Looking for suggestions on overcoming a Plateau

[JBix]

Good Day,

I've been playing smash for about a year now, and maining fox for the last quarter of that year. I've recently hit a wall where it feels like no matter how much I play I'm not getting better, aND at times feel like I'm getting worse. Has anyone ever experienced this plateau? What were things you did to overcome it? It was suggested to me by a friend to try playing a new character, but I'm afraid I will lose even more with my main.

Thanks!

 

[EPM]

Actually I've recently been playing less Fox while improving with him significantly. Maybe you need a break. I came back really strong after taking a week off and I've been practicing pretty much all Villager and Robin and very little Fox. It just helps you get new eyes for the game. I also recommend finding a better Fox than you to ditto so you can get a better idea of your strengths and weaknesses and your character's strengths and weaknesses.

 

[JBix]

I may need to just try playing another character. I've debated on trying a much slower character like Ike, to see if his more defensive style could help me play fox differently.

 

[Top Boss]

I did extensive labwork to overcome my plateau.

 

[Turrin]

Ayy this is the part where I copy/paste a response to this that I've used three time already!

As a player with quite a bit of experience on trying to improve, here's the basic stuff that has helped me immeasurably:

1. Fight level threes. Get your combos down so freaking hard that you don't even think about doing them. Downthrow --> F-air 50 times. If you mess up once, start over. Short-hop N-air 50 times in a row. Just get comfortable with your specific character.

2. I can't exactly tell you to just flip a switch in your brain, but stop caring about winning in For Glory matches. Seriously. The thing that's helped me is to switch your focus - it's not the win ratio that marks your improvement, but the total number of matches. It doesn't matter how bad you are now - if your total match count goes up, your win rate will slightly increase along with it, because it's not like you can get worse at the game by practicing.

3. I've started uploading a few of my matches to Youtube so that I can analyze and pause the video. Record yourself playing a match and every time you get hit, stop the video and ask yourself (for example):
"How did that Falcon hit me with a charged F-smash? Because I thought he'd back roll. From now on, I should wait for my opponent to actually commit to something before going to punish."

4.

https://www.youtube.com/user/shadowstar120

I don't know if you've watched any of his videos, but Jtails is the most educational Smash streamer out there, in my opinion. While he's in the middle of a match, he'll take the time to explain what's smart in a certain situation and how he figures out what his opponent is going to do. It's much better than watching random matches with no commentary. He's put out two videos on Fox (one's pretty old though).