Does this even matter?
i use to play on the pad. then when hdr came out i switch to stick. didnt really know how ot use it that well but u will adapt to it. i mean u will be a better player on the pad cause u been using it for yrs. but with practice u will end up being a better player overall using a stick when u learn how to use all buttons how to properly use the joystick. it is well worth it if u learn how ot use a stick. trust me.
Another less advertised advantage of a stick is finger to button availability. Let me illustrate what I mean by that-
Exhibit.1: Typing on a keyboardUsing the standard asdf jkl; hand placement with a keyboard, we are taught the proper way of initiating button presses based off of studies that showed the most user efficiency.
While this is a great guideline to typing, it is hardly the end all be all method. What if I am asked to type the following keyboard alphanumeric sequence:[INDENT]Q Z Q Z Q Z
While the standard method of input would suggest you pivot your left pinky finger from q to z, let’s say that you have been tasked to type this sequence 20 times in a race to finish before fellow peers. The winner of this contest will inevitably be the one that places one finger over q and another over z, alternating strokes with two fingers that in normal typing methodology should not be where they are now located.
[/INDENT]Back to my point-
Let’s say you are doing an intricate combo - very input specific and requires strict timing. Let’s say this combo has you juggle using a pattern of both kicks and punches, and can vary depending on character placement (you can use marvel vs capcom 2’s magneto japanese infinate as reference). The inputs are tight. With a stick, you can rely on ANY of your 5 fingers (or toes of you feel swirly) to press ANY of the 6 buttons needed. On a pad, you have to dedicate each finger to the button that sits below it.
**Yet another point: gravity and trajectory suck!
**The truth is, if you are going between moves like ex that require the use of 2 punches, and then going for a throw afterward, you are going have to completely change the axis that your active finger sits on by a complete 45 degrees. This motion can cause discomfort and accellerated fatigue over time, not to mention the fact that with every finger axis change you are moving your controller around a slight bit as well. Sticks provide what I call an “open ended” approach to user input. They are usually hefty enough to stay in place, and allow you to use any method of approach you can want for any given task. Want to use your pinky finger for once instead of it just grappling the back end of a controller handle? Go for it.
and now for the cliche ‘but i digress line’
*Street Fighter and other games are meant for the enjoyment of playing them. If you simply cannot enjoy the game using a stick, even with the proven advantages, then don’t use them. Don’t let me or anyone else tell you you are retarded for preserving your idea of fun. It’s your game. It’s your time. It’s your preference. But if you ask me which option in my expert opinion would provide you with a better medium to execute difficult moves, as well as minimize cramping and other comfort based intrusions, I will tell you flat out to buy a stick.
*I hope this post has been informative enough!
Excellent job explaining the actual advantages rather than just being all “it’s better.”
you try kara cancelling on a pad…
The ability to use all your fingers is really a plus (using a pad is like trying to type something on a keyboard using only your thumb… possible, but in the end longer and painful).
But if you enjoy the game better with pads, there’s no shame in playing on them – it all comes down to personal taste.
Practice makes perfect
but dont you guys know?
getting stick automatically makes you 300% better.
and holding the stick wine bottle style/the way Daigo does will make you become Daigo.
well im a pad player myself and i got my TE stick about a 2 weeks ago and it was hard the first couple of days pulling of those shoto moves…
all i could say is keep practicing no matter how bad it seems, u pretty much have to go back to the basic. just keep practicing until those moves becomes second nature like it was on the dpad, and do not try to go back to the pad.
one more thing try not ride the gate
im still learning but i can already see where i was so limited to the pad.
There is an adjustment period for using a stick, it is unavoidable. However for me personally now that I have mostly adjusted (had my stick for about 2 weeks now) my friends who actually play me on SF IV are noticing that I am using more tactics than I ever could on a pad (Kara Throws, FADC). So stick with it and you will adjust in time.
Thanks a lot of all the tip and encouragement. Its already starting to get better. I always wanted to try a stick but never had a chance to play people that were good enough to require it. All my friends I could spank very easily with a pad. Online now I see that while in my little circle I was a god, in reality I was a big fish in a small pond. 
Get used to the stick. You won’t be sorry.
If you dont want it, ill buy it… You realize how hard it is to FADC on a 360 controller? its unpossible!
I came from using Happ style sticks on my arcade Cabinet in my kitchen, and it only took me about 3 days to get used to a square gate in my sticks that have Sanwa/Seimetsu sticks.
As far as moving from Pads to sticks, it definitely depends on how you want to play:
If you are just dorking around having fun with a few friends who’s most complicated combo in any street fighter game is jumping HK/crouching HK, then a Pad will suite you fine. Just realize you will reach a point where you can only do so much, a premature ceiling that will severely limit your ability to evolve as a fighter.
errr a fake fighter I mean 
In a previous similar thread, someone else had made the analogy that trying to move from a pad to a stick is like getting used to riding a bicycle. At first you would be slow and wobbly, and it would seem like walking is faster than riding the bicycle. As you learn, you would eventually be much faster getting to places on a bicycle than walking. Your post currently sounds like biking > walking, really?
I was a lifelong pad player. When i got a stick i sucked and wanted to give up many times. I kept at it and after a couple of months i could not think of going back. I prefer the stick now. I will leave the pad for next gen games.
honestly thats been bothering me too, and now everything is getting listed as a “fightstick”… so corny
Ive been somewhat interested in the possibility of something with a nice handheld dpad, like the wii nunchuk. but then having a full sticks button layout…
i dunno how practical that would even be, but sounds like fun.
This is something that gets brought up from time to time. It would be awesome, but I don’t think anyone’s done it yet - the MadCatz fightpads come close actually, the buttons are large for a pad plus it has 6 buttons on the face… I’d have to seriously consider giving up playing on stick for this if the diagonals on the d-pad weren’t hard to hit. So close yet so far, MadCatz. lol
What I have seen done though is using 4 buttons as the directions in place of a stick, which would take a lil getting used to but I could see it potentially working out.