Question about dexterity issues in fighting games

[DarklordKyo]

I don't have very good finger dexterity, and, because of that, when I was playing Ranga's 7th challenge in Blazblue: Chronophantasma Extend, I had trouble doing a combo simple enough for even a n00b to get done in a single try. Can anyone give me tips on bettering my finger dexterity?

If it helps, I'm using the arcade layout on my fightstick:

Also, can anyone give pointers on building resistance to Carpal Tunnel?, I get occasional flashes when doing said combos.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I am not fantastic at combos and finger dexterity myself and tend to prefer slower paced fighters that focus more on spacing and punishing with few hits but I do like most fighters to an extent and my execution has increased over the years.

Simple answer for dexterity is practice you really will find no easy fix sorry but its gonna take a long time. I dont know how familiar you are with a fight stick but I know when I first started it drastically reduced my abilities and even now while I can interchange to a reasonable extent I am more comfortable with a controller in most fighters. Really though you want to become familiar with what you are using so just play with it and dont worry to much about combos you cannot do even if they are very easy ones.

For doing combos once you are adapted to the pad or stick I tend to use chunking as in take a small part of the combo and practice it especially bits you have trouble with even if its say cancelling a hit into super. Then eventually put it all together. What will happen is you will be able to do parts and then fail again when you try and put it together (at least I do) but keep at it and you will get better. Sometimes a break helps as well.I have had instances where I could not do a combo to save my life so gave it a rest then the next day I did it straight off the bat no sweat and unfortunately the reverse is true but eventually you acclimatise and it stops becoming a challenge and more a tool. Also once you can do it satisfactorily one side do it the other until you are happy there.

As for the carpal tunnel I dont know anything about you so its hard to say but I know I got it when I was to tense especially when trying to mash out combos because I was not comfortable with the timing (usually you dont need to be as fast as you think and if you do there are easier ways to go about it due to the way inputs work). So I would just say get accustomed to using the stick if that is what you want to use, find a comfortable way to hold it (I often change hand movements when using it) and just relax.

Just checked challenge 7 (never played extend) it doesnt look hugely complex but definitely not a noob combo seriously I have seen noobs play (and these are people who have been gaming for most of their lives) many cant even finish the tutorial in MKX or GG Revelator. Then again I remember being a true noob when I couldnt even do a fireball although at that time the way to do it was not common knowledge and I had never played anything that required movements like it and no notations didnt help as it did not show a quarter circle only and arrow to each point.

Oh and you are playing the wrong character you should be playing Makoto Good luck anyway I am looking forward to Central Fiction personally. No Jubei but Nine and Makoto will keep me happy.

 

[DarklordKyo]

Oh and you are playing the wrong character you should be playing Makoto Good luck anyway I am looking forward to Central Fiction personally. No Jubei but Nine and Makoto will keep me happy.

I actually main Noel, it's just that I practiced with Ragna because, being the protagonist, he'd presumably get most of the fights in the story mode. Surprised that they didn't add in Jubei as well, though, to be fair, it'd be hard to balance someone who's as small as a housecat.

Personally, I'm more interested in trying out Es myself (though, mostly because of my time reading Xblaze).

 

[Glongpre]

Number 1: You just need to practice. Sort of like how when you start an instrument you suck but a few weeks of solid effort allow you to feel comfortable doing a beginners song.

Number 2: You can't build a resistance to carpal tunnel. It is inflammation and the only way to get rid of inflammation is to rest. Once you have rested and no longer have symptoms, then I guess you could do stretching (actually really helps) and forearm muscle strengthening. (Had carpal tunnel in both wrists, and they still feel...odd. Don't have carpal tunnel anymore though! Hooray!)

 

[DarklordKyo]

Number 1: You just need to practice. Sort of like how when you start an instrument you suck but a few weeks of solid effort allow you to feel comfortable doing a beginners song.

Number 2: You can't build a resistance to carpal tunnel. It is inflammation and the only way to get rid of inflammation is to rest. Once you have rested and no longer have symptoms, then I guess you could do stretching (actually really helps) and forearm muscle strengthening. (Had carpal tunnel in both wrists, and they still feel...odd. Don't have carpal tunnel anymore though! Hooray!)

If you can't build a resistance, then how do professional fighting game players get through tournaments despite the carpal tunnel?

 

[Lufia Erim]

Okay i been through this actually. Disclaimer, i am very bad at BB competitively, however comboes arent the reason i am bad. I can olay Ultimate marvel vs Capcom 3 and guilty gear xrd as well as persona 4 arena no problem and do those extensive comboes in all of them.

It all comes down to muscle memory. If you think of it on a technical level, it is just a sequence of buttons ( and directional) presses. A >B>C>D...etc...

First thing you need to do is reconize the buttons you need to be pressing. Second thing you need to do is, reconize when you need to press these buttons from them to cancel ( in the case of BB) into each other. The last thing you need to do is press the buttons in sequence.

Once you learn to do that, comboes become easy.

 

[Glongpre]

If you can't build a resistance, then how do professional fighting game players get through tournaments despite the carpal tunnel?

Do they all have it?

Pain tolerance?

You can become used to the feeling of carpal tunnel, but your body won't build a resistance to it.

 

[DarklordKyo]

Do they all have it?

Pain tolerance?

You can become used to the feeling of carpal tunnel, but your body won't build a resistance to it.

Fair enough, must be that they're used to it & power through.

 

[DoPo]

If you can't build a resistance, then how do professional fighting game players get through tournaments despite the carpal tunnel?

You're confusing something here. You cannot build resistance to carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) because that makes no sense. It's like saying "how do you build resistance to being stabbed with a knife" - you simply don't. If you get stabbed with a knife you get an open wound - there isn't some way to "build resistance" and only get a bruise.

You can, however, reduce the risk of getting CTS. First of all, isn't some constant - there are factors that contribute to or mitigate the possibility of developing the condition and at the very least different people would have different vulnerability to it - two people who do the exact thing may be affected differently. But overall there are lots of things that can influence the risk of CTS - existing medical conditions, genetics, work, posture, exercises, etc.

So, while there are things you can do with trying to prevent CTS[footnote]Most notably are possibly: stretching, some exercises and avoiding long repetitive tasks.[/footnote] once developed, you can't really make it less of a problem aside from waiting for the condition to go away naturally. Increased pain tolerance would "help" in as much you may not notice or mind CTS as much. However, pain tolerance isn't a thing that magically makes CTS all better - indeed, if you continue putting stress the nerve you're not making it heal but preventing it from doing so. To quickly go back to my knife wound analogy - if you keep poking at the stab wound, you won't make it heal any better or faster.

 

[gsilver]

I know that I don't have the dexterity to reliably pull off a lot of fighting game combos, no matter how much time I spend in the training modes where they literally put the button prompts on-screen. I end up using a few simple combos that I can do, and rely on those and hard-hitting individual attacks. I do have a decent understanding of zoning and footwork, though.

This makes me better than most of my friends at fighting games, but against actually decent players? Forget it.

 

[Bad Jim]

Also, can anyone give pointers on building resistance to Carpal Tunnel?, I get occasional flashes when doing said combos.

Well according to wikipedia, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome is associated with the wrist rather than your fingertips, so if you can avoid resting your wrist on your fightstick you might not get it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome

Though what you should really do is see a doctor.

 

[DoPo]

Also, can anyone give pointers on building resistance to Carpal Tunnel?, I get occasional flashes when doing said combos.

Well according to wikipedia, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome is associated with the wrist rather than your fingertips, so if you can avoid resting your wrist on your fightstick you might not get it.

It's a problem with a nerve in the wrist but it's a nerve that connects to the fingertips, more specifically the first three fingers. It's not necessary for the wrist to be directly affected like resting in on something, you can get CTS if you don't rest it as it puts more strain on the entire wrist. While having a support for the wrist helps, support by itself won't really stop CTS, as the support could be improper but even if it is, doing a repetitive activity (using a mouse, a controler) over very long stretches of time could still lead to the condition developing.

 

[Bad Jim]

Also, can anyone give pointers on building resistance to Carpal Tunnel?, I get occasional flashes when doing said combos.

Well according to wikipedia, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome is associated with the wrist rather than your fingertips, so if you can avoid resting your wrist on your fightstick you might not get it.

It's a problem with a nerve in the wrist but it's a nerve that connects to the fingertips, more specifically the first three fingers. It's not necessary for the wrist to be directly affected like resting in on something, you can get CTS if you don't rest it as it puts more strain on the entire wrist. While having a support for the wrist helps, support by itself won't really stop CTS, as the support could be improper but even if it is, doing a repetitive activity (using a mouse, a controller) over very long stretches of time could still lead to the condition developing.

Maybe.

It's occurred to me that if DarklordKyo was getting CTS specifically from fighting games, he'd have mastered the combos already. Most likely the real damage is being done elsewhere.