I am also learning to use an arcade stick at the moment. I saw a video of Daigo where he mentions that the way you hold the stick makes it easier to do certain combos. Do people switch the grip regularly depending on what moves or combos you want to do?
I think I saw that Daigo video. When I was learning I tried it his way but it wasn’t comfortable. I can’t speak for everyone, but I doubt people switch their grip for different combos.
The thing about playing on a stick is that everyone has a way that “clicks” with them when performing different type of motion inputs. Just practice a motion and see which feels most natural, then try to do it in a combo and see if thathand position still feels natural.
I personally rest the side of my hand on the flat surface of the stick, i lift it only when inputting qcf motions. My vingers are holding the balltop somewhat loosely so i can also use my vingers tips for motions to the left and still be in position to to motions to the right with ease.
You don’t need to overcomplicate this stuff or think too much about it. What i described above is not something i put actual effort in learning, it was simply what felt naturally for me.
You may find that the way you normally input a certain move mmight not be fast enough for during a combo, then you will try out different things until…you guessed it, it feels natural. The point of practice is building up muscle memory so you don’t actually have to think about it.
I’ll emphasize it again but don’t overthink this stuff, just do it.
I switch my grip depending on if my character has a DP or not. For some reason I can do them faster and more reliably if I switch up my grip. I also switch my grip up for KoF, probably because my team usually has Athena in it. But I think that’s more about muscle memory and personal preference than anything. I mean, Seth Killian is probably better at fighting games than most of the people posting on SRK, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone use his fucked up grip just because of that. Just go with what feels best for you and gives you the best results.
Anybody else here with very large hands? How do your hold your stick?
I used the “eagle grip” (held with fingertips of thumb+index+middle finger) for years since it felt the most natural and it was adequate for a beginner. However, even after years of practicing this way I am still unable to perform dash inputs consistently due to how loose my grip is (this really became apparent to me when I played GG, since dashing is such a vital movement tool in that game.) Wine glass grip just doesn’t work at all - I have to scrunch my hand up and even then my index finger is too high up to contact the stick. And holding the stick between middle and ring fingers is actually painful lol.
Maybe I’ve gotta switch to hitbox or pad but I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions first.
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, really appreciate it. This might be the wrong forum to ask on but I have been also using the arcade stick for Virtua Fighter and Tekken. When seeing some YouTube videos of people’s hands, they seem to move so swiftly almost as though they NEVER really hit the sides or edges when tipping the stick in either direction. To me, it looks like they have “found” the sweetspot for where the stick registers the direction so that they can immediately move the lever in another direction without wasting time. If you were to hit the directions fully, the motions would take longer to complete, right? Especially when they step around really quickly, it looks like they barely move the levers fully.
I am not sure if this works in Street Fighter due to the half circular motions rather than tapping though. Anyhow, is this how the “pros” play?
the “pros” arent doing anything consciously to minimize movement. that is a natural corollary of years of experience and the requirements of the game in question. once your brain has determined a way to minimize excess movement of your hands, youll be finding the “sweet spot” without ever thinking about it. 3d fighting games require quick directional taps in different directions with neutrals in between, so that style of quick movement is ideal. in 2d fighting games, moving the stick fully to the gate doesnt happen often except when blocking or charging for charge moves. but again, this is not a conscious decision anyone makes, nor is it one you need to think about making.
if anything, overthinking this will probably slow down your progress. play a game with input display (not even necessary tbh), practice the motions slowly and deliberately, and the rest will fall into place.
So you would not suggest getting the stick movement correct from the beginning? Not sure if the word “correct” is suitable, I was in practice mode yesterday and tried stepping around and seem to be moving much quicker when finding the spot where the arcade stick registers a direction click. This was much earlier than I initially thought. On a pad I would just press a direction and it was more or less instant. With a stick, I feel everything is more accurate but takes longer to get some of my moves out. Hopefully this changes with time and I will never go back to a pad ever again.