How do YOU hold your GC controller for float/cancel w/ Peach

[Josiah Garrett]

I have been training my Peach for a while and have been recently introduced to "Claw-Style" (right hand index finger hovered over the x-button and middle finger for right-trigger___ This is a popular Halo style as well). How do YOU guys hold your controller? Does anyone know how Armada holds his?

If you hold it normally and hold y-button for float, you can't do specific combos, such as:
float-stationary Bair

Basically, my right thumb can't use C-stick while floating, meaning longer times in between moves and combos, as well as fudged up tech-chasing from float because my thumb will slide off when trying to do a Nair chase.

Any tips?

 

[AWE_Adam]

I've been using claw for about a year now.
There are clear advantages for using claw, but I've also found that certain staple techniques with Peach are more difficult to do.
Using claw also seems to be a greater strain on my right hand.
I've met a handful of players that use claw, and I don't think Armada does.
Bladewise has told me that he uses claw for certain situations.

I used to swap to claw mid-game when my tactics changed to more float based combat, then switch back when I was focusing on the ground game. But now I utilize claw exclusively.
I use the side of the first knuckle of my index finger for Y, middle finger for Z, and ring finger for R.

Here is my experience:
Stuff that is easier with claw

• Stationary fairs/bairs in float
• More control of aerial momentum while doing aerials such as retreating fairs or bairs
• Instant FC uairs (fun combos with this)
• Easier to get the fast uair from a jump
• B-moves from float
• DJL dsmash

More difficult with claw

• Wavedashing
• Instant FC bairs and nairs
• Over-reliance on the C-stick for aerials, tends to make my fairs and other aerials come out more slowly.
• Jump-cancel grab
• Chain-grabs
• It's more difficult to get the fastfall timing right after an aerial from float, because it's awkward for me to release Y after initiating the aerial with C-Stick. This results in a lot of botched FC hits on shield, because I'm not getting the fastfall.

I've noticed from watching MacD, most of the benefits of claw are still possible from the normal way of holding the controller. The advantages of stationary fairs and bairs is very subtle. A bair performed with a slight tilt on the control stick, followed by an immediate switch to the other direction to correct momentum & positioning is arguably better in most situations.

In the end, it's personal preference. I enjoy claw, but I do dislike how challenging it is for me to do a short hop float into a quick FC aerial... and it took me forever to develop proficiency at wavedashing this way. I believe playing claw makes developing initial proficiency with Peach more difficult, but in the long run you'll be fine either way.

 

[Shwagzamaxima]

I picked up playing Peach legit about a day or two ago (seriously), and I am enjoying it so far. I have resorted to a sort of hybrid claw style for float cancelling. Basically, if I am in the air and floating, I immediately flip my index finger over (from the bumper) to the x-button. And I leave it there until I am grounded or done camping. If I am in the air for most of the match, I only use standard for being at the ledge and for (chain)grabbing and stuff. Huge noob here, so take it with a grain of salt, but I am a pretty technical player.

 

[AWE_Adam]

That's a cool way to hybrid the claw. It sounds like you could quickly switch to it and use X for jump if you knew ahead of time that you wanted to do a retreating fair/bair or a quick fc uair.

 

[Vestboy_Myst]

I've been using claw for about a year now.

More difficult with claw

• Wavedashing

don't know about that. if you switch to using L for wavedashing it shouldn't be effected at all. if you are a claw player who adapts to using the middle finger or ring finger to WD with the right shoulder, i could see how it could cause problems

 

[nosex]

i'm really interested in what percentage of top peach players utilize claw. i mean, if armada doesn't, i suppose it isn't necessary? nonetheless, having played the game for many years without claw, it seems it would be a huge struggle to switch over now.

 

[Gatoray]

I trained myself in the claw style while preparing for serious competitive play with the specific intention of playing Peach. I am currently a Ness main (don't judge me) but I still find that my training is useful for not only Peach, but for Ness and a few other characters as well. Claw grip gives you much more precise control over specific aerial movement, which is why it's so important for Peach since she has the ability to float.

For example, with Ness I'm able to DJC reverse Fair/Bair in claw grip seamlessly, something that would require much more effort to consistently perform if I wasn't using claw.

 

[Scarlet Bean]

I trained myself in the claw style while preparing for serious competitive play with the specific intention of playing Peach. I am currently a Ness main (don't judge me) but I still find that my training is useful for not only Peach, but for Ness and a few other characters as well. Claw grip gives you much more precise control over specific aerial movement, which is why it's so important for Peach since she has the ability to float.

For example, with Ness I'm able to DJC reverse Fair/Bair in claw grip seamlessly, something that would require much more effort to consistently perform if I wasn't using claw.

This has been sitting in the back of my mind for quit a while now. How do you Wavedash OoS w/ claw grip

 

[BTmoney]

i'm really interested in what percentage of top peach players utilize claw. i mean, if armada doesn't, i suppose it isn't necessary? nonetheless, having played the game for many years without claw, it seems it would be a huge struggle to switch over now.

Pretty much everyone plays standard grip (and this goes for every character), claw is very very rare in this game. The best player who plays claw is probably Javi and even then you can watch Foxes better than him (only a handful), at his level, and worse than him so you can convince yourself that you do not need claw to play X character or reach (near) the highest level but you can if you want to. Play in such a way that allows you to do whatever it is you want to do.

 

[Gatoray]

This has been sitting in the back of my mind for quit a while now. How do you Wavedash OoS w/ claw grip

You can do this two ways. The way I WDOOS is just learn the timing and use L for both shield and WD (I removed the spring from L to make this easier, it helps a lot and it's just my personal preference). The other way is to learn to press R with your ring finger since your middle finger will be occupied on Z.

 

[CASSlUS]

Sorry if this is nooby but why not just use Z for float arials?

 

[BigOrb]

I use claw style when I play as Peach, and it's unfortunately turned me into a perma-claw player for any character, which is pretty hard to do IMO when it comes to Sheik (my secondary character)

I don't feel comfortable using Z for aerial attacks, especially since my Z button is a little finicky.

 

[Nocki]

Sorry if this is nooby but why not just use Z for float arials?

Personally, I use Z for float aerials only if I have a turnip or if I'm not fast falling out of float (which is almost never). I do, however use Z for regular non-float aerials because it's basically a built in L cancel if you double tap Z and fast fall, or you could just actually L cancel and press Z > L but I'm weird.

On topic, I hold the gamecube controller regularly because I like to mess around with characters other than Peach and I find it inefficient to do so in claw.

 

[kr4yt]

I'm having some issues with float and float cancelling also and was wondering, for those of you who use a standard grip when floating/float cancelling. What fingers/how do you go about executing float aerials and float cancel aerials?

 

[Nocki]

I'm having some issues with float and float cancelling also and was wondering, for those of you who use a standard grip when floating/float cancelling. What fingers/how do you go about executing float aerials and float cancel aerials?

Here's a small list of all the things that I do. Note, I have fairly large hands so I can just slide my thumb around the right side of the controller for stuff lol.

Float: Hold down on the control stick and then press Y with the tip of my thumb, release down as I press Y.
Float Aerial: After I'm in float, I continue to hold Y and as I'm holding Y I press the A button with my thumb + input a direction if necessary.
Float Aerial w/ a turnip: Basically the same as a float aerial except I input Z instead of A. I'm not really sure why I do this other than to possibly Z drop or throw the turnip lol.
Float Cancel Nair: This is something I kind of had to get used to, but once I got used to it I personally think its faster than claw users. There's another thread floating around about fast falling low float cancelled aerials and you can add in the fast fall later because if you try to start with it, it's a lot of inputs. I press and hold Y while simultaneously tapping down on the control stick. I then quickly slide my thumb from Y to A so that I begin falling and immediately after I input A I tap the control stick down again.
Float Cancel Bair/Fair: Press and hold Y while tapping down on the control stick, then I slide my thumb down from Y to A and as I press A I input left/right on the control stick then to fast fall I swivel it down.
Float Cancel Dair: This has minimal uses, see above but hold down basically the whole time lol.

Hope that helped some!

 

[kr4yt]

I was over my friends house yesterday and got some practice in and started to make some progress with floating and doing aerials using pretty much the same technique as you only using x instead. I didn't change my style for turnip aerials, I might try that. Do you think y is just better for peach? If so I can easily switch.

Also, one thing I'm slightly confused about, the way you describe doing float cancelled aerials it seems like you input the aerial after you break the float (You say you let go of y and THEN tap a) which from my understanding wouldn't result in a float cancelled aerial. All the explanations I've seen say 'input the aerial while floating and land while the animation is still ongoing' or something to that effect.

Thanks anyway for your help, much appreciated!

 

[Nocki]

Oh, yea you're right about that I let go of Y as I press A. I think i phrased it like that just to help out with button order. Either way, I slide my thumb down from Y to A and it still works as intended.
Also, using X or Y is just preference. MacD uses X if that means anything to you lol.

 

[kr4yt]

I think the float inputs are just going to take a little getting used to, I went from playing falcon who relies heavily on quickly strung together shffl'd aerials, to peach who has an entirely different style of play haha. Just going to keep practicing. Thanks very much for your help though!

 

[NJzFinest]

Most people use direction + A for aerials while floating.

 

[Spluvin]

I recently started using claw grip. I use my right hand middle finger to wavedash and shield, and my left hand index finger to L-cancel. I think however using L for everything might be optimal as my middle finger is rather weak/slow. How do you guys use the trigger buttons while clawing?

 

[Gatoray]

I recently started using claw grip. I use my right hand middle finger to wavedash and shield, and my left hand index finger to L-cancel. I think however using L for everything might be optimal as my middle finger is rather weak/slow. How do you guys use the trigger buttons while clawing?

I never use R with claw grip. If you're fast enough, you can do everything with L, even wavedash OOS.

 

[Meredy]

I don't claw. I find it way too hard to adapt, seeing as I already have to play with my foot (I'm disabled if you didn't know).

I just hold my thumb on X and reach it over to press A. I know it's not recommended but I'm used it it. I do also like using Z while floating for my aerials.

 

[ViVio]

I recently started using claw grip. I use my right hand middle finger to wavedash and shield, and my left hand index finger to L-cancel. I think however using L for everything might be optimal as my middle finger is rather weak/slow. How do you guys use the trigger buttons while clawing?

I play like this and I never use the L button. I wavedash, l-cancel, shield, etc. with middle finger on R. Practicing using my middle finger took some time but it was worth it to me.

 

[DJCrinkleCut]

I hold my controller normally. I've been doing it for so long, that I doubt I could adapt, even if I wanted to.

 

[Spluvin]

I hold my controller normally. I've been doing it for so long, that I doubt I could adapt, even if I wanted to.

I Have now gotten used to the claw in less than a week and use it for all characters. The only techs that are still somewhat difficult due to the claw are shine out of shield and SHDL with fox. My f-air spacing with peach have become better and so have my overall spacing with Marth.

 

[Mr. S]

I just hold it normally. Claw feels kinda weird imo.

 

[Calzum!]

I hold it normally, but i use Y to float so i can roll my thumb down to A without letting go of Y, so comfy

i just x to jump though so eh at least Y gets sum lovin

 

[DJCrinkleCut]

I actually find myself using Y a lot for floating too.

y'know, when I was a kid, I thought it was stupid that Smash had two jump buttons, but now I need both.

 

[MattCon5]

I feel like switching mid-match is good because if you know what is easier/feels more comfortable in each position, it's not hard to quickly switch between normal hand position and claw hand position.

 

[waifu]

I just use y and a. For retreating bairs, you can do them you just have to train your thumbs to be fast and have good timing. MacD uses x and a i believe. Check out his stream sometime, he also has a controller cam so you can see how he does different things.

 

[Raisin]

I hold my controller normally. I've been doing it for so long, that I doubt I could adapt, even if I wanted to.

Same here. I tried claw for a few minutes and instantly found it easier to do FC instant bairs, but that's the only thing I found easier to do. I'm pretty bad at claw haha.

 

[Twiiford]

I have been training my Peach for a while and have been recently introduced to "Claw-Style" (right hand index finger hovered over the x-button and middle finger for right-trigger___ This is a popular Halo style as well). How do YOU guys hold your controller? Does anyone know how Armada holds his?

If you hold it normally and hold y-button for float, you can't do specific combos, such as:
float-stationary Bair

Basically, my right thumb can't use C-stick while floating, meaning longer times in between moves and combos, as well as fudged up tech-chasing from float because my thumb will slide off when trying to do a Nair chase.

Any tips?

I use x to jump, nothing fancy. I use c stick for all of my aerials, but i sometimes use the stick to jump > uair out of shield. For float aerials I position my right thumb on the left side of x and tilt my thumb to left to press A while still holding x, and then i let go of x > fastfall

 

[SSBM_NPC]

I just use Z for float cancelled aerials, and hold the controller normally. Its probably the easiest to get used to if you never played a character with a zair.

 

[Tha_Crystal_Gemz]

What is clawing?

 

[TrashWizard]

If you hold it normally and hold y-button for float, you can't do specific combos, such as:
float-stationary Bair

You can, its just that you have to have the base of your thumb on the c stick, which is what I do, but that might be the way that I hold the controller, basically have my right hand wrapped around the buttons with the crook between my thumb and the rest of the fingers wrapped around the c stick, weird I know, but it seems to work for me. but otherwise, its quite difficult to do that err... 'combo' (I think that you intended to refer to it as a technique or move). Good luck though, just use whatever control scheme you feel comfy with.

 

[Wasabi Gin]

I use both. Depending on what I need to do, I'll switch. For bairs and edge guards, I almost exclusively use claw.

 

[Royalz]

Peach newbie here, and I'm glad I found this thread.

I've found comfort in using the normal grip in aerial float and I switch to claw in ground float. However, I'm having trouble with the claw grip. What are you guys' finger placement? I'm trying to find a comfortable grip in which I can control the C-stick, X, L and Z, but it's getting really difficult. I've managed to use C-stick and X with the claw just fine, but when it comes to Z and L, it starts to get uncomfortable.

 

[TruckyMcGee]

I've put quite a lot of hours into peach, but I've never tried Claw Style. For someone who's used to holding the GC controller how it's help by most people, would this be difficult to adapt to? And would I need to re-learn certain things?

 

[SYKM]

I've put quite a lot of hours into peach, but I've never tried Claw Style. For someone who's used to holding the GC controller how it's help by most people, would this be difficult to adapt to? And would I need to re-learn certain things?

I started using Claw Grip for Peach before I eventually found out what Claw Grip was. Just adjust the way you THINK about her and everything else falls in place. IMO it is the best way to play her. My best advice to get the mentality for claw grip down is to practice floating backward with fair or forward with bair.

 

[TruckyMcGee]

I started using Claw Grip for Peach before I eventually found out what Claw Grip was. Just adjust the way you THINK about her and everything else falls in place. IMO it is the best way to play her. My best advice to get the mentality for claw grip down is to practice floating backward with fair or forward with bair.

Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a try.