I’ve been working on sfv for a couple years now trying to get better execution on a fight stick. And one question I keep having is, should I use my pinky to press buttons?
Full disclosure; my hands a not big. ( yeah, yeah ). So for me, hitting buttons with a single finger does not work well ( I often skim it ). I do the two-finger press instead, with index-middle on lights, middle-ring on mediums, and ring-pinky on heavies. It works ok, but I have real difficulty getting my pinky down into the HK position.
Recently I tried double tapping and I like that a lot for links, but I cannot for the life of me do it with my ring-pinky on the heavy buttons. The pinky is just too gimpy!
So Ian wondering, should I give up on the pinky altogether and use middle-ring for heavy buttons? This means I would need to move my hand out of position, but maybe it’s worth it for better hits. Do you guys use your pinky? I was watching videos of Momochi, Wong and Tokido, seems like they might not use it. They definitely double tap too…
contrary to popular belief among beginners, there isnt always a single correct way to do things. some people press the lights simultaneously by flattening out their index finger. others use the index and thumb.
muscularity and nerve innervation of the hand will always have the pinky be weaker than the thumb, index, and middle, but how you use them is a matter of preference. ultimately, this is going to be 98% involuntary anyway. sometimes, in a demanding situation, i’ll use my pinky to hit HK when i otherwise wouldnt. its done purely on demand without conscious intent.
if your hands are really that dainty then you could get a custom made with 24 mm buttons for the main attacks.
I think a big thing most beginners do is think that they have to use separate fingers for the buttons. A lot are happy with it, but I have never seen an advanced player ever have specific fingers for specific buttons. No mater how big or small your fingers are you can hit a button with just one. If you are missing them you just need to practice. If you are comfortable using two fingers per button then stick with that and just keep practicing.
When I play SFV I generally use my middle finger for the instances where I am only pressing one, maybe two buttons in succession. If I have a combo I am doing I use which ever finger is near the button I need to press at the time. I rarely use my pinky. But only because I play for hours on end and it starts to get really sore. And I find if I try to hard to use the “right finger” at the “right time” I worry to much about which finger to use instead of what button to press.
If you are set on using a specific finger for a specific button, then mod the stick to use the smaller buttons. They are the size of the smaller buttons typically used for start and back.
But I would personally suggest letting your button hand be loose. Move it up and down and left and right, don’t stretch for a button when you can just move your hand to it.