Hey guys. I’ve had Super Street Fighter 4 since December and got a TE stick about a month ago. Using the stick is a totally new thing for me and for the past few weeks I’ve been trying to work on my execution. I still have trouble pulling out ultras and supers consistently. Because of this I have not gotten into practicing combos and FADC just yet. I was thinking of getting my execution down first and then moving onto harder stuff. However, should I start getting into techniques such as plinking sooner than later, or wait after my execution is decent until I start moving onto more advanced techniques? I’m just thinking the more I wait, the less time I will have to get to understanding other aspects of the game. Thanks for the help.
Do cr.mk into Hadouken and st.hp into SRK a million times at first.If you play Bison then just practice cr.lk x 2 into scissor kicks and jumping hp,st.hp into scissor kicks.Just practice absolute entry level combos that dont require anything fancy to do consistently,just good control of the stick/timing.
When you can do that then just start when using methods like plinking and double tapping when you feel the need to.Probably better to do it sooner rather than later though.
Go into training mode with Dhalsim, set Ultra meter to infinite and just keep doing it to get your qcfs down.
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More specifically, [media=youtube]mRnfXzax94c#t=6m40s[/media]
Also, although I am embarrassed to say so, does anyone else find that their arms get a little tired after a while when holding the stick like that? I like to rest my arms/wrists on the edge of the base, but I can’t really do that if I hold it the way Daigo does.
There’s something to be said about keeping your stick arm/hand in shape. If I step off SF for 2 weeks and don’t work out, when I come back my stick hand/wrist/arm wind up sore really quick. Usually hurting after only a few matches. Old age? Wimpy arms? Wanking preference jokes? I dunno.
Sometimes all of life’s problems come down to boring old raw practice and hard work. I think I play in training mode more so than any other mode when I am at home.
Moving to Newbie because I know they’ve covered this a lot. Hit those six raw.
Thanks for the tips guys. I actually have seen this video before. My original grip was the “wine glass” grip (stick in between middle and ring finger). After viewing this video a few weeks ago I switched my grip to what Daigo is showing (stick in between ring and pinky) and it has helped my execution. Personally this grip does not make me sore, it just feels awkward but I will eventually get used to it. What I do is have my hand completely on the surface of the stick, which gives it a base to rest on.
With an arcade stick I find the motions required to be more pronounced than say, doing the same thing on a gamepad. Try to do moves slower and make sure you are hitting all the required directions (turning on input display will help!). As for plinking and stuff like that, I don’t see why you shouldn’t practice them when you feel like a change of pace. 
Practice a lot. Read the stickies. Find people locally to play with. This should be my signature.
Seriously though, as far as what execution stuff you should learn as a beginner: ask yourself whether the technique is required for proper use of the character. If it is, learn it. That’s it.
Also, I strongly consider you ignore any and all advice anyone gives you about how to hold a stick.* Just hold the thing in a comfortable fashion and practice.
- Yes, I understand the irony of me–someone giving someone else advice on how to hold a stick–telling you not to listen to advice on how to hold a stick. People really just put entirely too much thought into this.
Thank you for the replies. Starcade, I have looked at your execution and stick guides even before I got my stick, and they have been really helpful. While in training mode I do everything that has been mentioned. I do many reps, start slowly and then speed up, and have input display on to make sure I am hitting the correct inputs. Over the past few weeks I have been making adjustments to see what I am comfortable with. I am just wondering when I should move onto more advanced techniques, such as plinking or pianoing, and whether that should be as soon as possible or after I have my execution down? I will continue with execution training for the next few weeks and then start moving onto combos and techniques, and I will take all these tips you guys have mentioned to heart.
As far as plinking and FADC are concerned, if you use a character that has 1 frame link bnbs or uses FADC as a main way to land ultra/punish, I would start practicing them for sure.
Will do so. I want to main Bison, but I am currently practicing with Ryu so I can get most of the game mechanics down. Knowing these things will also make transitioning to other characters easier, I believe.
wut?
If you want to main Bison, then main him. Why practice other characters when you know you’re going to switch back to Bison? Doesn’t it seem counter productive? If I wanted to learn how to play basketball, then why would I attempt to learn how to play football when all I really want to do is to play basketball? Bison and Ryu play fundamentally different from each other and learning one to play the over the other when you are trying to learn the basics is just a little odd to me. Bison is an easy enough character to get the basic fundamentals on, and if you want to pick up more characters, he is easy to get back to.
TL;DR
Learn the game through Bison’s eyes, then take some of the things you learned playing with him and apply it to other characters if you want to pick more characters down the road. I feel like learning Ryu to learn Bison is taking the long road around things. Every character has 1 frame links, everyone has a FADC link to ultra or a comparable setup.
I will take this into perspective. Yes I do want to main Bison, but I also want to use shoto characters such as Ryu and Akuma, and I am also liking Rose. The reason I am using Ryu right now is to build basic execution mechanics. From what I have heard he is the character to pick up to learn the game. I mainly spend more time in training mode than I do online right now. But I guess it is bad to limit myself to Ryu in just training mode, and start spending more time with Bison and others in training mode as well to practice linking and FADC. Thank you for the tip.
Theres two reasons why you should start with Ryu
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He has all the tools necessary to learn the basics of the game in a faster way. Other characters have blatant weaknesses, so if you learn them first may be lacking in other areas when you decide move on. Some characters have a hard time with anti airs, so you may develop habits around that, and when you play characters who have good anti airs, youll be dealing with unnecessary adjustments in your way of thinking
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Hes the most documented character, so its much easier to learn new concepts with him than many other characters (for example, a newbie trying to learn what ex cancels are, theres about a million tutorials where the use ryu to demonstrate how these things are done… yes i know you can learn them with other characters, but thats definitely not the point)
as you are new, you should avoid the temptation of picking the character that provides you with the easiest wins. its very easy to win at first with certain characters(t hawk, balrog, guile etc) against other low skilled opponents (and before the wambulance comes crying in, im not saying these characters are for low skilled players). Your focus isnt really on winning at this point. Your focus is on learning the game, which will eventually lead to winning.
Theres two reasons why you should start with Ryu
-
He has all the tools necessary to learn the basics of the game in a faster way. Other characters have blatant weaknesses, so if you learn them first may be lacking in other areas when you decide move on. Some characters have a hard time with anti airs, so you may develop habits around that, and when you play characters who have good anti airs, youll be dealing with unnecessary adjustments in your way of thinking
-
Hes the most documented character, so its much easier to learn new concepts with him than many other characters (for example, a newbie trying to learn what ex cancels are, theres about a million tutorials where the use ryu to demonstrate how these things are done… yes i know you can learn them with other characters, but thats definitely not the point)
as you are new, you should avoid the temptation of picking the character that provides you with the easiest wins. its very easy to win at first with certain characters(t hawk, balrog, guile etc) against other low skilled opponents (and before the wambulance comes crying in, im not saying these characters are for low skilled players). Your focus isnt really on winning at this point. Your focus is on learning the game, which will eventually lead to winning.
Thank you for the tips. The first reason you stated is why is am currently practicing with him, and it is because he has all the tools you need to learn the game. I think once I get those tools down I can move on to other characters as well, but I will also try to spend more time with others characters I like in training mode.
I’m a total novice to SSFIV and fighters in general, and only just started taking them seriously (found a group to play with every week and everything), but if I wanted to main Bison I definitely wouldn’t practice with Ryu. Mainly because Ryu like the majority of the cast is a motion character, while Bison is a charge character. To me that is a whole different mind set. To be a good charge character player you need to be able to know when to hold back to get charge when you need it, but still be able to apply pressure when you need to. I don’t don’t think doing QCFx1|2 or DP motions foster this at all. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t learn Ryu at some point, since he is a balanced character and you said you’d like to learn shotos too.
I would love to hear Necrotrophic’s opinion on this as he mains Chun, who is partly a charge character, and Alt’s Ryu. I’d also love to hear about his transition into a charge character, even if it were back in SF2 (assuming he started with a non charge character).
Yes, I understand where you are getting at. This weekend I spent time practicing with both Ryu and Bison. I spent all of my time in training mode, not online. The reason I am using Ryu is to improve my execution with these motions, since like you said, most of the cast is similar. This is so I can get used to my stick and get the right inputs down. With the TE stick being a square gate, I find it easier to use charge characters like Bison, so I am not training with him as much at the moment. But yes I agree pre-charging and charge buffering is very important.