Right now I have zero problems with the buttons. I can plink with consistency and hit 1-framers with ease. I can also piano or slide for attacks such as Honda Hands.
But I’m still slow on the joystick. I’m usually not consistent, especially with double qcf motions. I don’t know the best way to become consistent. I do some training mode with inputs on to see my mistakes, I do some trials to test my execution, and I play ranked to test my reactions. When I play against people, it feels unnatural and I lose to people I could beat with a pad…but I don’t switch because I’m making progress. But what’s the definite best way to get my execution up?
I was the same way. I used to play on a normal microswitch JLF and I had trouble with inputs on reaction. My problem was that my left forearm is weak as fuck and I’d get fatigued after a short amount of play.
I switched to an optical JLF which has less friction and saw improvement and my wrist/forearm doesn’t get tired as easily.
I then bought a new stick to play on PS4 with and it came with a Hori Hayabusa stock. This stick is by far the easiest stick to play on for me. Feels like no friction at all, I can fully control the lever without any effort smoothly and accurately.
If I could put toodle’s spark-CE optical pcb inside of the hayabusa stick, this would be the best of the best stick for me.
Next thing I will be trying is a lighter spring for the JLF in hopes that I can get it to be as lightweight as the Hayabusa lever.
I pretty much want my stick to be an extension of my hands so the more sensitive the better is the way I see it. I don’t want to have to fight against my stick for it to do what I want, feel me?
I play on an old American stick with iL parts. I also have a Japanese stick (LS-56 and Seimitsu buttons) and a Korean stick (Taeyoung and Crown buttons). The J-stick and K-stick are way too sensitive for me, but the American one feels perfect.
Just annoying dealing with the constant taunts and hatemail from people who beat my handicapped characters.
Think heavily about the motion you’re making and really concentrate and where your stick is positioned before and after you’ve performed the motion, I used to have super unclean inputs but Xrd forced me to clean them up a little bit. It’s just all about experience, you’ll eventually fix the issues if you hit up training mode and just train nothing but motions. Start off performing a very slow QCF/QCB and gradually increase your speed before adding the button press, see how slowly you can input the motion to perform the special and build from that speed, it should help you get the muscle memory down at faster speeds. Do it a little bit before you go to bed(I read that your brain will soak information more efficiently if you do it just before sleeping).
Apart from that, possibly try a different gate for your stick and see which one your prefer, some people do have problems with square gates.
I mentioned I was going to switch to a lighter spring on my JLF optical earlier in the thread. Switched the stock JLF .9 LBF spring to the the PAS JLF 0.5 lbf Custom Spring. This basically makes my JLF feel as lightweight to move as a Hori Hayabusa without the things I dislike about the Hayabusa.
This has helped me with input motions greatly. I also switched buttons to the new OSB-MX Reds from Paradise Arcade Shop. I was having problems plinking my 1 frame links, I didn’t feel like I was hitting them reliably and consistently. I gave these buttons a try since I liked the concept of them and how they work. Well from using them for the past 2 days, I hit my 1 frame links like waaaaay more consistently now, plinking with these buttons is 100% reliable now. I was hitting combos that I never ever get to practice because I am scared to commit to them normally with my old buttons.
Best advise I can give to anyone is to hit up training mode and practice simple BnB combos over and over. Observe your progress and take note of what you are doing right and wrong. Take note of your hands both left and right and see what you need to do to improve. I found that I needed less resistance on the joystick cause my left wrist and forearm are really weak. So I changed to optical and now a lighter spring and my problem is solved. I also noticed that my plinking was unreliable with the buttons I was using previously, so I experimented with different buttons till I found what I needed.
Also try playing something other than fighting games. When I tried to get used to a stick I’d play through Contra, Shock Troopers 2, Metal Slug, NES games etc. Might be a bit less boring than just grinding it out in training mode and less frustrating than losing in a competitive setting.
I’ve heard that grip should be based on whatever you feel is comfortable. That there is no “correct” way to grip it. I’m not sure I believe that anymore.
I’ve recently changed my grip from a wine glass-style (making a bit of a claw around it with my first 3 fingers) to only using the fingertips of my thumb, pointer, and middle. It’s only been a week and it feels weird sometimes, but I can already tell that I’ll be better off with the new grip.
My thinking is - your stick movement should be neat, like handwriting. You wouldn’t grab a pen with a fist to write. You’re using too much of your triceps, biceps, and deltoid. Those muscles are for power, not grace. When you write, you use your fingertips and you use the finer muscles in your forearm and elbow.
Pretty much, although at least in my case I don’t have a “grip” as such. My fingers just use different parts to do different motions. For example a dash is quicker with the pads of your fingers, tapped out, but a circular motion is easier done with the tips for control. It’s more like an ever changing set of movements rather than a rigid one size fits all system. It has to be, because your fingers can’t do pushes and pulls in the same technique from both the P1/P2 and if you want to be good at FG’s, you can’t have a weak side. Again for example, you can quickly use your inside pads to dash to the right, but you can’t use this same technique to dash to the left. It has to be the inside of your thumb or the backs of those same fingers.
Most players I think would chose the Eagle grip, or a variation of it. Where your thumb is on top and your other fingers are underneath.
