I’ve experienced this hurdle recently and decided to post the question here since the answers will likely benefit a lot of people, both old and new. How do you guys adapt to different types of sticks (JFL, Comp, Fanta, etc.)?
Now I’ve been playing exclusively on Japanese balltop sticks with square gates for the past 15 or so years (except for one time when I was visiting my relatives in San Jose, CA and tried a V machine with Happ parts in '94). My preference in sticks reflects this as well (couldn’t be happier with the JLF in my TE). However, the only arcade with Street Fighter IV where I live has 4 cabs that all have Korean Fanta sticks (and a mishmash of OBSF-30’s and Crown buttons), so as someone who is used to working with the gate, my execution get’s thrown off whenever I play (especially since I main Blanka in SFIV). The “spring” in the Fanta (the rubber thing) is no help either.
Now the lack of a square gate I can get past, since I don’t ride the gate - once my hands know which direction is which, then I can generally hit the direction I want. It’s the feel of the rubber “spring” and the lack of a strong click that throws me off. With the Fanta, I feel like I moving around too much and am having to concentrate too much on moving the stick precisely instead of concentrating on the match. Especially when performing charge moves, I feel like I’m not moving the stick fast enough for the move to register, or I’m hitting extra stuff that I shouldn’t, I just really miss the snappiness of the JLF.
I think the best thing you can do is to carefully feel out where all eight directions are every time before you start playing, even between rounds. Just try to quickly memorize the angles of the “zones” more than anything else. At least, that’s what I find helps me the most.
From there, I think you naturally adapt to the deadzone size and engage distances without much thought, the restriction shape (maximum limits of movement) just sort of figures itself out for you as you do or do not bang up against it, and you automatically deal with the joystick’s resistance to pressure (or lack thereof) and the necessary corresponding effort anyway.
After that it’s just a matter of spending time on them. Being very conscious of and deliberate with your basic command motions will help speed the adaptation process.
There is no trick to adapting to different kinds of sticks. It’s just practice. Some people adapt with minimal practice, others need more time to adapt.
Japanese stuff. Mostly Sanwa parts, but some Seimitsu as well.
The HD cabs are a mix of Vewlix and Noir cabs, but sometimes the unbranded ones are used instead. Old cabs are a mix of every popular candy cab you’ve ever heard of.
This is just Beijing though. I can’t speak about other Cities.
Personally I just kept at it, and now I can go between all types of sticks, including old crappy american happ sticks, with minimal adjustment. I think the more you practice your techniques specific to a certain kind of stick, the less generalized your movements become, and the more of an obstacle each new type of stick will be, but thats just my theory.