Getting back in shape help

Hi guys! I've been pretty dissatisfied with DDR availability near me (Extreme machine went back to private collection and a nearby arcade JUST bought an X machine that had 5 non-working panels out of the box), so I've played a handful of the home console games and stepmania for fun. However, another arcade (about an hour away) might be getting a newer machine, so I am incredibly pumped and wanted to start playing again.

I'm stil relatively precise on slower songs, but I get both sloppy and winded on things more challenging than, say, Burnin' the Floor (Momo Mix). This might be a helpful thread for other people, so put your stamina/technique good songs here.

I'm gonna practice classics like Rhythm and Police, Candy (6th Mix, was that star?), and throw in an easier boss song like Shiny World. But, if anyone has good suggestions I'd love the help and maybe other would too.

Also, never felt fat until I got winded after playing Max 300...as my first song...

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Same thing here. Played DDR on a machine for the first time in 2 months, opened with Elemental Creation Difficult. Lucky enough to get a C. Four hours later and my lungs are STILL burning. It's more a stamina thing when playing high level songs like that.

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Max 300 is certainly a stamina-draining song. I could not pass it until recently, and I still get a bit winded. There is a technique that can be used to conserve energy, which is where you use the heel an ball of your foot to hit the sensors. For the up arrow, you use the ball of your foot, for the down arrow you use your heel, and for the left and right arrows you can use either. This technique works better on a metal pad, but could work on a hard foam pad. It also helps to hold onto a bar, especially for tall people like me.

Using that technique allows for less foot movement, which conserves energy. I hope this helps.

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Don't feel bad about getting winded after playing MAX 300 as your first chart - that is totally normal to all sorts of players. It does not mean you're weak, and it certainly does not mean you're a bad player. All it means is your heart is really getting a workout from all the sudden movement you're perhaps making it do, and that you might have been better off warming up on easier charts first. Even the best players still get tired from playing that at times. There's also songs you can play to warm up for the likes of MAX 300. Try any of these before that and see if you're good to go: V ~for EXTREME~ , Across the nightmare , FIRE FIRE , and so on. One day, though, you might just be able to use it as a warmup song just fine!

It seems that you have some trouble keeping up with faster speed in general. If you want classics with fast but nice crossover streams, look no further than CAN'T STOP FALLIN' IN LOVE ~SPEED MIX~ or exotic ethnic S-. From what you wrote, these may drain you but they are really good to practice. To conserve energy and build stamina, it really helps to be able to read patterns in advance and tell your mind in advance what to do, rather than to catch up to the arrow sequence and flail everything. So rather than always trying to keep pushing to beat the fastest, hardest song you can (I mean, you should still try it every now and then), I think it is almost always better to invest more time perfecting your foot movement on different patterns at speeds you're capable of playing well. So if something slightly more challenging than BURNIN' THE FLOOR (MOMO MIX) drains you, get those songs down until you're comfortable with them, rather than going straight for 9-10 footers hoping you'll pass. They'll all come to you eventually, I'm sure! Good luck getting yourself back in shape!

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V Oni is a fantastic suggestion. I really hate Across the Nightmare (all charts are bleh), and I hadn't thought of Fire fire. Good choices. Reminds me, DDR Heavy might be fun.


PSI generally try to minimize foot movement, but Max 300 causes me to panic or something. Always been trash at that song. Other boss songs don't do it to me, and I almost always do better on Max Unl or Legend (and even the X chart to Max 300, the original just. I dunno man. Life's hard)

Edit: Repated Max 300 info, whoops.

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This is probably a bout of traumatic anxiety, caused by having a bad history for a specific chart for a certain song. I can definitely relate to this with a couple of ITG charts I've had a bad history with. Disconnected Hyper & Mythology from ITG1. When I was only capable of 10s & 11s at the time I attempted both of these (6-7 years ago), I initially failed each of them on my first attempts on each of them, thus giving me some sort of post-traumatic-anxiety. Basically...whenever I play either of those charts to this day (a good 4-5 years after I finally passed them, and I'm now up to 13-14s), I have an anxiety attack, consisting of nervousness, and just a bad feeling in my core that hinders me from utilizing all of my stamina/FA on either song. And the worst part is, there isn't a way of just sucking it up. Well...that's anxiety.

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In my case, in the city he had a DDR Extreme machine but was sold and taken away. Actually the nearest machine for me is 791 Km away so it's very complicated go to another city just for playing DDR (If I had the money, totally worth it). I've been like six years without playing in a machine, so I'm also really out of shape, so when I have the opportunity to get back to the horse (panels) I literally going to die.

Anyway, in that time I used to be good playing ORION.78 (AMeuro-MIX) - A (RENAISSANCE) - SUPER STAR - DAIKENKAI - R3 - PARANOiA KCET (clean mix) and anothers that I can't remember. You can try playing this songs (If they are still available, I don't know).

See ya

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EDIT: Go to let it out thread. Sorry for bump :/

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