Is dash dancing hurting me?

[Sheep McLamb]

When I play Smash against actual people, I try to be as unpredictable as possible. This means a lot of dash dancing and fox-trotting. It's been incredibly useful against other people, but I am beginning to fear that it may have a negative effect. By this, I mean that by trying to be too unpredictable, I'm actually becoming very predictable. Any thoughts?

 

[Jeronado]

You'd only be too predictable if you're doing the same stuff every time. Are you getting repeatedly punished for fox-trotting or dash dancing (Extended dash dancing?)? If the answer is yes then stop and try something else. If the answer is no then you don't really have any reason not to keep doing it.

If you're still worried you could try watching over your replays and looking for patterns in your movement. Then when you're playing again keep those patterns in mind and focus on doing something else instead.

 

[Sheep McLamb]

You'd only be too predictable if you're doing the same stuff every time. Are you getting repeatedly punished for fox-trotting or dash dancing (Extended dash dancing?)? If the answer is yes then stop and try something else. If the answer is no then you don't really have any reason not to keep doing it.

If you're still worried you could try watching over your replays and looking for patterns in your movement. Then when you're playing again keep those patterns in mind and focus on doing something else instead.

Thank you! I'll be sure to follow your advice and try to improve my Smash game.

 

[GhostUrsa]

Fox-trotting and Dash Dancing are supposed to be tools to give you more options in a match but not the only options. If you do them all the time, then you aren't being unpredictable. Showboating may please a crowd, but against a serious opponent they'll just use it against you. (Not saying you are intentionally showing off, but like a wrestler posing for a crowd it doesn't really help in a unstaged contest)

I've seen this many times with newer Captain Falcon players of late, they'll spend a much of time dashing around trying to be unpredictable but since their intention is to attack me out of it eventually they 'have' to come at me and I know the options they have available. Remember that it's only a tool (a hammer is awesome, but doesn't really help me when I do the dishes), and it will help when you evaluate your combat videos to see when you are over using them.

 

[MockRock]

General rule of thumb: everything you do should have a purpose to it, and you shouldn't be repeating the same action. This isn't the same as saying that you can't have a style; Nairo is always extremely aggressive, for example, and he's #2 in the world. But he's aggressive while still drastically mixing up his movement and attack options. ZeRo is incredibly unpredictable when you watch him play, and it's part of what contributes to his status as the top player. Basically, if you ever, for any reason, give a pattern for your opponent to pick up on, then you're not playing optimally. It's pretty much impossible to eliminate habits completely, but if you can notice an obvious one of yours, then it's probably worth it to focus on mixing things up.