Anybody got some advice for me?

[Talonslair]

So I've been into competitive Melee for a few months now, but I'm currently in a crisis. My current situation is kinda bad in the sense that I only have one person to play against. I'm finishing high school in a month and I haven't gotten a job yet, currently waiting to graduate. As it stands, there are no weeklies I can get to regularly, which goes back to my point of only having just my one friend to play against.

He dumpsters me almost all the time. At first I enjoyed our sessions because I was learning how to play and I could feel progress, but as of late I'm not feeling like I'm getting any better. I'm able to win maybe 1 of every 15 matches against him. I'm feeling sort of burned out. My question is, could this just be my own skill holding me back or should I try to seek others to play with, so it's sort of fresh? I've just felt like it's getting stale playing the same guy, could this be true or just a losers mentality? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Kimble]

I may be wrong, but it seems like you're getting burnt out because of losing, which might be the root of the problem. While it's hard, I always try to view friendlys as matches that just don't matter at all. Try crazy stuff to see what works and what doesn't. Don't focus too much on winning, just learning. Also I am a strong believe that if you want to get better you have to get destroyed a ton, so I'd say keep on losing to this friend of yours, but try to experiment and learn from the matches to gradually improve.
Keep in mind Melee is hard as hell and the progress is always slow.

 

[KiMa]

I can see your issue here, and in fact I am in a similar situation with only one person to play with currently. However, I have an even skill level with the person in my situation so we are both gradually learning.
I can see how when you keep losing it burns you out, but all I can really say is keep training by yourself and then against CPUs and then against your friend. Remember your goal is to improve, not necessarily win. Yes, winning is good as it shows progress, but keep in mind your friend may be training as well so both of you are constantly learning.

 

[Snools]

The feeling of being burnt out is something I really identify with lately, or at least a week ago I did. I just couldn't play at all, all my tech went out the window, and I was making really stupid mistakes. I'd suggest taking a week or so off, or however much time you feel comfortable not playing, as long you come back fresh. It's certainly helped for me, and I've been having more fun on top of it.

As for getting dumpstered constantly, that's a fact of life playing against someone much better than you. I'm in the same situation, and I've come to accept that I'm not going to win the majority of matches anytime soon, so there's no use getting mad about it. Rather, set little micro-goals for you to "win" at. If there's any particular thing that keeps messing you up, try to get the times you do that thing down to zero. Implement x tech skill in actual combat, and see what you can do out of it. Land some super sick combo, whatever, just make sure you're focused on improving your play, instead of stressing about the loss.