DDR 101: Planning

I'm trying to make a DDR lesson plan for my friends so that they can understand the game at my level while also trying to teach them the game from the inside out. I'm really bad at figuring out topics for them, which I'm supposed to be making videos to describe them. Here's what I have so far, but I really need help on creating a lesson plan of at least 10 videos (for now) to teach them. Sorry if my "note pad outline" is slightly awkward.

Day 1:

Getting started! Stretch!

History:
-dance game Konami 1998 in Japan

Point of the game: destroy the pads as billions of arrows come from above!
-Having fun! :3
-PA (explain)
-Freestyle

Game menu!
-Single, versus, double
-Course, normal, advanced mode, battle
-Navigating to song selection


Song Selection!
-Explain the interface, how to sort, and what is a license, KO, boss, crossover?

Starting on beginner T~T
-Judgement and BPM
-Scores (letters)
-Judgements (perfect, great, etc.)

Random Tip #1!
-Stay off the center!


Day 2:

Foot System:
-What constitutes the difficulty?
-brief explanation of foot system
-groove radar
-AIR represents the frequency of "jumps" (two-arrow hits) in a song.
-FREEZE represents the frequency of hold arrows.
-STREAM is the overall density of steps in the song.
-VOLTAGE is the maximum density of steps.
-CHAOS is still somewhat unknown. A DDR simulator called Stepmania represents Chaos as the number
of off-beat steps


Stages:
-(1st, 2nd, final, ES, EES) Difference in judgements


Arrows:
-Freeze, air, normal, shock

Random Tip #2!
-Wear proper foot attire depending on what pad type you play on!

Ok here we go:

Clothing Tips: (applies mostly to arcade)

Foot Attire: There are two types of footing most people prefer: lots of group to very little group. This is heavily dependent on your play style. If you do not use the bar and play a lot of doubles, you will most likely prefer a type of tread on your shoes that provide a good grip. Nothing is more annoying than a foot that's sliding on the panels as if it were ice. This also very important in your performance as a tread with good grip will provide you the force feedback needed to "bounce back" from a very quick twist, or cross over run.

Some people prefer a tread with little resistance as it allows their food to "slide" across the slide, providing the ability to move their feet with minimal energy. They need a tread that will go across both the lexan panel and metal plates between them.

Either way, you want a shoe with proper fitting and good ankle support. Also, a shoe with bad arch support will cause pain in other parts of the bad, such as the lower back and the knees. Good arch support will also provide more stamina in the game for longer levels of playing.

Leg Attire: The most preferable attire is loose clothing. DDR is physically demanding and anyone who works out will tell you, loose clothing is king. Denim jeans, khaki, shorts, etc, may catch your knees as they bend or absorb too much moisture and actually weigh your legs down, causing a decrease in performance.

Upper Body Attire: Tank tops and breathable t-shirts are the best choice here. If you will sweat, a lot, and a wet shirt can be distracting and cause a lower level of performance. If you are a female, realize you have boobs, your boobs will bounce. Wear a sports bra for best support and do not wear clothing you're afraid to sweat in. If you aren't confident in your, do not wear clothing that will easily reveal your body during a song.

Everything else: Avoid having loose items in your pockets such as chains, phones, money, lighters, etc. These items can cause noise and flail in the wrong position and end up stabbing the sides of your legs. It's best to bring a bag to put you extra items in so that they are not at risk of being stolen.

Also include (health advice):

Don't forget that when playing DDR for a long period or playing too many difficult songs, not only it gives sweat but you will easily dehydrate and will drain your energy, stability and stamina. Always drink plenty of water enough to help you keep going and get your energy and stamina back. I advise to stay away from fizzy, soft and energy drinks before you play. Just stick to a bottle of water and you'll be great.

If you want to improve your stamina, there are many ways you can do this. You can just keep practising DDR or just try running or jogging. If you have low stamina, start with something easy, relaxing and enjoyable If you're ably confident then build up to something more difficult and challenging.

I also think that it's best to play DDR in a place where it's not too warm. If the room is too warm to play at, if you have air conditioning or a electric fan then that would help so you don't get yourself far too sweaty.

To master DDR takes time but it all depends on the progress beginners make to master skills and become a better player. Make sure you don't play too much and always get plenty of sleep (6-7 hours at least). Use your leisure time wisely.

I think this should help you if that's enough.

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people shouldn't do lesson plans

they should just play, have fun, lose weight in the process

everything else like warming up or whatever should only come later when the player is at least in Expert or such

history...if they are interested, they can look it up or something or read Aaron's book

best thing to do would be to give them 2 pads, and a game. let them figure out the rest from there

^ This. Thank you, Aegis.

I mean, how do you even know if they're going to LOVE DDR? If they do love it, they'll research and know about the game themselves (never heard of "Aaron's book").

Just tell them to put a credit in, pick a song on Beginner (or whatever level they are), and play. Your job is to motivate them and tell them "good" or "no, no, you weren't suppose to do that".

Trust me, if anything, they need to learn how to crossover and such at one point, and then maybe a video is in order. Try to teach them crossovers when they're on Basic. Apperently, when people are on the Difficult and haven't learned to crossover, and you tell them the best way to learn to crossover is to learn it from a Basic difficulty, they get prideful.

Adding a few more things: If you're going to make a video, you should emphasize on not being in the center. They aren't going to care much about judgement and PAing and all that.

I think the best advice is :

When you need to move your foot from one arrow to another, always use your left foot, then your right foot, then your left foot, then your right foot, because that's how the step patterns are designed.

Use this as a general law, and then learn to spot when you should make exceptions.

one interesting thing to point out is that if you give a person a copy of the game and a dance mat, they will grow an addiction to it as they learn the game.

As such, they may forget that their stamina will not be able to keep up with the adrenaline rush for the first day or two. If first-timers are playing DDR for more than four hours on a pad, expect the lower body to be aching the next morning.

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I find it hard to imagine people having the patience to go through this. If anything, I could see it ruining the game for them. Things are fun when you learn out of self-interest, not because someone thinks you need to know it. Also, a lot of these concepts don't make sense until they reach a certain play level. Once my friend started playing Difficult, he told me he understands now what I meant when I said that step placement can increase difficulty, even if the patterns are the same. Likewise, he only started caring about the Groove Radar when he started on harder Difficult/easier Expert songs.

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Thanks guys for the input, but I probably should have told you that my friends were already at a slightly "casual" level to the game so far. Most of them play light or standard and have a general idea of the concepts and would like to play more often, but they don't understand how to get to our level on heavy and challenge and feel awkward when playing around me because most people will be commenting on my AA/AAA scores on heavy while they are barely passing standard. (even though I try to tell them it is not all about scoring) I had to explain crossovers to one of my friends and she has finally started to understand them, which made me really happy as she can now survive a few heavy songs through that knowledge I gave her.

Honestly, it was things like this that help me get to the next level. I remember reading doubles patterns and how to go about them on DDR freak, the best shoes threads, best liquids threads, etc. I don't think these are meant for people to abide by, but to be a source of information for people to look into if they so choose to.

/me gets no respect. </Rodney Dangerfield>

I'm not sure what context is "never heard of" and for whom, but in any case, I have the downloadable version of the book here as well as link to lulu.com if anyone wants to purchase their own copy (or they can't print it all up themselves)

http://zenius-i-vanisher.com/v5.2/viewthread.php?threadid=3567&page=5#p202710

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It is just that I know it doesn't take people years to get from light to heavy, which it honestly barely took me a month or so because of the old pads I was using at the time, which made me believe that I was barely passing heavy charts. Once I got my flux, the same playstyle gave me AAs to those same charts. Also, all of our arcades in Jacksonville have went downhill with DDR in the past few years, so I can't just wait for a friendly outing to teach them how to play at the arcade. (we lost two Extremes, ITG2 r21, Supernova, and the X2 is going downhill as I speak due to arcade closures and budget cuts) I used to try this, but it came to me just "showing off" in front of them, but that actually enticed some of them to play more with me and try harder songs.

I feel that I can easily bring them up to my level if I can teach them, but none of them live on my side of this big city, so I thought videos might be a great way to pass information and experience to them. Heck, I have one who wanted to beat me so bad that he can barely pass Max 300 and Paranoia Survivor on heavy now. (shocked me o_o)

redbull

nuff said

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This is where you're wrong. There are some people that take much longer to progress than others. I've been playing for 7 years and can't AA a 10 footer where as someone who just started playing a few months ago is killing the game. I know some who have been playing years longer than I have and struggle to do well on 9s.

Well, here's some advice from me. o3o If you plan on playing for many hours, make sure to take it easy every few songs. Like, cool down with a beginner or basic song every 5 Difficult/Expert songs. When I go on long DDR sessions, that's what I do, since you'll get tired easy if you do just Expert!

That's actually not very true. I just got through with a 70-song workout on SN/SN2 JP CS with only 8-10 footers in intervals of 23 songs and finishing with FELM expert and still wasn't tired. (wanted to stop because I was getting late and the sweat was unbearable) When I play for a long time, I play in intervals and take short water breaks before returning to play some more.

It's about finding the program that works for you. Some people have better stamina than others.

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don't forget to eat avocados and/or bananas to replenish your whatever it is that they replenish for your legs.

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Holy F... I feel bad now. Sorry! haha.

Six months ago, I was probably not going to Z-i-V much, so I didn't notice that you were making your PDF. Trust me: I would have been nitpicking your grammar too...haha.

Silenttype01: More info please . My legs give out for no reason from 15 footers and up, and I would love to eat more bananas to make my legs stronger.

Potassium helps your muscles properly absorb water in your muscles for repair, but they don't increase stamina.

Glucose is stored literally on your muscles as fuel for the muscles. They provide quick, easy to metabolize energy. Once this is depleted, your body goes for the glucose in your blood stream, once this is gone, it goes for fat/protein reserves and it's harder for your muscles to use these. At this point you'll feel sluggish and less responsive.

So make sure you eat enough carbs and have plenty of water/electrolytes.

As for stamina, I throw stamina completely out because some people use the bar and it allows them to go on for ages because they're using much less energy.

One aspect is also making sure you have the mental capacity to play well. I always drink a sugar free redbull, keeping me alert and more aware of how on beat I am/am not.