I have been seriously been playing sf4 for the last 3 weeks and purchased an SE stick last week. I can pull most of my BnB combos but I dont use the stick when I play on-line or locals. I like to play pad to get my groove or feel of my main (Akuma) when I want to play others. I always set aside an hour or two in training to get used to the fightstick and back and forth so on. I would say lock down your main or whatever and practice practice pratice on the stick. Pad isvery limited to what it can do, for me using the pad is just learning the basics of any sf4 cast. It will take some time for the transfer to be complete, as it is for me and for others.
I play Chun.
A fellow SRk’er, Wha-What also plays Chun.
We picked up SF4 around the same time.
I play stick.
He plays pad.
The man can take me down on a serious streak. Even better than trying to master your execution on stick, master the mind games and knowledge of your character. Keep practicing, but know your character and what they have to work with.
keep at it socratic it took me about 3 months of sporadic play to “master” the joystick
and don’t let your guard down
Dont fret over it. Some things just naturally come faster to others. There is no right way to grip a stick. Hell, ive seen more than one person use the cross-handed grip. Just stick to it (pun intended).
dont give up
I think the only character who you get better with a stick is C. Viper, I mean look at her moves, almost impossible with a pad. Maybe also Sim…(Fast teleport)
I too am having a hard time getting used to the stick. One thing that I find that helps is NOT sticking with one character. As silly as this sounds, there are certain techniques that are vital in getting used to the directions and inputs. For an example, play with Zangief for a bit. Play around in player matches. If your using a Square gate (Which I’m assuming you are), it helps to do the 360’s to get used to the circular motion in a box.
Of course I don’t play as Gief, heh…so I dont make it habit.
Do drills. I’m a rose player at heart. I go into Training mode and start doing QCF+k, QCB+P. I put the dummy on All block and keep doing that till I can do this with my eyes closed. Then I get close to the dummy and start doing SRK+MP. This causes my Soul Throw which will make me jump over the dummy. Then id o it backwards. Forwards…Backwards…Soul throw, Soul throw…eyes closed…soul throw, soul throw.
The inputs i have an easy time with. The hardest input I have 2xQCF motions. In that case I put the dummy on All Block with infinite Meter and use her super. Over and over again. Eyes closed…do it and do it and do it. Do it when your talking to someone. DO it while listening to music. Infact, your not playing a game. Turn your mind off to the game.
1p side I have a hard time on also…I feel your pain. I feel like i’m handcuffed. Furthermore as a Rose player…her wake up game is garbage. I have to back dash most of the, and guess what I have the hardest time doing? Dashing.
As a drill, pick a combo your working on. for me its c.lp, c.lk, c.mp, QCF+k.
So I set it to all block, and quick rise.
F, F c.lp, c.lk, c.mp, QCF+k. B, B, F, F c.lp, c.lk, c.mp, QCF+k.
Rinse and repeat. The motion is mostly to do the dashing, but its something to practice.
My whole point is this…you gotta drill yourself. the best thing to do is to do it when your not paying attention to the game. It should be second nature.
Don’t be discouraged. It takes time and practice, like everything else
if you think about it the damn joystick is kinda like a keyboard.
how long did it take you to learn how to type really good?
when u press buttons on a keyboard its like stringing together a combo on a stick
im just sayin, skills dont come overnight
Sell me your stick or shut the fuck up, please.
It would make a welcome addition here in “my mom’s basement”. 
Took me around a year to get to feel comfortable.
Okay, I’ll agree with you, not on street fighter 4 but he would definately want to play other street fighter titles, most of them, a stick is a must.
MVC2, CVS2, Alpha 3.
Ouch, neg rep hurts, I wanna cry and slit my wrists.
im also like this…but its the only way i feel confortable.
i always think its a disadvantage becoz the split second my hand leaves the stick i hav no control.
That is my only problem. I can super cancel 100% of the time from the 2p side, but hardly ever from the 1p side.
It took me 1 whole year to get used to stick.
The Stick is Sick.
I use three types of Controllers for fighters for 3 different kinds of characters. I have to use the stick for my main, but I don’t use it for others. Most of the replies to your statement say keep with the practice or are idiot comments.
I know that driving movement on the stick from your arm is not as good (don’t do this) as driving movement from your hand/fingers. Then manipulate the button layout to fit your hands natural “stance/motion”
Of course you may be like some people I know that have played the game so long on controller that the Stick is like learning to walk again. If that is the case… then …
give it some time it’ll com soon
took me 3 months playing on and off before i got use to it! oddly enough i kept having problems on the 2P side till i changed my grip to diago’s lol…
i used to have it between my ring and middle finger, but i had a problem dasing on 2P side and using my thumb for anything. then i saw a vid of diagos hands and tried the pinky ring finger and that worked great lol.
I was practicing earlier. Again, I gotta stress. If your using a square gate stick, you dont have to let the gate restrict your movements. Think about drawing a circle in a box. Your box has diagonal corners, and your circle has 4 key points with curves btw them. 12, 3, 6, 9, like a clock face.
I find that a good grip is important. I’m finding the C grip to be my favorite. I hold the thumb and index finger on the ball top. My middle goes UNDER the stick. Now I was practicing my QCFx2 motions and i realized this. All my my fingers do SOMETHING.
If I didnt use my thumb, I could do the QCFx2 motion. However, using jsut my index and middle finger causes me to hit the full extent of the gate. I.E. I go very far. My Index pulls down, my ring pulls up.
However my thumb is for “Shape”. My thumb rolls in a circle. It comes down when my index pushes but stops it from hitting absolute Down. As my middle pulls up it pushes up but keeps the circular motion going so I dont hit DF.
The whole point of this is…I slowed my motion down and realized what my fingers were doing. Now im popping QCF’s like its nothing. I think I’m close to breaking the 1p vs 2p side.
This takes practice. Ignore what others are saying. They’re just idiots. You come here for help, and they ignore you, and actually get on your case. I’m a noob, I know…no need to point it out guys.
With that being said, Slow your motions down and see what your doing. Again, close your eyes and do them. Forget your holding a controller and you’ll find your grip.
GL
Sticks are not meant for everyone…A lot of my friends went out and bought TE sticks to try and be cool. They wasted $160…
I love facing idiots who went out of their way to pick up a TE stick. They see me sitting next to them rocking a shitty Hori EX2 and think it’s a free win for them.
Of course, it also pisses me off that there are dudes out there with top notch sticks who don’t know shit about fighting games, and are likely to create threads on SRK bitching about how the arcade controls don’t suit them.
ALSO, I got a good laugh every time I saw some retarded ass fucking 09 poster jocking “Daigo’s Grip” of an arcade stick. Wow guys, way to prove you aren’t new at all!