I wanna get into melee but there's wavedashing, L cancel etc.

[LordAizen]

Ok I really want to get into melee but there's a huge barrier that I have. I know how to wavedash and I can L cancel semi consistently but the problem is that my hands hurt after I play video games(not just Melee) so with Melee, that requires insane button reactions and ****, would it be worth it for me to play even with my hand problems and w hat kind of damage coudl Wave dashing and stuff do to my hands?

 

[Walt]

Depends if the fun-to-pain ratio is good enough for you to play melee. Perhaps pick a low tech skill character like Puff. Provided you find Puff fun to play.

 

[LordAizen]

Depends if the fun-to-pain ratio is good enough for you to play melee. Perhaps pick a low tech skill character like Puff. Provided you find Puff fun to play.

well puff is really good and I don't mind playing her, but the reason why I want to get into melee is to do all those fancy combos and I really like Marth(Which is like suicide for my hands lol)

 

[hectohertz]

i actually find marth one of the easier characters to play on my hands, his shffls are pretty slow and easy and so much of it is just spacing.
its really the spacies that make my fingers sad

but yeah whenever my hands are killing me i just play puff

but seriously if your fingers hurt when you play videogames, maybe smash aint for you. if you love it though, play through the pain

 

[KirbyKaze]

Are you... asian?

 

[LordAizen]

i actually find marth one of the easier characters to play on my hands, his shffls are pretty slow and easy and so much of it is just spacing.
its really the spacies that make my fingers sad

but yeah whenever my hands are killing me i just play puff

but seriously if your fingers hurt when you play videogames, maybe smash aint for you. if you love it though, play through the pain

the thing is that my hands didn't always hurt when i used to play video games until late last year. Its not like a minor soreness kind of pain, It's very hard to describe, but it's not so much the pain that bothers me it's the fear of what could happen to my hands in the future.

no i'm not asian.

 

[hectohertz]

melee is definitely a very stressful game on ones fingers, its not unheard of for people to develop RSI from playing a lot.

if your hands hurt like that after playing, you probably have some minor RSI, you should go to a doctor to get it checked out

 

[LordAizen]

melee is definitely a very stressful game on ones fingers, its not unheard of for people to develop RSI from playing a lot.

if your hands hurt like that after playing, you probably have some minor RSI, you should go to a doctor to get it checked out

That would explain alot since the pains kinda started after I learned how to wave dash consistently. RSI is problably it because i visisited my doctor about 4 times and all 4 times i thought it was Carpul tunnel syndrome and he kept telling me it wasn't that.

So what stops melee pros from developing RSI?

 

[Jonas]

You'll get the muscle memory down for both techniques after a week or so. Just start playing, it's the fastest way to learn!
If your hands start hurting after extended play, go see a doctor to learn what you can do about it.

 

[Nintendude]

I think you need to consciously try to relax more while playing, or perhaps try to slow down your gameplay or look and see if your technique is making you do really awkward / stressful motions and correct it. I think it is just like playing piano - pain is indicative of poor technique and / or being tense. Your fingers also need conditioning if they aren't used to these motions, so don't overwork them.

 

[SSBMLahti]

Anything is worth it for Melee!

 

[ETWIST51294]

Play like Drephen.

 

[Ministry]

there is people that have no hands, so just play the game and dont ****ing john about it.

 

[Hydro_Smasher]

I pop my joints and muscles alot, AND play melee and do alot of technical garbage with fox and falcon etc.

I could care less what happens to my hands, I wanna have fun as a kid

 

[Eggm]

If they hurt after you play any game you should find out the reason and fix that then play melee.

 

[Shoopman]

Play 64

 

[Sinji]

The way how I got my reaction down was by playing mortal kombat for the super nintendo. those immediate reactions helped me in Melee.

 

[SinisterB]

I'm gonna get **** on cause it's 7am and I don't remember his name.. But there's this guy who plays with his mouth.

So yeah no johns.

Also go snake in F-Zero GX.

Spoiler

It starts with a B the **** is it?

 

[Brookman]

If they hurt after you play any game you should find out the reason and fix that then play melee.

this x10

 

[Eggm]

The guy who plays with his mouth is named broly. Like the DBZ character.

 

[MuraRengan]

Back when I started my hands used to hurt, then I guess my muscles got used to it. I'd guess that with time your hands will stop hurting.

 

[Zivilyn Bane]

This is actually more common than you think. I know of a couple pros that have the issue, as well as others (like myself - not pro). I talked to the King (yes, the one from dbr) who also has issues with his hands and he advised to just play less friendlies and spend more time observing, and that's definitely helped. Another pro advised that he has set a time frame in which he will quit playing so as to avoid any long term damage. I myself just play through the pain for the most part. I main Marth and find him to be less stressful on my hands than the fast fallers. Lots of people think my Falco is my best character but I can't use him too much or else it gets to be too much. One thing I have noticed is that back in 2007 it was at it's worst. I had quit in 2009 until January this month. And now after 7 months of playing nearly once a week it seems to have subsided quite a bit.

 

[CloneHat]

I've been using a GameCube controller for so long, Melee never gave me problems. It never felt unnatural.

X360 controllers, though...

 

[-Sinister-]

holy **** there is another sinister lol. <3

 

[Zivilyn Bane]

holy **** there is another sinister lol. <3

LOL dude I noticed that yesterday and thought you had changed your avatar. Then I saw you post in the Springfield topic and was like...he switched it back?

 

[Superspright]

My hands never fatigue from this game no matter what. Try doing hand exercises and grippers and forearm exercises and stuff. I played a lot of lacrosse so my forearm up is very strong from cradling and stuff.

 

[-ShadowPhoenix-]

After reading this thread, I feel very lucky to have never felt any fatigue when playing melee. I dont know what i would do without my 8+ hour melee sessions

 

[Myztek]

Interestingly enough, I've gone through this. My wrist/hand pain began with computer usage. Specifically mouse clicking.

Smash never really gave me any problems until a week ago. I began working on doing Fox and Falco's waveshines as quickly as possible, and began having more intense pain in my wrist than I ever have before. I believe the direct cause was clicking the R button in so aggressively.

So, I did my homework and am now playing pain-free, aside from the soreness I'm still recovering from. I'll tell you what worked for me:

The MOST important change I've made is staying relaxed at all times. When you're playing, do NOT tense up your hands. Relax the shoulders and the neck as well - they are directly correlated with your wrists/hands.

To get a feel for it, do this: Stand up, put all of your weight on your feet, and completely relax your shoulders and neck. This should give you a feel for the difference in relaxed vs not-relaxed shoulders.

Also, do wrist massages. I ran across this video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR3uqanXXxg and it seems to make my wrists feel a lot better.

Another thing I changed: I stopped wavedashing. I stopped playing Fox and Falco and went to slower characters that don't really require wavedashing: Peach, Link, and Marth primarily. (Marth's dashdance is so good that you rarely NEED to wavedash) Just do this until your hands and wrists heal up. It's possible to play extremely well without wavedashing. L-cancelling is still a must, but it requires little to no strain on the hands and wrists because you don't have to fully click in the shoulder button. You can just tap it.

Next: Posture. When you're sitting down and playing, keep your shoulders relaxed like I said, and try to keep a straight back. It takes a little effort if you're used to slouching, but it's worth it IMO because I'll do anything to have no pain and continue to play my favorite game. I've been doing this for days now, and it's gotten easier and easier to sit in an upright position for long periods of time.

RELAX THE SHOULDERS! I feel like I can't stress this enough. Not only has it reduced my pain, but I actually play a LOT better now. I never tense up, which means my fingers are always loose and able to move quicker, and this has also resulted in me being calm no matter what's happening in the match. The benefit of this: I don't screw up when I'm down on stocks, my precision and reaction have gone up in consistency SO MUCH. It's ridiculous.

TL;DR:
Sit upright, RELAX SHOULDERS, keep hands loose and don't tense them up. Just stay calm, relaxed and work on timing. You don't have to mash buttons or grip the controller like you're actually going to make your character survive longer. Everything has a timing.

Oh, and stretch and massage daily. It helps a lot.

 

[Varist]

Myztek, have you taken the springs out of your shoulder button? I assume you have, but if you haven't, that made wavedashing a lot less demanding for me.

 

[Zantetsu]

Myztek, have you taken the springs out of your shoulder button? I assume you have, but if you haven't, that made wavedashing a lot less demanding for me.

Isn't this banned in tournaments though?

 

[ETWIST51294]

Nah, Jman doesn't have springs in his controller.

 

[Myztek]

No, I haven't taken the springs out. I did it once a year or two ago, but I don't like it very much because I prefer tapping for L-cancelling and I utilize light shield a lot. And I'd rather not learn how to use the L-button after using R for so many years.

Either way, I'm not getting any pain now. And I never really did prior to that injury I mentioned.

 

[Rubyiris]

there is people that have no hands, so just play the game and dont ****ing john about it.

This is very rude, and doesn't contribute to the topic at hand. Would you appreciate it if you had a problem and someone just **** all over you?

 

[Varist]

All right, sounds good. Since you said you haven't been wavedashing a lot recently, I figured it would be easy to take out the springs for your L button and wavedash exclusively with L. Wavedashing with an exclusive button would allow you the unique luxury of wavedash shielding, which has many applications.

 

[Rubyiris]

All right, sounds good. Since you said you haven't been wavedashing a lot recently, I figured it would be easy to take out the springs for your L button and wavedash exclusively with L. Wavedashing with an exclusive button would allow you the unique luxury of wavedash shielding, which has many applications.

Using both buttons would make this easier, actually. Especially out of shield.

If you're a dedicated button user like me, removing the springs is more harmful than helpful.

 

[Jonas]

WD OOS with one button isn't exactly hard. Just lift your finger slightly when you jump and quickly press it again.
I gave up trying to WD OOS with 2 buttons because I had to "rewire my brain" and learn new muscle memory to shield with R

 

[Myztek]

I actually have no problem using one button to wavedash out of shield. Just shield without pressing the shoulder button in all the way, let it unclick but not fully let go of R, repeat. So my finger doesn't have to do a whole lot of moving. And, like I said, I DO wavedash/waveland if it's the absolute best option in the situation. I've just been refraining completely otherwise.

It's surprising how few times wavedashing ends up being the only or best option.

EDIT: And, last night, I was thinking about taking the spring out of the L button after reading your post. It doesn't seem like a bad idea. The only reason I'd rather not is because I wouldn't be able to use just any controller, and it'd take a while to get used to it.

 

[Rubyiris]

If you're a dedicated button user, taking the spring out means you cannot analog shield with that button, which means no light shielding. The difference is that shield dropping and power shielding become much easier if you remove the analog shield capabilities.

Also I never said that you CAN'T wavedash out of shield with one button, I'm a dedicated L-used myself. I just mentioned that if you use both buttons, it's worlds easier.

Also; I would highly suggest learning how to wavedash OOS with the shield button depressed entirely. Light shielding is good, but the increased stun and KB limits your OOS options. Try learning how to full shield, and angle it more often. I find that it really increases your options.

 

[Jonas]

You can't powershield -> WD if you only use light shield.

 

[KirbyKaze]

I think you need to consciously try to relax more while playing, or perhaps try to slow down your gameplay or look and see if your technique is making you do really awkward / stressful motions and correct it. I think it is just like playing piano - pain is indicative of poor technique and / or being tense. Your fingers also need conditioning if they aren't used to these motions, so don't overwork them.

This is a good post.