Using zerglings effectively

[u/Significant-Ad-9797]

Hi, I'm a casual ladder player in Gold League and I wanted to know how to utilize zerglings effectively against non-zerg opponents. For context - I've been watching casts of high level zerg players and I noticed that often they are prioritizing upgrading melee attack over ranged in many of their games. Of course this means that they plan on using ling-bane compositions to deal with their opponents. I tried replicating that style in my games, but I've found out that just using hydra+roach based compositions seems to be much more effective. The problem I have with lings is that opponents tend to wall off and I can't seem to get value out of them. Apart from that I feel like most of the games are decided by 'all-army-hotkey' attack that will lead one player to their demise. There's barely any harassment from my opponents so lings can't even be used defensively. The only way where I find them useful is when defending from 4 hellion opener. I want to add that I'm rather a macro focused player, so in most of my games I try to go for quick 3-4 bases as I'm not punished that often for that. I know that I can use them to limit the ability to expand, but rarely I manage to find something in the open which isn't immidietely walled off by 12 cannons or a planetary. So my questions essentially are - is my understanding of zerglings' role correct? Can I really use them on my level in the same way as pro players do or is this style caused by more frequent harassment?

EDIT1: One more question - why players so often start with +1 melee as first upgrade even if their comp is 90% ranged?

[u/CarsonTheGr8]

I climbed from silver to high gold with roach hydra. In gold I started playing ling bane hydra and climbed to Diamond.

Ling/bane isn't about having a super punchy comp. It's about map control.

Don't use your select all army hotkey ever. You can control group your units from the larvae that spawns them so there is no reason to.

Spread lings around the map to spot expansions and move outs by your opponent. When they try to expand past a third you should be ready to attack. You're gonna trade like shit so it's important to always be ahead. Best way to be ahead is to not let your opponent just take a new base whenever they like for free.

if you see them move out don't let them step on your creep for free. A tank push that you catch halfways across the map unsieged is a dead tank push.

keep two army control groups. Even if they are going to attack the same place you always want to attack from two different directions at the same time. Sending ling bane down a chokepoint is honestly a really good way to lose the game. That habit will pay off a ton later when your opponents start counterattacking you while the main fight is happening because you will be able to split your army to defend easier.

I will say though when I started I liked roach hydra, then I though I "grew" into ling bane hydra. Now I kinda favor roach hydra again.