How Quickly Should Your Skill be Advancing?

[WritersBlah]

Basically, exactly what the title says. To use myself as an example, I attend tournaments on a very irregular basis. It's a circumstance that has been out of my control for a while now, but is slowly being remedied. But that aside, I've attended a total of four Smash 4 tournaments since the game came out. Each time I've attended, I've performed slightly better than the last, but I'm still dissatisfied with my level of skill progression. To give an idea of my skill area, I attended a tournament yesterday in the south Miami area, won my first set, got 2-0'd in my second, progressed past my next set in loser's because my opponent got DQ'd for not showing up on time, and then got 2-0'd again. This was the first time I had ever won my first set in any tournament, so this was a big deal for me, but it still seems petty to everyone else around me by comparison. So with that in mind, how quickly do you think one's own skill level in Smash should be advancing?

 

[EnhaloTricks]

You will get better the more you go to tournaments and get bodied. Skill progression is not something you can plot on a graph and come up with a timeline for.

For instance, there's a player in my region who's only been playing competitive Smash for less than a year and he's taking tournaments and destroying. Then there's other's who have been playing much longer who are not doing near as well.

All you can do is just track your progress and try and do better every time you go. Playing consistently is the best way (for instance, having one tournament a week or every two weeks, one smashfest every week). Find the top players in your region and ask to play them. Don't be afraid to ask for help or tips. MM these people for $1 and they'll be perfectly interested in playing, if nothing else!

 

[Nah]

How quickly someone progresses in skill varies widely and basically depends on 3 things: how much time you put into the game/getting better, what resources (videos, threads, people) are available to you, and talent/your natural aptitude for Smash. There is no singular rate at which someone "should" be improving.

 

[Raijinken]

Skill progression is entirely dependent on your circumstances, how much you care, and numerous other factors.

I don't enter tournaments because the ruleset I play isn't what they run. In college I had at least weekly pseudo-smashfests where I got to practice against humans locally on a regular basis, during which I improved pretty noticeably. Now I've moved away from most everyone, and my few new friends aren't at the level (or frequency of play) to really let me do much more than maintain a certain average level of performance.

If you live in an area where you have regular human opponents at a skill range to challenge you, can compete in tournaments freely, and are determined to get better, obviously you'd probably advance more quickly. Though similarly, the skill curve of the game has points of slower progression, and it could be that way for you.

Either way, if you aren't advancing fast enough, just challenge yourself more, both technically and mentally. I noticed a big jump in my skill when I stopped going for my old play-for-fun bread and butters in Brawl/PM and started actually paying attention to my full moveset. What triggers your skill jump will probably be unique to you.

 

[TL?]

Your improvement will be very slow unless you're breaking down your losses and actively working to correct what is wrong with your play. If you just show up, play, get bodied, and not give much thought to why you lost then you won't improve at any significant rate. If you lost because you messed up a combo, you have to go and practice that combo so when you come back next time you won't lose because of that. If you lost because your rolling/dodging is predictable you need to work on correcting that bad habit for next time. But it could be anything from execution, to matchup knowledge, or just failing to adapt that needs to be worked on. The point is that you need to be actively trying to improve in order to get better. If you just play passively without making a specific effort to improve then progress will be slow.

 

[Raijinken]

Mastery of fundamentals will trump any sort of perpetual strictly-lab play unless you somehow develop a way to lab fundamentals.

 

[NotAnAdmin]

I don't think anyone can tell you how fast you can/should progress.
-Everyone isn't the same.
-Everyone doesn't play the same character.
-Some players have never played Smash competitively before, some have been playing since Melee or even Smash 64
-Everyone has different quirks or habits that help or hurt them that can be picked up at any time.
-Not everyone has the same amount of time to play/practice/dig through the internet for material to study/learn the mechanics of the game
-Not everyone actually cares about playing at a high level, they just want to play with friends or just do cool stuff

It's literally all dependent on how much you want it and spending the time you put into it effectively.
A good way to help yourself is to just constantly try to throw something new into your play, and work out new techniques or train in a different kind of way.

 

[Aquatics]

you have to go regularly. i got 0-2 at my first local months ago. I go to weeklies every week, i go to the regionals, and i've been to a national before. Its all about going and getting the experience, so you can improve. i know place 17-25th at 80-90 man locals, and the pr and close to pr destroy me in bracket and i need to work on them next
Edit: you should see improvement only on what you worked for, as in did you train enough or did you MM people who are around your skill level or slightly better than you. takes months too see big improvement honestly.