How do I lighten up while playing USFIV?

People tell me that I have been taking the game too seriously. To be honest, I worry what other people think and I fear sucking in any tournament I go into. I got my ass kicked a lot today, so I don’t know how to reconcile with it.

Can I really laugh at myself for being a shitty player?

Laugh but learn.from those mistakes.

Alternately, check the wall switches if you find your lighting is still insufficient.

Just try and relax a bit. Always remember even the best players get whooped. You seem to be mentally weak (no offense) when it comes to competition and probably defeat yourself the minute something goes wrong in a match. For example, if you win Round 1, and get perfected Round 2, where is your head at? Have you already given up or are you calm? I advise you to go watch some pro matches, like a lot of them. That’s what I do. However, when you watch them, pay attention to how bad they get their asses handed to them sometimes in the heat of competition, and pay attention to how they bounce back from it. Don’t do what most guys do and go “oh man how do they get this good I’ll never be able to pull stuff like this off”, go into the matches with the mindset “Let me observe how these guys handle competition and pressure”. It will help you a lot.

Also remember dude, we all have bad days. All of us. For example, if Daigo can get perfected, any of us can at any given moment. Haha. Hope that helps.

If you want examples I can go find some, of pro players bouncing back from ass kickings (Daigo vs Pepeday came to mind).

Yeah, I am very self-critical when I play. I am something of a perfectionist.

I do watch a lot of the pros play, so I try to absorb their strategies. However, I often forget and I panic a lot during matches. What really matters is the psychological aspect, which is something I need to work on first. It’s mostly anxiety and low self-esteem that I need to conquer.

See those defeats as an opportunity to learn something in order to improve yourself. Also remember that, at the end of the day, it’s just a game. You’ve been defeated? Well, then move on and try not to commit the same mistakes again in the next match. Now it would be worse if you were doing poorly at school or your job, now wouldn’t it?

Yeah dude. It’s not bad to show emotion when you play (Tokido, Poongko) but at the same time they’re confident in their abilities. Just be confident. Put the time in, and you’ll be fine. Can’t win 'em all, haha

Self-confidence is something I need to build up, though. I also find myself making the same mistakes over and over again. Hell, I need to learn how to tech and all that.

That just comes with experience lol. Once you stop being so self conscious when you play, you’ll play more loosely and you’ll do better I guarantee :smiley:

exercise in between matches and loading screens

Jack Daniels helps.

I managed to use compassionate self-talk and deep breathing at a local tourney yesterday. I made it to 7th place.

My solution to lighten up was to play better games :stuck_out_tongue:

Honestly, try it. I spent a year and a half playing SF4, irritated as hell - I loved the fighting game stuff, but it took me a long time to realize that I actually hated the game itself. After switching to other games I’ve been much more motivated to learn and all around positive about the hobby.

Second, throw all thoughts of winning out of the window. Play to learn. Ask yourself, am I doing something better than last month, or last week? Have I figured out what I want to do in that situation that wrecked me yesterday? Keep at it with that kind of mindset and the results will come, but they will come as a side effect, not the goal. The goal is to get good, wins are just a random thing that correlates with being good and completely misses the point.

Do not be like DSP or LTG .
I’ve been on a loosing streak all week long(online) and what I do is either look at my cell(web/text) back to game. I also like to think to myself ,okay what happened and how I lost? . while in tournament I do the same thing check cellphone, ask what happened try to figure it out and just take a deep breath try to relax.

I know better than to be like those two losers. Seeing them in action made me cringe extremely hard.

As for switching to other games, I would love to play HD Remix again. I don’t want to believe that I’m getting bored of USFIV. People would call me a scrub for losing interest.

If I lose 2 in a row I just walk away from the game for a min to refocus . Then when i come back and i happen to lose again i pop a 1st person shooter in.

Maybe try playing other characters or even random to still get some practice but with a more relaxed pace.

And hey, maybe you learn something about these characters you play and this might just provide you with the hindsight needed to win next time with your main!

I thought about using Balrog, plus a lot of people said that I should try having a pocket shoto. Ryu was the best one for me, because he fits my playstyle.

If you ever wanna throw a stick, please make sure there’s some sort of recording.

Why would I do something like that? I know you’re joking, but there’s no way in hell that I’m breaking something expensive.

Cmon its fine , you should focus on is learning from your mistakes and improving your game , just don’t really care about what others think
or alternatively , you play SF5 :stuck_out_tongue: