Seriously, how do you short hop?

[Zarxrax]

I was wanting to try to get into this game, but I'm really having trouble with it.
The short hop is probably one of the most important moves that you need to know in order to play competitively, and I can't seem to do it. I've been trying to do this in training mode for over an hour. With some characters like mario, I seem to be able to pull off a short hop maybe half the times I try it. With some other characters I can almost never do it.

If I load up brawl, I can short hop with no problem. If I try the smash 4 demo on 3ds, I can do it fairly consistently. But its just not working for me in project m. Do you have to press it with some sort of superhuman speed? I mean, I'm not phycisally disabled or anything, I consider myself to have better than normal prowess with a controller (i've been playing games for nearly 30 years). And I'm using the face buttons, not the control stick. Just wtf does it take to pull off a short hop in this game?

 

[CORY]

don't know why you can't do it consistently. maybe it's a mental block.

all you do is release the jump button before your character's jump squat is over. there's a general information thread stickied at the top of this forum with all of the jump squat data in there, giving you a general idea about who's easier and who's more difficult.

so, really, it's just practice : /

 

[Zarxrax]

Hmm... I tried looking at that, so apparently for mario, you have to press and release within 4 frames. Apparently thats pretty much my limit. I can do it just fine with the 5-frame characters, but its really hit or miss with the 4-frame characters, and I can almost never do it with those 3-frame characters.
And I don't think practice is going to be able to get my finger speed faster. I guess this just means that my character selection is going to be pretty limited :\

 

[CORY]

learn to just barely tip the button down. learn the threshold to just barely hit it and make your character jump, which helps you not hold it down for too long. just giving up will do you literally no good.

 

[Paquito]

You probably have a habit of pressing down on buttons really hard, which may be slowing you down. Try practicing using a lighter touch and try tapping the button as fast as you can.

 

[Kati]

It's possible to punch the button and short hop. It's all about pulling back fast enough.

Imagine that the button is hot. Very hot. Spring off of it.

 

[Narpas_sword]

And I don't think practice is going to be able to get my finger speed faster. :\

that is EXACTLY what practice does...

 

[Cedricwa]

I usually just slide my nail down it from the edge of the button so it presses it really fast

 

[nullife]

It's possible to punch the button and short hop. It's all about pulling back fast enough.

Imagine that the button is hot. Very hot. Spring off of it.

This is pretty much how I look at it. I used to think it was just how soft I push it, It's really how fast you let go.
Don't give up. Some of these competitive techniques can seem really annoying to grasp at first. Look forward to the time where you can do it with ease. That is what kept me motivated when learning a competitive technique.

 

[Foo]

Keep trying. For a long time I struggled with this just as much as you. I thought my fingers just weren't capable of doing it. Turns out I just needed to get the muscle memory. Now I can do it almost 100% of the time without even trying.

 

[wolfos144]

There's no secret to it. Just keep practicing, you'll get the hang of it.

 

[Zarxrax]

So is it quite normal for people to be unable to shorthop when they start, but get faster at it after lots and lots of practice?
I mean if thats the case, I'll keep trying some thumb exercises or something, lol.

 

[nullife]

So is it quite normal for people to be unable to shorthop when they start, but get faster at it after lots and lots of practice?
I mean if thats the case, I'll keep trying some thumb exercises or something, lol.

I believe it's very common. It was tough for me to short hop when I first started too. It's such a delicate input.
Just keep doing it over and over. And take a breaks if you haven't been. It'll help.

 

[The Soap]

I used to not be able to SH with Fox at all, but after some practice I got it down. Just give it time. Also, don't think of a SH input as a press, instead think of it as a very quick tap.

 

[Stride]

I'd suggest pressing the button hard and quickly sliding your thumb off the edge of the button in one motion (that's what I do). Once you get the hang of it you should have practically perfect consistency like everyone who's been playing competitively for a while. I find that when trying to learn any new technique that requires speed, thinking about it too hard makes me slower; maybe try to relax and not worry about it too much to make it feel as natural as possible.

Also, you may want to avoid the characters with shorter jumpsquats when you're learning (though that's more of a problem in Melee, since you have one more frame of leniency with releasing the button in PM; a minimum of 3 frames is plenty); check the "jump start-up speed" section of this thread: http://smashboards.com/threads/p-m-3-0-statistics-list-shff-speed-weight-falling-speed-etc.335019/

Mew2King couldn't short hop with Fox when he started (he's stated that multiple times), and he's Mew2King.

 

[Zarxrax]

Did this change at all in 3.5? I just loaded it up and went to training mode, and now I'm not really having any trouble doing this with Mario anymore.

 

[Stride]

Did this change at all in 3.5? I just loaded it up and went to training mode, and now I'm not really having any trouble doing this with Mario anymore.

No; nothing changed universally, nor did Mario get a longer jumpsquat (and therefore he didn't get an easier short hop either). It's all in your head; short hopping isn't physically difficult to do. You've just gotten used to it or the placebo effect is making it easier.

 

[Phaiyte]

Let go of the button within 2 frames and you'll always get a short hop no matter what character you play.