So, I see a lot of threads about frustrations over losses and general suckage. By no means am I pro, but I thought I’d post up a little of my personal experience for any of you who might benefit from it.
I recently moved cross-country. During my move, I was without consoles (or even my own PC) for three weeks. It didn’t take long for my fingers to ache for some Marvel or Street Fighter. Still, I didn’t have much choice in the matter, so I went without.
To help with my withdrawals (yes, I know they have addiction recovery programs for this stuff… don’t care, I’m tryna help ya here with my story), I started watching live streams and tournament footage from AE and MvC3. With no controller or stick in my hands, I couldn’t concern myself with my own execution; instead, I watched as others succeeded and failed in their execution. It made me consider and reflect on my own execution.
So, with weeks to break physical habits of mashing, and many streams/recordings watched for cues on what to do/not to do, I finally got back into Marvel. Much to my amazement, despite playing on a pad, my execution was ten times better than it was a few weeks ago. I hopped into mission mode and busted out combos in a few shots that, previously, I spent countless attempts trying to pull off.
The difference? Fresh mind and fresh hands. I stopped mashing. Every input was intentional, and it made a huge difference. I stopped hoping to hit the right thing and started choosing to take the time to make sure I hit the right thing at the right time.
I still suck when trying to throw down online, but I gotta take this one step at a time. First step’s gotta be learning execution. Killing mashing habits is absolutely key to that.
Bottom line? A break from your fighting game of choice is not a magic bullet; it won’t mystically turn you into Daigo+. However, if you’re running into walls of frustration, perhaps a few days or even a couple weeks away from it will help you retrain your mind so that you can train and retrain your body when you pick that controller/stick back up.
My two cents on recent experience. Hope it helps some of you.
