Just after an hour or two of playing this game on my PS3 getting familiarized with the controls and performing aerial raves/air combos, my left thumb started getting numb and eventually I couldn’t feel my fingers. Should I resort to getting a stick if I really want to get better or should I just stick to playing with a pad and enduring the pain?
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Stick is more comfortable and most people think it’s easier to do certain things. I find it pretty much the same either way… but prefer stick for the classic feel. (and less hand cramping.)
your hands, forearms, and bicep will cramp up sometimes especially with a stick. just make sure to keep your muscles loose and relaxed when you play. in other words… be like Soo Mighty. That dude could be in a MM for a million dollars and he still would play like its a casual game on arcade.
I don’t usually get cramp doing anthing exept for unfly stuff. If I’m practicing unfly in training mode it usually only takes me like 20 minutes till my hand cramps out 
Although I use a stick, so I don’t know about pads.
Yeah, thats a common complaint with pads…
Its just like typing, you have to give your hands a rest (I saw that joke coming a mile away…) Actually, that stems from how you play as well. Put the speed to normal, and just put it on “cruise control” and dont stress your hands out with trying to execute combos in turbo. Playing at a slower pace, allows the muscles to relax more within that small span of time, instead of constantly being stressed with rapid action.