Lessons From a Mediocre Smash Player #2 - Learning and Application

Introduction

Hey guys! As an augment to the first entry of my mediocre lessons, I decided to relay my thoughts on some additional matters that I find relevant. While the first part focused on developing your mindset as a player, I wanted to shed some light on learning as a player. In the last lesson, I a gave a supplement for your attitude and outlook as a player, in order to address the frustrations you encounter in your quest to get better. In this post, I want to emphasize aspects of how you obtain knowledge and apply it.

A City to Train a Kid

Recognize that as fans of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, we have built a community. Though your development as a player may be in your own journey, there are many resources that have been established to supply you along the way.

The Library

One of the things our players are very fervent about is the constant discovery and archiving of knowledge. Looking to start using a character? Looking for techniques and strategy specific to your character? There are many resources on places like Smashboards and Smash Hub (not quite as much info as the former) to help you get started. There are often even videos for demonstration or exhibition matches from higher-leveled players. You can emulate some of the aspects of their play to incorporate into your game. One of the best things about these resources is how accurate they are. Much of the information here is either verified or gathered collectively by many knowledgeable players, so you can be confident that what you gather on these sites is useful. Many hours were put into collecting and organizing this information, so don't let it all go to waste!

The Cinema

On the topic of videos, some people learn a lot better visually, which is why the existence of live streams and recorded media are so helpful to the community. I, myself, hold critical review of one's recordings in high regard for the learning process. Being able to pause, rewind, and break down what's going on in each moment helps get the cognitive juices flowing and allows us to see what we normally wouldn't while we're in the moment. Whether you're looking at another player's video or are looking for constructive criticisms on your own recording, don't neglect the hidden power within visual learning.

The Lounge

Data is only half the battle, though! Sometimes it's best to compare notes and experiences with other players (whether local or via forum). There are different ways to interpret data, and an alternate perspective can help you understand the game better. For example, you may understand that Pikachu's Quick Attack, based on your reading, but how do you apply it effectively? When? What can you do afterward? You'll have many questions to which player experience has the answer. Lean on your peers, particularly those with expertise in your character, in times of need.

The Dojo

Of course experience is one of the harsher teachers, and a good one, so long as you understand the lessons. This one can also lead back to the aforementioned visual learning, since the matches you play can be recorded for later review. However, you should get in the habit of being able to pick out at least a few things that you did wrong during, or shortly after, battle. The better you can do this, the better and quicker you can adapt later in the game/set. Don't just focus on the mistakes you made, however, there are some things that, if you notice you capitalized on, abuse it until the opponent finds a way to deal with it.

"What We Talkin' 'Bout?"

Now that we've done our information gathering, let's talk, for a moment, about practice.

At the lower levels of play, "practice" can be misinterpreted as the amount of time you spend playing. i.e.: "Practicing" your character's matchup against Sheik equates to getting your ass handed to you for 25 games straight. I believe this is such a crucial, crucial issue not even necessarily in regards to learning matchups, that keeps players from progressing. The essence of practice is not the practice itself, but practicing properly. Practicing efficiently. Practicing with a purpose. All the experiencing in getting trounced by TSM ZeRo's Diddy Kong isn't going to better prepare you for anyone else's Diddy unless you learn why *you* are losing against him and what *you* can do to alleviate the issues. Even then, once you've learned that, it won't help if you can't flawlessly execute your commands at the correct moments. These are the kinds of issues you want to reflect on when practicing.

One thing I like to do is separate the technical aspects of gameplay from logic and decision-making done in-game. This is because part of your practice should be dedicated to grinding out your inputs to make sure when you *do* make the decisions, you can perform them without fail. To often do I see failed B-Reverses or a Side Special that was meant to be an Up Special during recovery. I, myself, am actually guilty of rolling often in situations where I meant to drop my shield and dash. Training Mode is there to assist specifically with that. If you're constantly messing up inputs or a combo, then grind it out in training mode until you can't mess it up. Understandably, this can be boring, but there are all types of ways you can set up punishment/reward games to make it interesting. A "mini-game" I was taught in Brawl, for practicing Marth's spacing vs moving targets, is to sit on the far right side of Hyrule Temple, throw a Green Shell to the left at the wall, and try to land various tipper moves when the shell ricochets. In success, the results are immediately seen. In failure, you're tossed out to the blast zone.

I implore you, challenge yourself to polish up your inputs. Reducing misinputs and unnecessary inputs will allow you to minimize crucial mistakes, as well keep yourself in optimal position to seize opportunities, should they arise. If you don't believe me, count the times you tried to tech the floor, only to air dodge, and missed a punish or got punished while landing. Imagine what you can do if you properly tech, as intended, each time. Training mode. Use it. Grind in it. Don't know where to start? Try getting used to the ending lag of all your moves and try and use a number of them in quick succession. Try shield dashing as fast as you can. Practice B-Reversing, if you use it. Lots of ideas there.

The other half of the battle is *applying* the new things you've learned. A lot of this is a mental thing, since you can't always set up specific scenarios on your own. You have to remember to wait and bait an air dodge to set up that frame trap you've learned. You have to develop the habit of of using Utilt on reaction when someone hits your shield. There are a few ways you can go about this one:

• Set a goal in friendlies to practice your new tech/strategy. This may involve intentionally putting yourself in certain situations or slowing down the pace of the game to influence the opponent to make a move on you. For more offensive strategies, you may have overreach to land a move in order to try it out (ie. a grab combo that only works at 80+%).
• Work with a training partner in order to set up the specific scenario(s). If they need to spam a character's projectiles or attempt to DI out of your combos, it's helpful to have an extra set of hands.
• Go into training mode and mentally prepare yourself:
       "Do situational practice. Look at stages and position yourself in certain spots as well as the opponent. Think about every single option you can possibly do; think what your opponent can do. Judge the value of each option, risk, and reward. Check all ranges-- mid range, full screen, close up, you directly above, them directly above, diagonal from each other, etc. And this is for every character you fight against. If you know what they can do, there's no worry or surprise as you'll be ready for it." - Ninjalink

To recap, utilize training mode for technical inputs (movement, techniques, combos) and to condition practical habits. If you can't viably do the latter in training mode, purposely look for opportunity in friendlies or do some mental training. Whatever you do, grind it out. These types of things will become habit after gratuitous repetition.

Analysis

One reason I really like video review is that it makes you think. When you can break down a game in spurts of a few seconds, you can question your decision making (even if those decisions ended up with positive results). When you realize that a LOT is happening within the matter of just a few seconds, those questions stack pretty high. That much self-criticism can get the logic juices flowing and condition you to think about your decisions during or shortly after a game, to see what you can improve on in a more immediate setting. To translate, the ability to critique your play, hours or even days after a match has be done, could eventually turn into the ability to critique your play shortly after the decision is made. This ability is key in allowing you to adapt to situations and possibly turn (or keep) a match in your favor.

To reiterate, you must ask questions. "Why?" is quite a pertinent one in most cases. Each decision you make has a certain amount of risk and reward and you must be able to evaluate whether not the amount of risk warrants the reward. When you ask, "why," you're evaluating the the goal, or reward, of your decision. When you can ascertain that, you can then ask, "how?" How will you obtain your reward? Here you can evaluate all of your options available to you at the time of decision. This relates back to the last section where we touched on mental training, so take it to heart. The better and quicker you can evaluate the situation, the strong your decision making will be. This is not easily achievable, but with enough data and critical thinking, you can tighten up your game, quite a bit. At certain positions where you'd normally be punished for an attack, you may now opt for a safer move and mitigate the damage you take. In situations where you punish the enemy, you may now select a stronger option that either gives you more damage or puts the enemy in a bad position. Everything's going to be character-specific, this advice is rather broad, but just remember that you have goals and various options that you can use to reach those goals. Analyzing your gameplay is being able to evaluate these in order to play efficiently and overcome your obstacles. If you're not sure what you need to look for, peer analysis (preferably from someone knowledgeable) is also recommended, and has helped me much in the past. Don't just rely on external input, though. It's important that you are able to think and arrive at logical conclusions on your own. After all, you are the one in control of your character. No one's going to hold your hand in every game, nor will they want to.

Wax On, Wax Off

To tie all of this together, you have to break old habits and create new habits. If you've ever gotten advice from a peer, you may have taken the advice to heart or used a phrase like, "oh, now I see what you're saying," but what have you done afterward? I often see comments from players who want to stop rolling as often as they do. This is a habit that has been developed from a comfortable playstyle, and when you're in your comfort zone, it can be difficult to step outside of it. Similar to what you can do with technical practice, you can challenge yourself here. As an example, perhaps set a high-stock match with a friend. Even in a situation where it's acceptable to roll, you could set a rule to where *if* you roll, you must lose a stock. Even if you don't completely stop rolling, you're now developing a habit where you're not rolling as much.

I believe some players plateau because they don't realize that, while they are learning new things in specific areas of their gameplay, they aren't doing enough to focus and apply their new-found knowledge in order to reach the next step. They then unintentionally revert to old habits and their gameplay remains stagnant (yes, this has/is happening to me as well). With that in mind, I want to reiterate, that  if you want to get better, it's not enough to simply practice-- you must practice properly. You must practice efficiently. Most of all, you must practice with a purpose. Improvement isn't just a general thing-- it's not an experience bar that fills as you learn things. At times you have to break up what you learn into jigsaws and piece the puzzle together.

Hope this helps. Cheers.