Practicing Tech Skill

[joeplicate]

So this summer, I have the feeling that I'll have plenty of time to practice tech skill. Since there's a chance of not being able to play people as much, I want to step up my practice game and get mad better on that part of my game.

Mainly I'm interested in hearing from mid-level players and up. I already know how to l-cancel and wavedash quite well, thanks. But what is it that you do to make your execution rock solid? Are there any specific things I could practice, and what in my game would they develop in particular?

I'm looking for advice from good people mostly. Unknown, Lovage, Silent Wolf, Tag$$$$, shiz, mango, m2k, mew2king, jason zimmerman (seriously though i'm interested), raynEX, or anyone else who feels like they're pretty good and has a really good technical grasp of their character. Also Eggz, kirbykaze, hax$, falcomist, jman, eggm, amsah, armada, hungrybox? and more!!

What's the philosophy behind having good tech skill? Other than the obvious gaining experience, what are some things I can do to improve execution? Fixed camera mode? Level 1s? Level 9 even?

Right now, here are the things I've thought of which helped me out a bit:
-focusing on my hands while moving around, keeping my hands the same speed as my plans
-analyzing the screen really really fast ("checking" a lot is what i call it), so just playing fast and coming up with plans on the fly (faster than normal). tech skill comes naturally this way, and execution's really good as long as i'm warmed up. the only thing is that it's hard see the game happening so fast!

anyways, if y'all could reply i would be much obliged. but know that if you say "just practice w/ lvl 1s alot and ur tech skill will get better XD" i will nonchalantly ignore you!

thanks again

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

your doing it right when you don't have to think about doing it.

I find it more important to train your mind. only way I can deal with being chain thrown all day as pichu. also I do it when playing vs cpus. you will be much faster during the match.

 

[victra♥]

in between stocks son

 

[joeplicate]

haha yeah. i swear if there was like 5 seconds more between lives i could use it to seriously clean up my tech skill =P

ICG, how do you go about training your mind? I know what you're getting at, but have you seen any results from playing with a computer or anything like that? which ways has your mind improved??

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

find flaws and fix them and make should you really are fixing them, just like tech skill. I don't know how I could give you advance, becuas eI programmed my brain to act a way, like I've hardwired rules into my self like, always improve and never kill self.

I used to rage more and etc. problem fixed.

as F***ed as it sounds you can fix the flaws in your mind. Know what you need and improve I geuss. Like if people S*** talk you and cheer you let both fuel you.

 

[everlasting yayuhzz]

Level 1 Bowser. 9 Handicap vs your 1 Handicap. Fox McCloud. Final Destination. 99 stock. Barrels. Go ****ing crazy.

 

[joeplicate]

barrels!! =o

i guess the whole point of this thread is me wondering about the different ways to practice tech skill. what skills to they improve in you as a player? like bowser w/ handicap improves purely timing, playing level 1s creatively can make you better at planning/reacting... ?

right now it feels like i don't have a very solid grasp of everything i want to do (although i'm pretty good at executing my plans), but nothing ever comes up very clear in my mind. when i do reads, it's more like i have a feeling that i should do something, or wait, or play weird in this situation. it's not like "i'm gonna WD back and get a grab by baiting them NOW." my thought process isn't very conscious, so i'm not a very naturally technical player. i have a weird fox

does anybody have the same problems?

 

[INSANE CARZY GUY]

yeah I have a weird fox also. I switch up from camping, defence, movement, spacing, and etc. I don't stay the same. also I like to wall jump off of battlefield into side-B to the edge a lot.

 

[joeplicate]

so after making that last post, i realized i kind of answered my own question. i started practicing in order to come up with a plan, and mess around a little bit more, and be more creative, and dance around and explore more options more. you don't have to follow everything up the same way every time, and if you practice doing that then you're handicapping yourself during a real match and stunting your own growth by limiting the things you're looking for. and often, especially against people at your level/better than you, things don't just pop up as neatly as vs a level 1 computer.

 

[Acidile]

If only you could make computers randomly tech/di...

 

[PB&J]

Level 1 Bowser. 9 Handicap vs your 1 Handicap. Fox McCloud. Final Destination. 99 stock. Barrels. Go ****ing crazy.

i sometimes do this without the barrels, i use to do training mode on dreamland or stadium for like 1 year straight just practicing wavelands,shine wavelands,shine short hop bair 50 times,nair shine 50,upair shine,drill shine, and even fair shine 50 times in a row ..then i would do the same thing under platforms on platforms,next to the ledge and then finally final d, but it seemed like i was still not consistent with my tech skill ...

So Soft(my training partner) came over and asked me " how technical do you want to be?" and im like " as technical as the adventure video, you have to aim for the sky" so hes like "ok' lets just go to final d fox only ,endless stocks and practice..so we started doing that like everyday for 3 hours straight, but since u will be practicing by yourself i recommend fixed camera mode/ handicapped bowser crap/ level one ganon on dreamland

my mindset while practicing for tech skill was i never want to mess this up when i get a chance to do it, and if i was messing up while practicing i would do the same thing over and over until it was simple.

i use to not be able to waveshine backwards just last summer and im like ..this isnt even wrong but i practiced it over and over and i can do it any way possible turn around while in i the combo and do what ever i need to. i just want to control my character to the best of my physical possibility . So many times my hands would hurt when my tech skill would increase but mike g would always tell me that i was just upgrading my hands to my brain .

i dont even know if this is helping or not but there are so many ways to practice tech skill.
i use to play against three level 9's and try comboing them at the same time before they crouch cancel **** me..lol

just go into the mindset of adventure fox and it will motivate you i think

hope this helped at least 1% at least..lol

 

[Silent Wolf]

if youre messing something up, just think about why youre messing it up, make sure youre pressing the buttons in the right order. start at a slower pace if you need to/if its possible. (not 1/2 speed or anything, normal speed) dont just practice certain techniques alone, its best to work on your transitions from technique to technique. so just practice little routines or something. do that to perfect something, do it alone to learn it of course. sometimes youll practice a tech for like an hour at a time and it seems like youll never get it or itll take a really long time, just take a break and come back to it and its usually a lot easier for some reason.

for combo practice just play against lvl 1 characters. i usually play against fox, marth, peach, samus and falcon. sometimes other ones. once you get the feel for a character down you dont really need to practice against that one anymore so you can just stick to the fun ones.

i saw you have vids with lovage up, try practicing tech skill with him. practicing tech skill with someone is a lot more fun than doing it alone. hope this helps.

 

[PB&J]

i do remember when i slowed down my speed i increased in tech skill in large amounts and yea practicing with someone else is so much more fun.

 

[X1-12]

Use the same controller all the time, the same one you use for tourneys

 

[skrach8]

what are the barrels for?

 

[samsonites101]

What I did that really helped, was making a video for HMWs tech skill contest. Coming up with little routines and transitioning them consistently really improved my tech skill overall. Also, I started playing fox and when I went back to marth, my tech skill was much better and much smoother.

 

[joeplicate]

Use the same controller all the time, the same one you use for tourneys

yeah, i do



thanks otto. i realized yesterday that my problem isn't mechanical, like i can press all the buttons i need to, but it's mental. i usually don't have a definite plan of action, which makes me less 'technical' because i don't know what techniques to work on in the first place! playing against level 1s yesterday seemed like it helped a lot, i was just trying to move around more fluidly and punish things in unorthodox/fancier ways.

there are a few specific techniques that i need to get down better, like consistent nair shines and moving around with a single shl, and shield drops too, so i'll probably practice those on fixed-camera with routines and such.

 

[Nø Ca$h]

i asked eggm before and he told me to practice doing everything out of anything, and remove all the dead frames between each move.

 

[t3h Icy]

Use Sheik and/or Jigglypuff.

 

[Fly_Amanita]

On another note, level 4s have kind of peculiar DI and can be decent for practicing some combos on.

 

[PB&J]

i practice my combos on level 4s too fly..good stuff

 

[Lovage]

i was just trying to move around more fluidly and punish things in unorthodox/fancier ways.

i think this is one of the best ways to practice tech skill. sometimes i play falco vs. fox on yoshi's or battlefield with 99 stocks and just try to make the most creative combos i can. doing crazy combos often requires you to incorporate fancy or really fast movement so it can help you practice edge cancels, shield drops or tight/clean wavelands.

i think going into training mode and shine wavelanding for 30 minutes or whatever is a huge waste of time and i wouldn't recommend it for anyone. the only thing i would recommend besides playing lv. 1s for a long time is practicing techl routines with the name entry glitch (with fixed camera mode or camera mode if you want) and try to get good at really tricky movement patterns. like running shield drop shine turnaround waveland into double jump into an edge cancel aerial into some ground stuff. throwing in all these tough movements in one routine can help you get really good at all of them. plus it's really satisfying when you pull it all off cleanly.

besides that i don't really know exactly what you specifically want to practice, because i don't know if your problem is with execution or if its just your mind getting in the way of executing the way you want to.

 

[Jonas]

If only you could make computers randomly tech/di...

I think low level computers have pretty inconsistent DI.

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

yeah higher lvl cpus always DI up, lvl1s mix it up decently. still mad predictable after a little time with them

 

[Deathgazer]

If you want to practice multishining, first you have to understand how it works.
you have to get used to the timing from when you slide Y=>B, it has to be more or less the same everytime. like dont just sit there trying to get as many multishines as you can, plan how many you want to do so you time it better.

with technical combos, I usually play against lvl 1 falco/ fox/ falcon on battlefield and try to find the most consistant and fastest way getting to the comp after every attack. (waveshining up onto platforms, then onto second level of platforms and waveshining back down onto the 1st level platform.

When you have the basics of that down, try to improve it by making it faster by shining nearer the platforms so theres less time between the shine and jump waveland. What i usually do is try to fit a shine where ever possible that makes the movement look smooth.


Alot of technical spacies players lack smooth movement, I like to call it the unnecessary tech skills:
I used to watch DSW matches and whenever he did some crazy movement on FD between stocks or during comboing, i used to slow it down and understand every move he does and try to do the same. eventually you get used to it and youl come up with your own and it comes naturally.

Even the smallest detail of what you do will make youre character seem more technical. One of the things thta Shiz used to do was everytime he waveshines he used to dash dance once before going forward again (facing the right, waveshine back => turnaround dash dance into wavedash or something) most of the time i use this for spacing and timing so when you shine the other player, instead of standing still, you just do technical movement to occupy the time until they drop down again to make it look like one move.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LhMwLO9iXc 0:56 shows this, 1:46 shows the dash dance to grab

Also avoid running during a game and replace them with wavedashing/ turnaround wavedashing.

Im not saying steal other peoples playing style but learn how to do what others can do before you invent/ make your own movement up cos it comes naturally

It might not be the best option to win the game, but imo its the most technical and smoothest way to play.

Hope that helped if you could be bothered to read all this lol

 

[BigD!!!]

try practicing without using shine for creativity's sake

it gets you doing all kinds of unique stuff, and makes you focus on spacing while youre at it

then its really easy to re-implement shine into your game, so its no worries as to messing up your pattern

im interested in this stuff too, because i feel like i have very good tech skill in terms of what i am capable of doing, but i have pretty poor consistency within actual pressure situations. things i can do 100% of the time on computers, even stuff as easy as shffling and dashing right after a throw, i sometimes find myself missing really often when the pressure is on. any tips on improving consistency and carrying practice over into matches would be appreciated on my part

 

[FoxLisk]

I used to watch DSW matches and whenever he did some crazy movement on FD between stocks or during comboing, i used to slow it down and understand every move he does and try to do the same. eventually you get used to it and youl come up with your own and it comes naturally.

nah there's a reason for this. he hit the falco with the left side of his shine, so he WD'd left. falco DI'd right so he had to run backwards. if falco had DI'd full left, only WD left would have caught him, but even with DI fullr right, WD left still does, so WD left dash backwards is the correct response.

actually thinking about it you probably know this, but the way you presented it made it seem like dsw was just trying to be flashy, so i guess i at least hope someone gets something out of this post haha

 

[joeplicate]

yeah haha that seemed like a lot of pretty questionable advice

i'm not really interested in trying to play as fast as possible, or always do x after move y because it looks cool, that seems like it'd be too much mental effort better spent elsewhere.

bigd, my suggestion would be to try to play faster in tournament in general. when it's last stock, last game, you rarely see a fox stand still in that time and THEN make a sick comeback. they always start going crazy to get their tech skill and their energy up. maybe if you tried to play a little bit faster you would force yourself to focus on tech skill and then the second-nature things would just be second nature. missing something out of grabs, execution-wise, seems like it could be a mini choke, if that makes any sense. you think about something too hard which you shouldn't even be thinking about, so throw in a little fancyness and maybe you'll miss less.

the other thing i've been doing is just practicing a LOT, i think that helps with things becoming second nature. if you play a bunch then the things you focused on 2-3 sessions ago you practice just to get warmed up, so they get super solid cause they stay in your recent memory. that's my experience anyways

 

[BigD!!!]

the one thing i know for sure about my style is that i definitely move enough

i dont even walk hardly ever in this game, let alone stand still

 

[HondaFoo]

One thing that has helped me is not only finding the right timing for button presses, but finding how to press the buttons in a way that's most comfortable. Like, for some FC aerials(for example) I use the A button, and for others the Z button, just based on what feels more natural to me. That way, I can really get used to what something like a quick FC nair "feels" like. I think sometimes people forget about the physical act of pressing buttons, and how slight variations can make a huge difference

 

[GMhyprid]

i'm not really interested in trying to play as fast as possible, or always do x after move y because it looks cool, that seems like it'd be too much mental effort better spent elsewhere.

I don't know if this applies directly to what you talking about here, but knowing exactly when attack ends is part of playing faster. Even if it's a slower attack like a smash attack, it's good to be able to act in the first possible frame after the move. It makes you harder to punish and this knowledge can be used to bait your opponent into something.

This is just one example: I've seen Azen throw out a shieldbraker as Marth and make his opponent think that he is punishable, and ends up hitting his opponent instead.

Also, knowing exactly when the attack finishes will help with combos or edgeguarding.

 

[KAOSTAR]

Otto told me that it wasnt enough to just do individual things.

Whats really important to get rock solid is transitioning. Its helped me alot at learning and getting more consistent and learning new things.

1 first I pick a technique to learn/practice if I cant do it already. Practice doing it to get timing and ****.
2 work on other ****, come back to it a day or so later and practice it some more.
3 once I can do it, I make up very small routines and dont change it until I can do that routine consistently.
4 then I randomly pick another routine that has the technique in it.

Just gotta get it into your muscle memory, but its best to be able to do something in as many different situations as possible. That way you dont learn strings of techniques vs being good at the individual technique itself.

 

[Jartravious]

What are the barrels for?

 

[null55]

obv the thing about tech skill is playing someone where pride/money/****'s on the line is a completely different game.

i know it's hard, but really try to force yourself into that perspective as you practice. it can help show you the things you most need to work on in controlling your char.

 

[KAOSTAR]

when it truly becomes 2nd nature you probably won't mess it up unless you have to think about it.

so just being comfortable can allow you to do more of what you want instead of worrying about messing up in tourney.

 

[Cactuar]

Lol. Tech skill.

 

[Metal Reeper]

You could practice ledge-teching by going into training mode throwing a motion sensor bomb at the edge of a platform and Up+Bing into it.

Or go into Falco's target test, run into the damage box things and teching off the wall.

IDK I got a lot better at teching when doing this....unless your just worried about sheild pressure and such.

 

[X1-12]

You could practice ledge-teching by going into training mode throwing a motion sensor bomb at the edge of a platform and Up+Bing into it.

Or go into Falco's target test, run into the damage box things and teching off the wall.

IDK I got a lot better at teching when doing this....unless your just worried about sheild pressure and such.

your much better off doing motion sensor bomb, falco + fox's target text have like ridiculous hitstun so the timing window is different

 

[harriettheguy]

In my daily practice sessions, I do 125+ nairs per minute with all the Mario characters, beat Adventure Mode on "Very Hard" without getting hit using Young Link, then complete Event 33 Lethal Marathon with moonwalks only.

Building an ego and remembering to breathe works well in tournaments.

Don't forget to have fun; avoid that technical martyr syndrome...

 

[jugfingers]

training yourself to synchronize your breathing with your movement I think helps.