How to play smash to get better?

[Hydro_Smasher]

Okay, so I'm a semi-new player of Melee, I've been playing since December of '08 (wombo combo day to be exact)

And I have a few questions about improving.

Like, my roomate, who has been playing smash for not very long, he mains fox and seconds marth, I main Falcon and second Fox/every other character, yet sometimes I loose by mess ups that effect me quite a bit. My roomate has an aggressive style thats like; "shoot a lazer with fox if he spawns away, or, run up and shine immediately, *he can't do some at's like sh, but he can L cancel I think*, and he'll put me in these weird situations like, fox rapid jab shield pressure, or full hop bair shine, and its like nothing I've seen before, it can't be that effective?

But, sometimes I do very well with Fox or Falcon because of a change of playstyle, like if he's marth and I'm fox on FD, I can dash dance stall, wait for him to approach and like grab -> combo -> repeat. Or, sometimes if it's fox v fox on a small or big stage I'll do like, drill shine, and if he doesn't tech, I'll run over to spot dodge the get up attack, and grab -> combo.
(sometimes I get put in a pickle and get forced into hiding in my shield, really annoying habbit)

So, what should I go about to find my true playing style to get better, as in sweet comboes under pressure, wins with more than one stock? Should I play at my absoulte hardcore best/aggressiveness? or will that tire me out mentally? Or should I focus on reading his mind/movements to punish better?
edit: or should I try to play technically to better handle pressure? (my techskill is quite good out of matcheds)

 

[Youngling]

These threads are so stupid.

 

[Hydro_Smasher]

 

[Jonas]

You need to figure a lot of stuff out yourself, but it's also a good idea to ask in character specific boards if you have problems with a certain situation or if you want a recorded match evaluated.

Remember that, when you're playing friendlies, it's not really important to win. It's far more important to pay attention to the match and your opponent so you can identify and deal with specific problems you might have.

 

[Geist]

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=97603 <---- basics, how to improve, frame data, and everything else thread

it's stickiiiiiiiiiiiiiieedddd :[

Also, go to character specific for matchup details like for what you were explaining in the OP.

 

[L__]

Always think about what you're doing, why you're doing it. If you can record your matches, look at why you got hit and learn from it.

 

[thesage]

I've discussed this with a lot of other smashers. I think this is the best way to get better.

1. Have a variety of players to play against. People worse than you, around your level, better than you, MUCH better than you.
2. Play a lot. Get used to a bunch of situations. You shouldn't have to think. You just see what is happening and then engage **** mode.
3. Think about why you lose matches. I usually can think of a specific instance that really made me lose my momentum. What could you have done differently in that situation/what put you there in the first place?
4. Play the characters you feel like you play best. Don't worry about how well you currently do with the character. IDK how to explain this. It's kinda like you see a girl and you fall in love with them and it's just a switch turns on in your head and you know it's the one (just make sure to sign a pre-nup).
5. Ask other people in an area where you could improve.
6. Don't worry about being technical. Just get the job done. You should have enough tech skill to do it.
7. Don't jump into the ****.

You should also focus on just one or two characters.

I can't say anything specifically to you since I could barely understand the first post. It doesn't matter if what your roommate does is effective vs. good people. It's effective vs. you, show him why it's not effective. For instance, using fox's jab to pressure shields can be beaten by wd'ing away or cc'ing. Fox usually then uses shine fox things to deal with that but it doesn't seem like he's good enough to do that.

I don't understand how full hop bair shine works...

 

[Hydro_Smasher]

It's prolly a self confidence issue or something lame, I'll bring my dazzle back to school, record, study and maybe share.

 

[Brookman]

You're doing it wrong.

 

[❀W.E.M.P.❀]

thesage hit this **** on the head, I did almost did the exact same thing when I first moved to pittsburgh, We added one more thing however into the mix since we are such sweet hearts [I mean we are the descendants of tough steel mill workers/miners];

Talk to your friends, people you play about what your STRENGTHS are. To me hearing positives can be both encouraging, and help you weed out what you don't need to improve on.

When I first started to seriously main Falco I felt like my tech skill was absolutely miserable, I practiced that more than anything else. Which isn't necessarily bad playing a space animal, but that is besides the point. One day me and The Lake were talking, and he complimented me on my crazy tech skill, I was like 'wutwut', and he said, "in between stocks and when you have your 'moments' you are crazy technical, your biggest problem is you don't know how to utilize what you are putting so much time into". When you don't have videos for people to review of you, this type of talking about your strengths can really help make you more well rounded.




::waits for KK to tell me how ****ing stupid I am::

 

[Hydro_Smasher]

thanks WEMP, I'll try to remember next time I play!

 

[Zodiac]

Generally, When Im trying to get better I concentrate on one aspect of my gameplay till its perfect, AKA. I concentrate on spacing, Concentrate on gimping, I do all of this until it becomes second nature. It works rather well for improving certain aspects of your game