Teaching competitive melee to beginners

[Palmerfan]

I'm thinking about starting a weekly class to teach melee to beginners, but I have no idea how I should structure it. If anyone has done this before, how did you teach the classes? Should I focus on teaching tech, fundamentals, observing matches, or something else? I want everyone to be able to play as much as possible, but I'm not sure how productive that would be. Also, how should I address why the class is for melee instead of brawl? I expect most of the people attending to be 7-12 years old, so I'm not sure they'd quite understand the intricate differences between the games. Any help would be appreciated here.

 

[MookieRah]

I've been teaching a group of players in my area and it seemed to go well.

Basically I started with basic tech, stuff that is not considered advanced technique:

The Basics
Control over jumps: Full hop, short hop, fast falling, falling through platforms.

Tilts: Learning to tilt appropriately, as well as turning around and tilting in the opposite direction.

Teching: What is teching, teching to stand, tech to rolls, etc.

DI: Basic Di, what it is, begin discussing survival DI, mention combo DI, SDI, etc.

It's best to demonstrate this stuff and show ways to practice it, then just let them play. Be sure to create a facebook group or some place for your trainees to discuss things, and encourage posting and looking up stuff on the smashboards.

From there you move on to more advanced tech once they've mastered that. Be sure that when you play with these guys that your focus is on teaching them. Your goal isn't to destroy them, so you don't have to go all out. What I do when teaching is to focus on their movement and their decisions, and tell them during the match things I notice. I often will call out when they will do something based in habit, like rolling away, when they do it so they realise that it is a pattern they need to break.

 

[Twitchy]

This is a really good thread. I'm going in to my senior year of high school and me and my (only other competitive smash-playing) friend are going to try really hard to get a smash club going at our school in hopes that it will last for years to come. I've been hoping some of the new underclassmen are into the game on a competitive level, but I'm also more than willing to teach players that aren't yet into it, but are interested in learning.

I agree with the OP in that it will probably be difficult to get people to get aboard the Melee train, because everybody in my school seems to favor brawl for some god forsaken reason. I was thinking of showing the first episode of The Smash Brothers documentary and then explaining random tripping and hope that logic kicks in and they change their minds.

 

[EPsilon933]

I've tried teaching casual players how to win. They get bored and don't care. They just want to play video games. Boring them with education won't give them the fire to compete. You're better off having fun playing the game with them than teaching them. They can teach themselves on their own. Just link them to advanced how to play videos and that's all they need. It's really easy to learn techniques on your own. Playing to win is about prediction and decision making more than anything else. It can only be learned by playing the game

 

[MookieRah]

I've tried teaching casual players how to win. They get bored and don't care. They just want to play video games. Boring them with education won't give them the fire to compete. You're better off having fun playing the game with them than teaching them. They can teach themselves on their own. Just link them to advanced how to play videos and that's all they need. It's really easy to learn techniques on your own. Playing to win is about prediction and decision making more than anything else. It can only be learned by playing the game

I disagree almost entirely with this post. You can, in fact, teach people to play the game better, that is if they are willing. Usually what happens is that those that aren't serious drop out fairly soon as people start picking up techniques, but that shouldn't be a deterrent from trying.

Ultimately, your job is to set them on the right track for success, as most of what is needed to improve early on is a lot of tech practice.

 

[TheGoat]

its gonna flop. they need to have fun with it. then if they like it you can slowly give them some tips, tell them a couple tips and advanced techs

 

[Twitchy]

its gonna flop. they need to have fun with it. then if they like it you can slowly give them some tips, tell them a couple tips and advanced techs

I don't want to be a cynic but after giving it a lot of thought I'd have to agree. The only way anyone in life gets good at anything, and that is, the act of getting good, pouring in hours of painstaking practice, is if they really want it. You have to be passionate about something to get good at it. You have to like the practice to really improve.

I don't know if kids in that age group have the ability to dedicate themselves that way yet, when so many adults can't even do that lol.

 

[-Dubs]

They need to first watch a combo video, get impressed, and try to replicate the combos. They'll want to play, and you'll show them how much they need to learn by whooping them. Give advice as you play together, showing them advanced techs and explaining possible strategies. They will have to do most of their learning on their own, though.

 

[MookieRah]

I think I did a poor job expressing what I was trying to say regarding teaching:

Your job as a teacher is to guide the player and help them improve. This means you give them suggestions as to the order of what they practice. For example, it's better that they learn the basics of the game before they try to learn to wavedash and waveland. The goal with this is so their time practicing translates into them performing better which generally leads to more excitement and they are more likely to stick with it.

With all that said, the key to their success ultimately lies with them, as it is up to them to put in the time it takes to build the necessary tech skill they need to succeed. That said, they could learn much faster with someone willing to teach and guide them, as it eliminates a lot of time discovering things on their own. Think of it as a fast track.