SHDA Tips

[GoForkUrself]

Note: I didn't create the SHDA(Short Hop Double Arrow). I merely struggled learning it since I have a slow thumb, and thought others might be like me. I decided I would write a some tips on how to do it that help those with slow thumbs or those that can't seem to get the timing.

The basic instruction to do the SHDA is to do a short hop, and as soon as you hop(that means while you are rising), shoot an arrow, and as soon as it's possible, shoot another arrow. Seems like something everyone could do first try, but that isn't the case.

For anyone trying to SHDA and having a hard time, I recommend trying the slower speeds on training. After shooting the first arrow, there should be a point where TL's boots come together upon releasing the arrow. It is at that time you hit the B button again. You should be slightly above the ground when the boots touch.

Note: I don't recommend mashing the B button rapidly right when you jump. Doing that can cause the first arrow to charge a bit, which will make it impossible to get the second arrow started in time. You're better off just learning the timing of it and only hitting B twice. Also, shorthopping using the analog stick aka tap jumping is not recommended. Not only is it harder to SH, it also can cause you to accidentally do upB attacks since the jump and B must be done at nearly the same time.

If you notice the boots never come together after the first arrow, then that means you aren't shooting the first arrow soon enough, and need to speed up by being faster between jumping and pressing b. In my case, I could do SHDA at 2/3's speed just fine, but the boots would never touch when I used normal speed due to the time it takes for me to move thumb from my X or Y button to B. (To give you guys an idea of my thumb speed, I struggled in melee to do Link's rapid A attack, cuz I couldn't press the button fast enough).

So for those of you like me and can't make your thumbs go any faster, how do we do SHDA on normal speed? I had to customize my buttons to SHDA. I decided to make the R button work as jump, and now I can SHDA pretty well, even from dashes after just a few mins of practice. Since I use L for all my shielding needs, it works perfect for me. For those that don't get why using R as jump makes it easier to do, you can hit R with the index finger, and immediately use the thumb on B, without having to move your thumb across the controller. You could try using L instead as jump, or you could use Z as jump if you wanted to. Or, you could make one of those buttons work for specials, and use X or Y as jump(though I found that way harder). Anyway, since no one should need both their L and R buttons, they should be able to use a configuration that makes it easier. Of course now I have to mix my usage of R and X when jumping with TL. My friends noticed that if they hear me jump with R(noisy button), I was going to do a SHDA. So now I just throw in a few extra R jumps as TL just to trick them.

I hope that helps some people if they are having trouble using SHDA.

Also here is a video someone else made on how to do the quick draw technique(basically that is just the second arrow of the SHDA technique).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XcODP-_bhrI

Added: Others have suggested other button combinations. Using Y as special and X as jump works well for those with average to above average thumb speed(doesn't work for me cuz I'm slow). Another option is using UpTaunt as special. That works very well when standing still even for slow thumbs, but is trickier to use out of dashes and retreating RAR(reverse aerial rush).

 

[Smashless]

my super secret tech for SHDA is mapping an extra special button to Up on the D-PAD. You lose is super cool WW taunt, but it allows you to map special to a button that another finger can hit.

 

[Robiin]

I ALWAYS jump with X, so I've set my Y button to special. It's really easy to do SHDA with X-Y fast!

 

[Cooper736]

Thanks for the tips, I've been struggling to do this as well. It's good to see I'm not the only one out there who can't perform such an easy technique, and I thank you.

However, even when I'm trying to do something like a RAR or merely a short hop to chase, I find myself forgetting about my X button and going to my tap jump, which is extremely difficult for me to get a short hop out of. Would you suggest that I turn tap jump off so that it's necessary for me to use the X button all the time?

 

[TriforceCore]

When I first got brawl the first thing I honestly did was go to button config and take tap jump off because being a link melee user its a little harder to do his good U-tilt with that on so I took it out but it also helps with the short hop dilemma.

 

[daytimeninja]

Great post, this cleared some things up for me.

 

[TLMarth]

I've added this to my thread, and I'm going to use X for B-special.

 

[Hunter_R]

I use the classic controller, and the face buttons make this technique very easy to do by default. Just throwing that out there.

 

[Crizthakidd]

jump with X shoot 2x with y. lol works LIKe a charm

 

[GoForkUrself]

Hmm, interesting, I'll be testing out using special as X or Y(though my thumb is so slow, I still might not be able to do it).
Also yes, I recommend turning tap jump off. It is a bad habit to use it to jump, and also it makes doing up tilt attacks much harder and it isn't reliable for short hops. Still I sometimes keep it on, simply because as a Marth user, being able to do UpB out of my shield(don't even have to let go of the shield button) only works if you jump cancel the attack, and hitting upB naturally causes a jump cancel attack with tap jump on. I think though, using R as jump, I might just manually jump cancel so I can turn jump tap off.

Added: I tested out using special as y, and it is easier, but my thumb was still too slow. For those of you who have average -> above average thumb speed, this method might be for you. I also tested using uptaunt as special. This enabled me to do SHDA standing still, but I like doing it out of dashes and retreating RAR's, and I can't move my left thumb from the control stick to the uptaunt. Other than that, using uptaunt as special is a good alternative if you don't like the idea of using L or R as jump and can't use X or Y as special.

 

[Vinntage]

your tip actually helped, i get them a lot more than i did, basically every try, thanks

 

[Cooper736]

Excellent, first thing tomorrow I'll be turning my tap jump off. Should bring my gameplay level down a bit for a while, but I'll get used to it soon enough. It'll also make Usmashes from a dash a lot easier (my C-stick is currently assigned to specials).

 

[Robiin]

If you have Y (or X, if you prefer Y jump) set to specials, you don't even need fast thumbs.. You can just let your thumb "roll" from one button to the other.

Simple (X jump, Y special):
Have the middle of your thumb on X
Have the top of your thumb on Y
"Roll your thumb" from X to Y really quick

Easy as that!

 

[Scarlet Jile]

The trick is, NOT firing the second arrow right away.

If you're having trouble mashing B twice and getting the SHDA off, try just SH-regular arrow-cancelling. I.e., fire an arrow the second you land. It cancels the animation lag, which is what happens when you SHDA on the second shot.

 

[GreatClayMonkey]

great post that really helps

 

[xio]

While most ppl here think changing your configs will help your SHDA, I think its all about timing. Watch the timing by using 2 hands at first (one hand pressing jump and other hand pressing the B button 2x). Then, once you get the hang of the timing, use one hand. That is all there is to it.

 

[Robiin]

While most ppl here think changing your configs will help your SHDA, I think its all about timing. Watch the timing by using 2 hands at first (one hand pressing jump and other hand pressing the B button 2x). Then, once you get the hang of the timing, use one hand. That is all there is to it.

I can easily do it with the B-button, but I think it's even easier to do with Y. And since I don't use/need Y for anything else, I've set it to specials, because I don't loose anything by doing so.

 

[Ryusiodo]

Wait. So is the second arrow of the SHDA technically fire from the ground with a bow cancel?

I think my fingers are of average speed at best. So far I've yet to fire two arrows in the air without touching the ground. (if it's even possible)

 

[eMORAY21]

I started off thinking this was crazy hard, but I use the 'standard' config for the GC controller and just slide my thumb round from the top jump button, (X or Y can't remeber, don't have a pad to look at, at the moment) onto the b button.

Then timing the second b is just practice, but is pretty much the last second before TL hits the ground.

 

[GoForkUrself]

The second arrow is the easy one. Just hit the button when TL's boots touch in the air(that is right around the time the first arrow is released and just a little above the ground). The arrow is actually released on the ground upon impact thus cutting out some frames(quickdraw).
The hard part is the first arrow, not the second one. Most times when it doesn't work, it is because the first arrow is either accidentally charged, or it wasn't shot as soon as TL jumped. If the first arrow isn't while TL is rising, the SHDA won't work, no matter how good you are with the second arrow.

 

[kenneyy88]

wow the boot touching together tip is great. The first arrow has to be fired around when you jump.

 

[xio]

its all about time guys, that's it. Once you get the hang of the timing, it will be like ABC's

 

[Kilikan]

Jumping has a rising and falling motion and a peak in the middle. Right before the end of the falling motion an attack can be played and some frames cut out. On rise of the jump shoot one of the arrows and right before tl's feet touch the ground fire the other arrow. It honestly doesnt do much with short hop (hell I dont even know if you could call it cancelling) but with a normal first hop it speeds up the da dramatically.

 

[xyouxarexuglyx2]

I use the control stick to short-hop when I do this.

I don't know how well most people can do it, but I was able to do it most of the time with Fox in Melee, so no problem for me.

 

[Cooper736]

i've managed to SHDA several times using the X-Y combo, but my problem is that when I hit X and begin to roll into Y, I tend to do a normal jump instead of a short hop. But from what I've noticed of the timings, especially doing a normal jump double arrow, is that you usually want to start the firing frames during the up portion of your jump. That will give you enough time to fire it off about when you start coming down, which will let you shoot again before you touch the ground (which is the ideal).

 

[Scarlet Jile]

Wait. So is the second arrow of the SHDA technically fire from the ground with a bow cancel?

I think my fingers are of average speed at best. So far I've yet to fire two arrows in the air without touching the ground. (if it's even possible)

Yeah, that's all it is.

 

[MysticalBanana]

Just practice a lot... it took me a good half an hour to get it somewhat consistently in training mode... more to pull it off consistently in game.... and a lot more to implement it into my game.

 

[GoForkUrself]

Once I reconfigured the buttons, it took me like 1 minute to do it consistently. Of course, it is better not to be unique control dependent.

 

[Zenonfury]

You could always just sh and then hit b as you go up..and you always have time for a second b..least it works for me id say 90% of the time..im not teh best =[

 

[nukethemall73]

i use Y -> B -> B because then i dont have to mess about with controls everytime i play at someone elses house, my only problem was i kept nudging the Cstick downwards by mistake and doing SHDair, but got over that pretty quick. after about half an hour i got it like 95% of the time. all i did was first learn to quickdraw and the timing for it. and then just practiced getting my thumb from Y to B quickly for the first arrow. and then just mixing the two. just remember not to try to get the second arrow as soon as you can, it must be timed for a quickdraw.

 

[zaf]

For jumping in all situations, i use Y. I think i am the only person who uses Y in this thread, didnt see anyone else with that for their jump. But yea i SH with Y and use X for the DA. IT works flawlessly. Ive never been a fan of using the control stick, and luckily for me i have fast thumbs. So i can Sh with Y easily.

 

[NoWai]

i don't want to change my special because I go to local tournies and they aren't always interested in mapping controls around when often they only have a pair of controllers for the tourny. It really did not take much time to be able to SHDA with default controls (gamecube controller) but I admit I would nail it more often with Y special.

 

[nukethemall73]

ive always used Y in all smash games (C buttons on n64 controller if i remember rightly) i dont think ive ever even tried to learn to do it with the analogue stick, dont see any advantages

 

[Jing)]

You dont use your thumb you place your thumb on B to start then sh with R or L depending on which you dont roll with.. np

 

[vbdood1337]

For jumping in all situations, i use Y. I think i am the only person who uses Y in this thread, didnt see anyone else with that for their jump. But yea i SH with Y and use X for the DA. IT works flawlessly. Ive never been a fan of using the control stick, and luckily for me i have fast thumbs. So i can Sh with Y easily.

I use y as well :D i've got really big hands so my finger is already there when i'm holding the controller normally.

I've been experimenting with r as jump and i can do it better using the default setup. im going to try using x as special (it is currently set to grab, which is why i was using r before) and as i hardly ever grab with tink unless im sure i'll land it, i think it could work out.

 

[Vayseth]

Many people have mapped one of their trigger buttons to jump. I don't like that very much, so I mapped one of my triggers to special. So I hit the jump button, trigger special, and then B special. It makes it SO much easier.

 

[Trifroze]

Now after learning SHDA it feels like you don't need fast thumb for it at all. You should just do it "regular way" no matter how hard it feels, thumb speed can improve and pretty fast too you know.

 

[Ørion]

As an alternative suggestion, I have kind of a weird controller scheme. I use R to jump and don't have trouble doing a SHDA after practicing some.

 

[Sosuke]

Great job.
The "don't rapidly mashing the B button" thing was very informative. =)

 

[DarkVampire]

i do exactly what roblin does. i jump with X so i use Y as special. roll em and u got a shda. but remember, dont start smashing Y. u should time it or else ull charge the first arrow. i kept doing that at the starting. btw, when is it useful? i never was able to use it to its full potential (just started TL)