took me like hours on the controller to actually a trial 9 combo once and still cant pull it off naturally
You’ll probably get a better answer in the SF4 forums.
Input is hard so you won’t notice how few moves each character really has. Guessing you haven’t tried charge or 1-frame yet? Either way it’s also something, players who play the game long enough not to get good at game play at least get good at input to beat some new comers.
Though if your going to practice something, use focus attack, it’s not great but still practical. Not only would you be beasting and blocking everything you’ll also be able to counter any move they throw at you. By then the only thing you have to worry about is chip damage and having to take the entire match following some shit scrub using a formula in broken game play let alone all in a 2D plane making it pretty damn harder to avoid and land moves faster.
who’s trial #9 was it?
It takes a long time to get used to moving the controller back to the netural position, kinda like driving a stick w/o riding the clutch. To do some of the Marval trials I practiced w/ only the stick in my lap and without the game being on, just to train my hands muscle memory to do the moves w/o as much thought
So gdlk
Hey OP, you’re discovering the difficulty of links.
They make or break you in most cases because many characters can do their links into their ultra which is HUGE damage!
Practice your links.
so after 1 week
i can do it like every 3rd try avg
how long does it take for an avg person to be decent at sf4? i seem pretty crap at it
Read this if you are still having problems with execution:
How long? It really depends on how often and effectively said average person practices.
It takes a long, long, long, long (x999) time. You can shorten that by identifying what you do well and what you still have trouble with.
Also focus on reading your opponent’s tendencies and setting yourself up to do damage. Combos aren’t the end of the world; but you have to settle on your best BnB (bread and butter), your best whiff punisher, your best jump-in combo (not as important, but sure), and for those who can - best combo into Ultra. These must be done with consistency of 95-100% if you’re looking for a ballpark figure. Getting it once every three tries means you need more training mode practice.
Also don’t forget your normals, command normals, and throws. Many new folks just concentrate on special moves and forget the plethora of normals and ideal situations to use each in. Footsies, spacing, and zoning control is essential in most 2D fighters.
how am i supposed to defend against a heavy kick and sweep? always get hit blocking while standing or crouching
Ah the flowchart ken jump in roundhouse + sweep.
Block High, then block low. You can also focus + back dash the sweep if you can’t punish the sweep in its recovering frames.
If you have a reliable AA you can use it as well.
this helped me with links hope this helps you too! 
That actually isn’t true at all. The flashing in the life bars occur at fixed times that don’t vary based on hit stun. Any help you receive from this is merely placebo effect.
what i was trying to do now you ruined it D: