Why some players do that in every single situation is subject to speculation, because as you already figured out it is very risky to bring a knife to a gun fight. It's more effective to run with a pistol (most have a speed value of 240) when you're not absolutely sure there's nobody lurking in front of you and you need to hurry up. This way you can at least shoot back before switching to a rifle.
This answer is only based on my finds on google. I have never played the game. Any info can be long outdated without my knowledge.
My sources:
- Link 1
- Link 2
- Link 3
Explanation:
It seems that having the knife out you have a higher running speed than with pistol or gun. But you also want to be quick with shooting once you see an enemy, that is one reason for "quick-switching". The second reason seems to be to cancel animations. The reload animation as well as the zoom animation can be cancelled by this.
Being able to throw nades and shoot your pistol while the reload is finishing is enough gain IMO. Aside from that it's useful to unscope since the cs scoping mechanic is utterly outdated (can't even unscope without scoping in twice or taking your rifle out again...)
and
You cannot reduce reload time with any weapon in the game by quick switching, for every weapon except the awp and scout you gain no other advantage either. The only way it is useful is if when using the awp or scout, you do not want to re-scope after cycling the bolt.
and
"you gain no other advantage either" - wrong, you reset recoil, which is useful for guns with long decay like deagle (especially after a jump)
Something I think that should also not be forgotten, is the following:
It actually has some non-imagined reason. You know that you might need to move in the foreseeable future and by already moving, you are faster to react when you actually have to move. It keeps your fingers/brain active in an otherwise dull situation.
This actually refers to other games, but I am sure that weapon switching has a similar effect. You might not want to move in CS:GO while still keeping your fingers/brain active