So I got street fighter 5 last night and went into a casual match after playing around a bit and this fear of mine comes back anytime i play online. It’s that I’m scared of losing and never getting good. I always back up to the corner and barely pull a combo because I’m scared I’ll get punished for it. What do I do???
You play until you get over it.
Consider this: If you’re afraid you’ll always be bad, staying in the corner is a good way to make sure that you stay that way.
Keep playing until you start winning.
Then motherfuckers will be scared of YOU! Niggas will be straight bitches and DC as soon as they see you.
Don’t give up! You can do it!
I used to think I was pretty decent, sitting on the couch with my friends consistently won and I could run the machine at local bowling alley and did okay online. Then I found the local meet-up went out one night stick in hand discovered I am a complete trash scrub. Didn’t win a single round or even present a performance that appeared I had ever played before. It ranks in my top 3 most embarrassing life moments.
Now… don’t care so much. Still enjoy fighters, miss the days when it was more paper-rock-scissor instinct than refined and researched technique. I am fine with losing, find people you have good back and forth competition with and leave it at that and don’t worry about being competitive.
The difference is between throwing the ball around the yard, and trying to compete in the NFL.
Try playing one of these songs in the background as you fight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyvQKTg4T5o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmkmQS09JSY
Sounds like you need more training room. It doesn’t seem like you’re comfortable enough with your character. After that, go back to Casual and play. You will eventually win and your nervousness and fears will fade.
But be prepared to lose. Everyone loses, it’s okay.
Everybody knows that point where you get scared to press buttons and hold down and back.
That usually happens under high pressure. What you have sounds like permanent anxiety.
Make yourself aware that you play a fucking video game and keep that in mind when you expose yourself to that situation.
Stop worrying about losing. We all lose a ton in the beginning. It’s a right of passage and the sooner you get right with it, the sooner you’ll get past it.
That’s a common feeling between newcomers like me and you. People are on the amateur scene of fighting game for decades, than we just arrive and sit on our fear of being ass at the game. It’s normal, nobody like to be bullied and torn apart, and that’s just what happens to newcomers.
For me, I found that i feel more confortable playing local with (experienced) friends. They keep bullying and tearing me apart, but with a friend is somewhat fun, and there’s no anxiety factor.
So my advice is: find someone to play with on the same console
I feel you, bro. I suffer from rather severe anxiety and actually take pills for it. For years I didn’t dare touch online, would damn near have panic attacks during close matches, and would just run arcade mode over and over when I wasn’t playing locally against friends. Hell, I didn’t dare post on SRK for fear of not being good enough, which I thought would somehow make all my posts shit. Now I know my posts are shit because I’m a shitty poster, and the fact I suck at fighting games is just a coincidence.
To be honest, the best you can do is just go online. It gets easier with time and the longer you delay playing against real people, the more likely you are to start relying on shitty, punishable tactics that only work because the AI isn’t programmed to handle it. Habits are hard to break, so it’s best to not make bad habits to begin with. Losing isn’t that bad, and believe me, I should know. Besides, the feeling when you actually get it is fantastic. That moment when you just know what button that motherfucker is going to press and blow his ass out of the water is indescribable.
lmao wrong thread
play to have fun
find fun in executing certain things
its anxiety, i feel it too sometimes but so what if you lose? it’s against a faceless online person that you probably won’t see again anyway, go watch your replays and learn from your loss.
Remember, the person you’re fighting is probably also not very good at the game, and is just handling it differently. I have seen many Kens attack with no regard to safety because they didn’t understand how to play. 
Don’t worry about losing! Losing is a very important part of getting good. Just treat each loss as a chance to learn something useful. Hell, post replays here, I’m sure some forum-goers will be willing to look them over.
And don’t worry about combos! Just pick a character and work out which moves of theirs are safe - which moves you can throw out and then block before being hit yourself. Lights and mediums are usually a safe bet. Avoid crouching heavy kicks, they’re all unsafe. Good, but unsafe.
And don’t worry! It’s a game. If you lose, well, you’re in good company. If you’re bad, well, you’re also in good company. Everyone loses, and most everyone is bad. The point isn’t to get good, it’s to get better! And you can do that! Even the pros started off bad.
Good luck! You can do it.
Practice makes perfect my G
Whatever you set your mind to, you can do. Tell yourself you want to be great at this game. Sacrifice nights out with friends and social functions to practice. I promise you that if you keep that fear in the back of your mind and use it as a fire to light you up, you can do it!
I absolutely feel you. The last time i play a fighting game was some 2 decades ago, during the sf2 era. Even then it was more of a pass time, just so cause everyone was playing it. Just mashing buttons hoping for the random - yeah you know the arcade days 
Fast forward 20 years later I decided to give sf5 a try after getting sick and tired of Diablo iii ( pointless PvE ).
It was really bad and I was bodied over and over again. It’s since been 5 months into the game and yet I still feel the anxiety and panic during pressure but as the rest have said, you just need to manage it and don’t forget, it’s a game so have fun!.
Test out every character in training, see who feels the nicest, and develop a playstyle with them that you’ll feel most comfortable with. It’ll all be history from there. Best of luck!
The most important thing is to have fun. Some people have fun playing really competitively, others are more casual. Find which kind you are, and try your best to have fun with the game before anything. No one likes losing, but you can turn a loss into a learning lesson one at a time. Don’t stress either, it’s a game!
*14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.
- Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.*
-Sunzi, “Art of War”, ch. 4.
http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html
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