Have you ever used an arcade stick before the one you have? The best way to find out is actually using it for the first time, and giving it time. It’s the only way.
Oh hell yes…god only knows how much money I have blown over the years playing MK and Samurai Showdown in the arcade…
…but I never really thought about technique…I was too young to care.
NicaKO’s tutorials have some up close hand-on-stick action: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DEE9C2CC15F90F36
Yeah, those videos are great.
He stresses THE key point about SRK technique that is so hard on the stupid thumbstick: STOPPING the motion on DF…not F.
For me,
:lp::mp::hp:
:lk::mk::hk:
I keep my right pointer, middle, ring finger on LP MP HP and my thumb on LK whenever I need to hit mk or hk my index finger hits mk and my ring finger hits hk.
This is the style that I find most intuitive…its what I will almost certainly go with.
Now I just need to hit up akihibara shop and get some better components…
This.
I find the pinky too unreliable.
edit: I played today and analyzed it, i use the pinky and ring finger at the same time for HK. So it’s kind of a combination of both for me?
UPDATE: I put in about 15 hours of play on my new RAP and I love it. At first it was awkward as all hell, but now I’m feeling very comfortable on it.
Thanks for the great advice.
I just got my first stick and I am having quite some fun.
I keep jumping all over the place but I guess I’ve just got to practice.
I’m having some problems with my execution as well and practice does not seem to be helping much so here goes…
basicly i can’t seem to do the 236236 motion on my sanwa jlf from 1st player side. I can do 214214 fine but i always get a dragon punch from 1st player side unless i do the motion stupidly retarded slow.
I hold the stick with my thumb on top and 2 fingers on the stick and 2 tucked below- palm facing inward not upward (which ive seen and tried but it hurts my wrist a lot).
I think the reason i can do 214214 is because my thumb can help me guide the stick to the forward motion easier going that direction… even now doing the motion in the air this seems to be the case. So any help? Is that something else I can do or anything grip style I should attempt? Like i said practice does not seem to be helping and I am getting kinda frustrated with it as of late. Any tips? Some drills or something to practice. I really want to get good at SFIV and this is holding me back because I cannot FADC >> ultra unless im on 2nd player side which needless to say is not good for my game lol.
Thanks for any help you all can give… SRK!!
If I read you correctly, you’re holding the stick with your wrist in the ‘shake hands’ position: i.e., palm facing inward, wrist straight. Is that correct?
If so, try holding the stick with your palm facing down. You can still use your thumbs and first two fingers to grip the stick, but leave your other fingers relaxed. Don’t tense your hand or wrist muscles any more than you need to in order to keep a firm handle on your joystick(no homo). That should help with evening your motions out, and keeping them identical from either side.
Did that make any sense? Other than the ‘firm handle on your joystick’ part?
Yes I think you got it correct. I didnt know the different grips had a name other then I hear
"wine glass" term thrown around every once in awhile. I will give the new grip a try for awhile and see if that works out for me. Thank you very much for the idea, I really appreciate the help 
Here’s an idea for those just making the transition and for whom the stick still feels a little awkward: try playing more than just fighting games with it. Playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on my HRAP was great for getting me through the early phase where I felt like my execution sucked. One, it helped me get used to the feeling of using the stick to play video games in general. Two, Alucard’s spells were pretty good practice for fighting game inputs (if you can learn Soul Steal on a stick, you should be fine in fighters:tup:. Three, most importantly, it was a lot less stressful and a lot more fun way of getting used to the feel of it than standing in training mode trying to throw 100 fireballs and cursing my lack of skill.
Of course you don’t have to stop practicing your fireballs while you play other games, you can switch it up a bit. The point is to get as much experience using the stick in as many games/situations as possible so that both your brain and your hands become as adept at using the stick as they are at using a pad. Once the stick feels good in your hands and you’re wondering why you ever played fighters on anything else you’ll notice that all the basic attacks and specials/supers are a lot easier to learn than they are now, and by extension learning to combo those moves/specials together will seem a lot easier too.
Whatever training method you use and however you decide to hold the stick (I find that some positions are best for some motions, and others are best for other motions so my grip shifts a lot while I play) the most important thing to remember is that it takes time for your brain to adjust to giving your body different commands to achieve the same result. Don’t get frustrated because you just spent $150+ on a stick because you believe it’s what you need to take your game to the next level (and it may very well be what you need) and now that you’re using it you realize you were 10 times better on pad. There’s a pretty big learning curve as you have to completely retrain all the muscle memory you had built over the years of playing on pad. I promise you that every person who has ever switched from pad to stick has gone through the same thing. Some may adapt faster than others but that’s neither here nor there and you should be focusing on you.
Anyway, “stick” with it and enjoy your games!
Hey that is a great point- in fact a couple years ago or so, I also played the exact same game with my regular old PS1 stick, and it helped in that game. I figured a game like Symphony of the Night would be easier than fighting games but some things were actually difficult for me, and redoing certain moves on stick was a good exercise, particularly with the character(s?) that can does the jump move, interrupted with some horizontal dash attack in the air. I remember practicing with stick right before the big tall monster very deep in the castle, I think you need that move (maybe second time 'round?) to get past him.
Great tips you guys.
I’m SO at home with my arcade stick now…it only took about a week of solid playing for the stick to become second nature.
Lets hope that this is a common question and will be searched for and found by other new members, and other people new to arcade sticks.
Play everything on the stick… SHMUPS especially… they will make your accuracy 10x better lol.
Megaman is awesome for stick too, you gotta be perfect or you die.
Hey parabellum,
What finger placement did you end up going with ?
Index, middle, and ring fingers over: jab, short, fierce punch.
Thumb over: light kick.
Middle drops down for med kick.
Ring drops down for roundhouse.
Feels GREAT and by covering light kick with my thumb, I can tech throws on a moment’s notice.
Some people do knuckle down, didn’t see that mentioned.
How do you hold the stick now:wink:
like a wine glass? like a bat?
Now, how is everyone accomplishing throws and FA?
Throws for me are thumb and index on LK and LP respectively. But for FA I seem to switch up between a few various things. Like thumb and index, or even just flatten out my middle finger.