Struggling with punishing unsafe moves

Newbie Saikyo Dojo
1

I’m new to fighting games, I played a few hours of 4 but SFV is the very first fighter I’ve stuck with. I’m currently trying to main Birdie, I’m managing to get a few wins but one thing I really struggle with is punishing people. This becomes even more obvious when I’m fighting against Ken. The Ken’s I’ve played against just Tatsu in, which I block but when I try to punish they somehow manage to mash out a heavy DP. I looked at the frame data and from what I can see I should be able to punish this relatively easy but I’m struggling timing when to push buttons to start the counter attack.

So my question is:
How do you punish people after a block, do you learn when to press the buttons or do you mash the button so it comes out as soon as you leave block?

I’m only at 500LP so people are doing a lot of things I know I should be punishing.

2

Not to be a dick but the answer is obvious, isnt it? Start up training, record the dummy to do an attack you want to punish and hold downback to block. Now playback the recording and try to punish it. If its blocked you are either too slow or the move is too slow. Pushback on normals and specials also play a role so some moves are fast enough but dont have the range.