Approaching

[A-train]

I went to Mayhem in SoCal that was not too long ago. It was my first tourney and I had no idea what to expect. Well needless to say, I got wrecked. I lost to all my friendlies and I didn't make it past my first 2 matches in pools. But when some guy wanted to help me out with my Sheik he told me use my needles more, wait for your opponent to make a mistake and approach. Is all this true? Are there more ways to approach and punish/combo?

Overall my combos were good and my edgeguarding was decent but my approaches are not good.


Could anyone give me some tips on approaching? I'm not very advanced and new to the competitive scene.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MooMoo_Cowfreak]

Experiment with not approaching at all. Wavedash back or dodge by some other means when the opponent approaches and punish. It seems backwards, but you will get in more hits that way. Once you've learned how your opponent likes to approach, utilize his openings to approach. You can't just blindly approach with a SHFFL'd aerial, a grab, or a dash attack, as often people will read it and punish you for it (I imagine especially in the SoCal area!). Here's a great vid of KirbyKaze using defensive play to beat a classic Fox. Notice how Kaze allows himself to get behind at times so that he can make the adjustments and reads he needs to come back and take it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3o7Z8wR8yo

Good luck!