Responding and using tech??

[Majora64]

So, I've been playing a fair amount of smash, especially the Wii U version. I was totally new to smash bros (competitively) before the 3DS version came out, and I've been learning to read attacks/rolls and character movement. I've practised perfect pivots, foxtrots, short hopping, you name it. I've run into a problem though...I can't seem to implement the techniques in matches. Another thing I can't seem to get around (and possibly the most frustrating) is responding properly to a situation when I read an attack. I know it's coming, but I don't tend to avoid it or know what the best option is. I just can't seem to get around this obstacle in my playing. Any advice would be immensely appreciated!

 

[CURRY]

It all comes down to slowing your match down, and looking at what you can do. You can do this by yourself! Maybe if you're bored in a really slow class or something, I dunno.
Gawd.... I feel really bad about always this, but this guy makes REALLY, REALLY great Brawl articles, and a lot of Brawl things actually are carried over into Smash 4.
It's definitely worth your time.
http://smashboards.com/threads/understanding-your-options-an-article-on-playing-smart.206225/

you kinda have to think about the properties of your character, and what it excels at, use the moves that are appropriate for the situation. This is all covered in article, by the way.
If you really need help on what to do with your specific character in a certain situation, go to your individual character forum. There are a lot of people that are extremely knowledgeable about their characters on this forum. http://smashboards.com/forums/wii-u-3ds-character-discussion.291/

 

[Raijinken]

Quite simply, just keep trying. I like to call it "Playing deliberately", and it basically entails focusing abnormally hard on your own positioning, thought process, and actions. If you get hit, think (quickly, cuz you're in a game) of why it happened, and how it can be avoided. If you see something starting, do something new to avoid a repeat event. If that Falcon Punch hits you, next time you hear FALCON, do something that you didn't do last time.

It takes time and practice, and there isn't really a short cut for it. You just have to practice more and more. If you've got friends you can play with, I actually encourage playing under what would otherwise be nonsense funsies rules: Have your friend go after you with a specific move, combo, scenario, etc, and keep using it over and over until you can avoid/counter/punish it. Works even better if the friend is better than you. For a simple example, if you have trouble teching in general, play every match in Hyrule Temple and stay in the bottom left area. Don't stop going to Temple until you virtually never die before about 250% or better, due to teching skill. Even though no map is quite like Temple in regards to that, you will have built up a very good sense of timing techs, and even knowing which way to roll (or not to) when recovering from attacks.

Practicing in a controlled environment can only do so much, so in short, try to make a less-controlled but still-relevant environment to practice in.