Need help with applying mental game.

[BuTR]

I've been playing for about a year and a half now, and I feel like I am at the point where my tech skill doesn't have to be the center focus during my matches anymore. What I seem to be having issues with is watching for my opponents habits, as well as making myself not so predictable. I play with my brother daily and he is very good at adapting to certain situations and different peoples playstyles. On the other hand, I get very stuck into a single way of thinking during games. I think this may have to do with the fact that up to this point, I've been focusing solely on out maneuvering and execution, rather than reading and unpredictability. I play a very aggressive falco and will find myself getting caught by the same things frequently, however, when I try to switch it up and play more defensively I'll be dissected rather quickly again. I've tried to make a conscious effort but I just cannot seem to pick out what it is my opponent is doing before they figure me out. So my main question to you would be are there any ways to train myself or practice applying the mental aspect of melee?

 

[MookieRah]

Well, there are two (EDIT: three) things you gotta understand:

1: Whenever you go from playing automatically to playing actively, and by that I mean making observations and making meaningful decisions, it will slow you down at first. Any time you actively try to apply or learn new skills, you will likely see a performance hit. This is normal and to be expected. Don't worry about that, if you keep it up you will start to improve.

2: When starting out with observational skills, keep things simple. Set your goal to track one thing, like missed techs, and watch for it like a hawk. Keeping it simple like that will give you the focus to see it when it happens, and in the beginning it's very hard to track several things. As you increase your observational skills, you can begin to track several things, and you don't have to focus much on them.

3: Another way to help make meaningful decisions is to actually have a good understanding of your options. If you have 20XX, practice certain situations over and over until you know what your good options are, and what you need to think about when the situation arises. This is a step that a lot of smashers seem to not be aware of, the good players are those that literally grind out how to handle pretty much any situation. They don't have to use much brain power figuring out what is good, they already know. They simply choose a good option based upon their observations.

 

[tero chan]

Well, there are two things you gotta understand:

1: ...

2: ...

3: ...

:kappa:

 

[MookieRah]

You see, I started out with two and realized I needed a third at the very end.

I should proofread more xD.

EDIT:
Also mindgames... Yeah, mindgames. That's it. Totally meant that.

 

[EPsilon933]

Get as much experience as you can against human players. If you can't play them in Melee locally, try playing them online. It doesn't have to be Melee. Smash 4 and Street Fighter can help teach the fundamental skills like prediction and mix ups too. Don't change strategies just once. Change them all of the time

Strategy > ability