Progress with stick is slow as hell and it's beginning to frustrate me

I used to be a pad player. I switched to stick in August. I bought it in July but I couldn’t quite let go of the pad just yet. In August I went full time with it and it is November now. I still can’t perform my BNB’s consistently with it, I drop combos all the time online still. While I am winning a lot more matches on stick now than I was in August I am still stuck in Ultra Silver. I made it back to Gold twice only to get bumped back downstairs. I picked up my pad for the first time in 3 months just to see if I could still play on it…and I am LIGHTYEARS ahead of what I am on stick. I didn’t drop a single fucking combo.

Winning felt so good that I stayed on it for about an hour and then I remembered why I switched to stick, my thumb started to hurt like a bitch after playing for a little bit. What I like about stick is that it’s painless and I can play for hours on end and still be comfortable. I also like that I don’t need Punch x3 and Kick x3 macros anymore, it feels like I’m playing totally legit.

I just get so frustrated because I’ve been putting in so much work and it’s starting to feel like a waste of time. The only reason I keep going at it is because I do not want to feel like I wasted my money and I want the all black VLX HRAP 4 (that bitch is drippin with sauce). I also love customizing my arcade sticks. I keep at it every day but those thoughts about going back to pad and saying fuck this shit always linger in my head.

Stick can take a long time to learn. It depends on the person, but Aug-Nov isn’t really a long time. Pad is easier to pick up, but you probably also invested more time into it over the years as well.

But it could be your technique too. Gooteks made a good video on how to use a stick. Or you could have developed bad habits that you don’t even know about. You said you can’t consistently perform your BnB, which means you need to sit in training mode and do some serious work.

Here is that video I mentioned:

Playing on stick is just preference. I personally couldn’t be more glad when i switched to a stick.

The reason you gave for switching was one of mine too, my hand felt cramped and thumb sore afte rplaying on a pad. I could simply feel that the 360 controller was not meant for FG’s and i was unprecise when playing on it and literally fighting the controller. I switched at a point where i wasn’t good at the game yet so i didn’t notice anything from switching to a stick win-percentage wise.

Playing on a stick for me until i was completely comfortable with it, took me many months, especially DP from crouching and FADC ultra motions.

You can either stick with it or just switch back to controller again. I literally never played a FG again on a controller since i switched 5 years ago and just stuck with it.

just stick to it and you’ll get better. it takes time and frustration to get used to and in the end you’ll be glad you stuck to it.

If ur rank means that much 2 u just don’t play ranked until u have gotten used 2 stick, play casual match instead. Like others have said tho learning stick can take a long time but eventually u will get the hang of it

If it’s possible, pick a different character while learning stick, rather than trying to relearn everything on a stick.

This is slightly less frustrating since you don’t have to relearn muscle memory, and because your losses seem more “legit” since you are learning a new character and therefor expect to lose a lot more than if you would with your main.

Just make sure it’s someone top tier with easy execution. If your pad main wasn’t Ryu I would say to give him a try. He’ll give you stick and streetfighter fundamentals so you can kinda kill 2 birds with one stone while learning for 3-6 months.

Or just play what you’re comfortable with and don’t try to imitate famous SF players that learned the game in the arcades, and thus use sticks because that is what they are comfortable with.

Gotta grind it out. There’s no easy way.

Agree with DominicanPower; you have to work hard at it. The high level stick players didn’t get to where they are in 3 months.

I’ve actually become proficient with stick since I’ve made the original post. Well at least I am proficient with my character in SFV (Vega). It took about 3 and a half months total to get really consistent with it.

All I can say is I worked at it and I have come a long way in the 20 days since I made the initial post. I just played every day and kept practicing. Playing online no matter how many times I got bodied or how many times I dropped a combo. Always accepted the runback whether I won or lost. All I cared about was improving my execution on stick.

There’s nowhere to go but up from here.

You’re using a JLF?

Yes.

I use a standard JLF with 2LB tension in one stick and I have a silent JLF which also has a 2LB tension. I use my Silent Stick at night because I live with others.

I thought the standard spring was too loose in my silent JLF so I put the 2 LB tension in my silent JLF.

You should try the Hori Hayabusa joystick with 2LB spring. Absolute perfection IMHO!