TAKE 2
First & foremost you know more about your playstyle than most players, myself included, know theirs if you can at least identify bad habits in your game. I have to watch my videos back or get someone to tell me what I've been doing wrong unless it's something really noticeable (like coming back on stage from the ledge with Pound in Melee is a habit I've only quite recently broken, I've been using Puff since May).
Make a list of all the bad habits you have, but put it in order of what you want to change most & try to include as much information of that habit as you can (what's the situation, what are you doing, what is your positioning, what is your opponent doing can be included as well or something character specific etc.). Focus on only that habit until you break it then move onto the next one.
Wobbles did a blog about bad habits a few years ago which closes with:
"If you want to rework bad habits that have become automatic, you have to grind them out. Sometimes you have to revamp your entire form, or your entire mindset, and the process can take a long time, dosed with quite a a lot of failure to boot.
The fastest (and most effective) way to do this is to devote your practice to
one thing at a time and don't concern yourself with overall success. Drills are helpful for this, rather than just sitting down and playing a full game of [whatever], because most games are divided into lots of parts with lots of interaction; if you don't drill a certain ability, you won't get enough practice on it through your game session. Our brains are pretty flexible, and they
will change with effort, even when we're older. The trick is picking a singular element of your game and focusing on it ruthlessly until it's perfect, then moving on until it all falls into place."
It's important that you don't beat yourself up when you're breaking a particular habit. You gave yourself the instruction to avoid doing a particular thing, you then need to learn to trust yourself that you will let the changes to occur. Not try to make it happen, but let happen naturally. The Inner Game of Tennis always likes to talk about visualising desired outcomes, which is something rather difficult in Smash due to how many options that you are given in the game but it's important to take note of what they are in any situation. If you are aware of the other options that you can do in a situation, you can start mixing them up or present new problems that your opponent has to deal with.
Case & point:
HungryBox vs Armada GFs at Dreamhack. I want you to watch the two games played on BF (both are Game 1s for their respective sets) & I want you to note what was the bad habit that cost Hbox the first game in the first set. Then watch Game 1 of the bracket reset & watch how he avoided this habit. I want you to work it out on your own, without watching Tafo's interview. That's cheating.
I want you to try a simple exercise (just for the record Alex, creator of Alex's Puff Stuff is the real MVP): I want you to make another list. And this will include all the qualities that you think that a top level player exemplifies. And name it "My Smash Bible". Always make sure that you refer to it time to time & edit it when something new comes into your mind.
"Keep breaking topics down further and further. Keep using your logician’s knife until you have specific things that are easy to practice."
Next time you play I want you to play the role of this top level player. I'm a director of a film, you've being employed as an actor. I don't care if you win or if you get JV3'd. I'm only interested on how you adopt the mannerisms of the greats & how self-assured you are with your skills as a player. You should look like when you're playing that everything is going absolutely perfectly for you regardless if that's what happening or not. You are playing a role. Really get into it.
And go to tournaments sis. Really. You'll be vastly mistaken if showing off your skills as a competitor is the only thing that happens at tourneys. You're forgetting the whole social aspect of what tourneys bring as well, an opportunity to make new friends & become a member of a community. You learn more about the game & maybe even more about yourself & you'll enjoy the game more with other people around who are more than likely willing to help you & you possibly helping them.
