Self Conditioning?

[Dinotard]

I'm on a long and frustrating road trying to be the best smash player I can be.
I went to a tourney today and I lost both my matches very early. I didn't expect to do super well, but I'm kinda proud of what I managed to accomplish.

But I know for a fact I can do better. I cost myself a few KO's today because of failed read attempts and just going in blind.

I feel that I fall back into bad habits once I start feeling pressured. (ie, excessive rolling, double jumping too early, SD's)

What are some ways that I can mentally improve and condition myself to not make these mistakes?

I want to be strict on myself, but I am not sure how to even start doing so.

What are some methods you guys use? If any. And how does it work out for you?

 

[Vic]

It might sound odd but listening to a certain type of music or certain artists while you're practicing these techniques at home and then taking this music with you to tourneys on an ipod or something can remind you of the things you've been practicing at home. Works for me but to each their own.

As for conditioning in general it helps to create for yourself some sort of reward to work towards that will constantly remind you of the small details you need to remember in order to achieve your goal. In smash it could be a plethora of things: say next tourney you go to, you tell yourself that if you get a certain place (realistically) that you'll celebrate with a few drinks and some buds or something.

 

[Dinotard]

It might sound odd but listening to a certain type of music or certain artists while you're practicing these techniques at home and then taking this music with you to tourneys on an ipod or something can remind you of the things you've been practicing at home. Works for me but to each their own.

As for conditioning in general it helps to create for yourself some sort of reward to work towards that will constantly remind you of the small details you need to remember in order to achieve your goal. In smash it could be a plethora of things: say next tourney you go to, you tell yourself that if you get a certain place (realistically) that you'll celebrate with a few drinks and some buds or something.

It doesn't actually seem too odd, I feel that Music might be a way to help. I made a playlist while I was on the train going over to the tourney venue but I didn't even listen to music while I was playing, its possible I could have performed better with music. I'll have to give that a try. How well does it work for you?

As for a reward system, I feel that It might help. I'm going to try to win at least my first set. I'm not sure what the reward would be but I'll try to figure something out. I have two weeks until the next one.

However I feel that there is a lot that I need to work on before I can call myself ready to take on this next challenge.

 

[PCHU]

I generally play really safe nowadays because it gives me more time to think; I like to stay near the opponent but not on the opponent.
If I catch myself thinking about something and I have a feeling it'll be punished, I wait it out until I've either got a better opportunity to execute the option or I choose something else.
Don't be afraid to hang back a little to refocus yourself; a lot of my time as Dedede is spent floating around, thinking about how I should approach and subtly baiting them to attack (floating around is actually an awful idea because he's susceptible to pretty much everything on landing, but it tends to work out for me even vs decent players).

As you play more matches, you'll figure out that everyone has habits (even you as you develop into a versatile wrecking machine), and you'll become better at general option select, having a better idea of what strategy is the ideal counter to whatever's employed against you (for example, I usually drop down below Jiggs when she's trying to carry me offstage; it's harder for her to chase me and I can catch her with uairs, or sometimes even reverse the edgeguard).
I really recommend hanging back when you feel you're getting predictable; don't necessarily camp, but play safe.
A fair bit of the conditioning is gained through experience, but if you give yourself a chance to think, it makes adapting a lot easier.

And MikeZ's partially right; it's a great idea to stay on your opponent if you've got a firm read on them, giving them less time to think about how to fight you, but always try to cover multiple options and generally try to have an exit in case things didn't go as planned.
You won't always be able to do these things, of course, but just considering it will help you get used to more adaptive play.

At least, that's how I've come to understand it.

 

[Dinotard]

I generally play really safe nowadays because it gives me more time to think; I like to stay near the opponent but not on the opponent.
If I catch myself thinking about something and I have a feeling it'll be punished, I wait it out until I've either got a better opportunity to execute the option or I choose something else.
Don't be afraid to hang back a little to refocus yourself; a lot of my time as Dedede is spent floating around, thinking about how I should approach and subtly baiting them to attack (floating around is actually an awful idea because he's susceptible to pretty much everything on landing, but it tends to work out for me even vs decent players).

As you play more matches, you'll figure out that everyone has habits (even you as you develop into a versatile wrecking machine), and you'll become better at general option select, having a better idea of what strategy is the ideal counter to whatever's employed against you (for example, I usually drop down below Jiggs when she's trying to carry me offstage; it's harder for her to chase me and I can catch her with uairs, or sometimes even reverse the edgeguard).
I really recommend hanging back when you feel you're getting predictable; don't necessarily camp, but play safe.
A fair bit of the conditioning is gained through experience, but if you give yourself a chance to think, it makes adapting a lot easier.

And MikeZ's partially right; it's a great idea to stay on your opponent if you've got a firm read on them, giving them less time to think about how to fight you, but always try to cover multiple options and generally try to have an exit in case things didn't go as planned.
You won't always be able to do these things, of course, but just considering it will help you get used to more adaptive play.

At least, that's how I've come to understand it.

That seems helpful. I actually did play a friendly pretty patiently and I managed to get a win out of it. But I feel it won't always work for me or I just get restless and just try to go in for the attack. I feel that I need to get better with reads.

Question though, What exactly should I be looking at specifically on the screen. Should I have 100% on my opponent's character or should I be looking in the middle of the screen. I'm not entirely sure what would work out better. I use falcon but I'm not 100% confident that I know the range for my attacks. I keep failing on RB's and thinking they'd go farther, but I end up getting punished.

 

[Vic]

It doesn't actually seem too odd, I feel that Music might be a way to help. I made a playlist while I was on the train going over to the tourney venue but I didn't even listen to music while I was playing, its possible I could have performed better with music. I'll have to give that a try. How well does it work for you?

As for a reward system, I feel that It might help. I'm going to try to win at least my first set. I'm not sure what the reward would be but I'll try to figure something out. I have two weeks until the next one.

However I feel that there is a lot that I need to work on before I can call myself ready to take on this next challenge.

The music has to be something that puts me "in the zone", so to speak. So like for me, I listen to a slew of metal as my main music genre, but I would probably never listen to it if I'm trying to focus: it's too sporadic for me to concentrate. I find that hip-hop/rap and smoother electronic beats are really good for keeping me focused.

 

[Dinotard]

The music has to be something that puts me "in the zone", so to speak. So like for me, I listen to a slew of metal as my main music genre, but I would probably never listen to it if I'm trying to focus: it's too sporadic for me to concentrate. I find that hip-hop/rap and smoother electronic beats are really good for keeping me focused.

I actually put your Music theory to the test during my last set of friendlies. I actually performed better, I just tuned out everything except for the music and It helped me concentrate better. I'm gonna have to do this more often.

I usually listen to a lot of EDM and thats what I used to play, and it worked for me. Thanks for the tip, I'm gonna try to keep improving.

 

[Vic]

Glad to help man, and if you're ever up for some friendlies add me and I'll bang out some sets if I'm on.

 

[Dinotard]

Glad to help man, and if you're ever up for some friendlies add me and I'll bang out some sets if I'm on.

oh for sure I'll be on later today. I'll add ya