This is part two of The Power of Small Tweaks to Your Game series. Check out part one here.
Both of today’s tweaks have to do with throwing. They apply both to 3s and Street Fighter 4 so all of you guys should be able to benefit from this.
- Teching throws while crouching
I see a lot of Street Fighter 4 players whiffing throws when trying to tech. Luckily for them, the penalty for whiffing throws in this game is not very high. In 3rd Strike, it’s very easy to lose half of your life or more whiffing a throw if you’re playing against a character like Chun Li, Urien or Yun. So because of this, they don’t realize that it’s a big deal to whiff throws. Sure you probably won’t get killed for it, but you can definitely get hit by a lot of damage.For example, if you whiff a throw against Balrog, he can D + MP xx MP Dash Straight xx Super. Ryu could D + MK xx EX Fireball XX Ultra in the corner. Ken can D + MK xx Fireball XX Super. These are just a few examples of some majorly damaging combos that you could be setting yourself up for if you’re not careful with your throws.There is a solution though. Instead of standing up to press LP + LK to throw, you can actually press LP + LK while holding Down-Back. This is called an option select throw because what your character does is dependent on what your opponent did. Timed properly, here are the possible outcomes for an option select throw:
- If they try and throw, you’ll tech and get out of it
- If they don’t try and throw, you’ll get a low jab
If you can make this a habit and stop whiffing throws, you will be decreasing the damage you take over the longrun which will lead to you winning more games simply because you had more life.
- Using one finger to throw and tech throws
This is something I don’t think I’ve seen a lot of people do aside from myself and I think it’s paid off so far. I throw and tech throws a little different from other people in that I only use one finger to press LP + LK. Other players use their index and middle fingers, but I cross my index finger over my middle finger, raise my ring finger and pinky so that they don’t hit the other buttons and then use only my middle figner to throw and tech. I believe this is why a lot of players over the years have complained that they are teching my throws but for some reason it’s not working.I believe that when you throw with two fingers like most people, not only is there more room for error, but you aren’t pressing the buttons together as fast a I am, therefore my throw comes out first. The difference is a fraction of a second, but I believe it makes a difference. This is all 100% speculation on my part, but it makes sense to me. If you try my way of teching throws, see if you notice a difference in the number of throws you get off as well as tech.
That’s about it for this part of the series. As I come up with other tweaks, I will be writing more articles in the future, so stay tuned for those. Until then, try making these small changes and you’ll see that it makes a difference. Just keep in mind that although the advantages gained are small in short run, over the long haul these tweaks will make you a stronger player overall.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve never heard of anyone before throwing/teching with a single finger.
It’s interesting tough, I’ll try at home.
Hmm, I use my Index and Thumb actually to throw/tech throw, but using one finger may take some time for me, but hell I’ll try it out to see if its any better, but got any tips for kara-throws?
Wow good to know about the tech throw but how do you double tap with your index over your middle finger? Sounds crazy.
Dae: I use my index and my thumb as well.
wow, this is what we need. a podcast where he’s helping two guys improve their game from 2 different but very common beginner points, and the essential small points to pay attention to. I’m going to start using the tip on using the single middle finger for throw commands. I used to think that was uncomfortable and slow, however the way I play has changed a lot.
I rest my hands in what I thought was the only possible layout: index, middle, and ring on jab, strong and fierce respectively, and thumb on short. If I need to press forward or roundhouse, I move the appropriate finger down. Therefore, I perform throws with thumb + index. I didn’t know people used index + middle (that feels weird), and even weirder doing just one finger; though, your logic does make sense here.
Gootecks, one of the projects I feel would be most helpful for beginners, when the console release comes out, is video footage of a particular character’s bread and butter combos, but showing the hands. I find this to be important especially for charge characters; I know a lot about how 3rd Strike is played, but I still don’t really understand the hand motions for some of Urien’s most tricky charge partitioning combos.
As a fighting game community, with the ease of use of Youtube, I think it would be exceptional if some of the top pros got together and helped make a series of instructional videos like this. It would basically be a combo video, but also showing the much-needed execution. I intend to see if I can help with this in my own way. Your comment on the placement of fingers on the right hand reminded me of this idea; not enough emphasis is placed on showing the hands during instructional videos for fighting games!
@ gootecks
I agree with Infil, a hand motion video would be an Awesome idea for begginers and some casual players who just dont understand certain hand movements. For sure making a vid for double tapping would be more than great for the people who dont know how to do it, I try explaining it to a few friends and players on how and why to use it but they dont get the full effect without seeing it (if im not at the arcade that is)
Thanks alot for this info gootecks. its basic info like this that will help beginners and even casuals level up their game. Once they learn these tips they can graduate so to speak and learn more difficult tricks, and teach them to other people to help the community as a whole level up.
Also I agree a video showing hand motion to execute moves would be great as well. Some people I know have trouble performing the more difficult combos, and showing them a different way to do it could show them that there is an easier way to do it.
Another index+thumb player here. When I play with my right hand on the buttons, anyhow. I use curved Japanese-style button layouts (I’m such a sucker for HRAP’s), so perhaps any other way just doesn’t feel natural. I’m a piano player and a touch-typist, so I do have a compulsion to have my fingers over a maximum of buttons.
@Dae: I hold my fingers at the right heights and positions to do the motion, then drop my hand and it all goes real quick. I don’t know if that’s the best way to do it if you aren’t a hand contortionist, but it’s the only way I can do it.
@ Tip #1: It’s also worth noting that while you use this option select, you can make any crouching normal except LK come out by pressing the button you want as well (unless it’s LP you want, in which case you don’t press anything extra, obviously). It gives you just a little more mixup; it sure makes Makoto’s cr.MP poke hella safe!
I’m pretty sure this option select also applies when your opponent has air throws (and uses them!) and you don’t. It reduces your options from [air move, parry, tech, nothing] to [air move + tech, parry, nothing].
(you also have a typo: you want to press “LP + LK while holding …”. It is worth noting that you only need to crouch, so down-back isn’t necessary. Also, crouching in 3s does expand your hitbox ever so slightly last I checked, which makes knowing this trick all the more useful in reducing the consequences.)
NB: I have yet to touch SF4. This post pretty much applies to SF3:3s, though.
@Infil
Thanks for the feedback, yeah that’s something I want to do in the future. Hopefully when console comes out I’ll be able to do that in a way that helps others learn.
@D.S.H
I’ll make a note to do one of those when I start doing them
@BRPXQZME
I didn’t know that it worked that way in 3s too! All this time lol. Never thought about it in terms of air teching, but that makes sense. I fixed the typo, thanks for the heads up. And yeah a lot of people don’t know that crouching expands your hitbox, but it does. Thanks for the feedback!
i really gotta go back and check more of these out. this shit’s great.