Help with L-Cancel

[XVaria]

So I'm fairly new to competitive melee but i dabbled in a bit of PM. So I main Falco and I seem to wave dash most of the time but my habits from PM are messing me up. I cannot l cancel most of the time because when I use my aerials I press down on the analog stick and L at the same time and 9/10 it doesn't l cancel. So how do I break my habit of doing both at the same time? So instead I'm trying to aerial>down>then L instead of doing the last At the same time. Please help me break my habit.

TL;DR I need to stop Going down with the Analog Stick and pressing L at the same time to L Cancel. Please help me break this habit. And sometimes I press L before I even fast fall
Help

Edit: Actually it seems I Press L before I fast fall, how do I stop L Canceling so early?

 

[EPsilon933]

Just go to training mode and practice SHFFLs. Consciously think about your actions before making them automatic

Also, have you ever tried using Z to l cancel? It works better for some

 

[AirFair]

If you do try and use L or R for L cancelling, then please press it lightly, like, not a full click when you cancel an aerial. This is because a full click results in the tech window (when you can get hit, and roll off the ground/jump off the wall straight away) closing for 20 frames. A light press will ensure that you will be able to tech right after landing.

 

[XVaria]

Just go to training mode and practice SHFFLs. Consciously think about your actions before making them automatic

Also, have you ever tried using Z to l cancel? It works better for some

I use the c-stick for aerials and you cannot use the c-stick in training so it's difficult for me to practice SHFFL's in there. And I will try that! Thank you!

 

[XVaria]

If you do try and use L or R for L cancelling, then please press it lightly, like, not a full click when you cancel an aerial. This is because a full click results in the tech window (when you can get hit, and roll off the ground/jump off the wall straight away) closing for 20 frames. A light press will ensure that you will be able to tech right after landing.

Thank you! Will keep that in mind!

 

[Dolla Pills]

You can also press L/R/Z multiple times and it doesn't affect the L cancel window, so try that if you need to.

 

[Cool]

If you have another controller, then just have the "human" there while you practice in regular Melee.

 

[XVaria]

If you have another controller, then just have the "human" there while you practice in regular Melee.

I feel like an idiot not thinking of this before xD thank you!

 

[Cool]

I feel like an idiot not thinking of this before xD thank you!

Haha no problem man.

 

[kingPiano]

There are 2 common misconceptions I find that newer smashers have when I'm helping them with L-cancels:

1. They never account for hitlag (or freeze frames), so they don't realize the timing for L-cancelling is different when an aerial actually hits. You actually stop in the air for many frames when an aerial lands successfully, this delays your landing by (damage/3)+3 frames

2. They actually are successfully L-cancelling, but they are trying to act too fast after landing.

I usually tell them to record them trying to do L-cancels and SHFFL attacks on a player and review the footage to see how many were successful and how many weren't. They are usually surprised by how many they pulled off even though they felt like they didn't.

You have to think about only the L-cancel and it's relationship with the ground. Isolate that relationship, and focus on that for a long time until it becomes muscle memory.

I'm a drummer and I also skateboard, these two activities helped me immensely when I was first learning Melee. An aerial into L/R/Z > land is much like a flam on a drum or drum set *ba-dum* and a SHFFL is like a flam with a Kick hit in between *ba-da-dum* FF > L/R/Z > ground. It's similar to how you have to think when learning new skateboard tricks and the timing of all the precise things you have to do simultaneously and in succession to make a trick possible. If you've never done anything that requires this much coordination or syncopation it can take a while to commit it to second nature.



.

 

[FriendGuy]

I'm livin' that Z Life. It has the click without the tech. So good.

 

[tauKhan]

L-cancel when you're going to land, not when doing an aerial. Don't just make l-cancel muscle memory related to the timing you press the attack button. If you l-cancel on visual cue, you can l-cancel better when you change ff/aerial timings, and do aerials from different positions. I had a similar problem when I first learned SHFFL, I would just l-cancel as a part of the SHFFL muscle memory, but that doesn't always work.

Also as some have already pointed out, hitlag changes timings (well you can usually cover both options with one precise input, but it's better to learn take hitlag into account), so you need to practice l-cancel on both hit and whiff. Since you're putting time into l-canceling, I recommend you to learn to double press l-cancels, for example by pressing z first and light press L/R a bit after. That way you get a lot larger window for the cancel, and hitlag isn't as much of a problem. Especially multihit moves become much easier to l-cancel.


As a sidenote, for anyone having trouble identifying when they succeed l-canceling, pay attention to your characters animations. It's very easy to notice when you miss one, because the landing animation play at half the speed compared to succeeding in the l-cancel. I always spot missed l-cancels automatically, because the slow animations look weird.

 

[Kurri ★]

Try thinking less about what you have to do and more when you have to do. Sure L-Cancelling involves throwing out an attack + L/R/Z (and SHFFL involves pushing down on the stick), but it also involves having proper "rhythm," as in timing. When you play piano, playing the C, D, and E key at the same time leads to a completely different sound than playing them one after the other. You pressed the same keys but one way sounds "blegh" and the other sounds... well boring, but not offensive to the ears.

L-Cancelling is basically the same way. Jump, then throw out the attack, then push down on the stick, and then, before you land, press L/R/Z. It's also a good thing to note that the time you L-Cancel changes depending on certain factors. The timing to L-Cancel after hitting nothing vs the timing after hitting a shield are different, it's probably a good idea to practice each. It's okay to start learning L-Cancel through muscle memory, but over time you're going to want to do what @ T tauKhan suggested and rely on visual cues. Makes L-Cancelling easier and allows you to do better mix-ups, plus it's one less thing you're auto-piloting.

Also, regarding PM, it may allow it, but it's probably better not to L-Cancel while pushing down. Same reasons as Melee, better mix-ups. easier L-Cancel, etc.