Keeping Energy

Hi guys, solarbeam92 here (a forum newbie).

I've been playing different versions of Dance Dance Revolution (from 2nd MIX all the way to SuperNOVA) while slowly making my way from -mode to -mode. I'm on my eighth year into the DDR Arcade career.

Despite my experience, there is one thing that I've really been meaning to ask very experienced DDR players from around the world. I've been watching videos of players taking to extreme levels and passing songs - though not pretty much FC'ed. On the process of watching master players and stepchart formations, the question that's been nagging on my mind is: "How do they survive so long?"

In other words: How do they have enough stamina to keep going?

I find myself out of breath after playing just two stages in 9-footer difficulty (based on DDR EXTREME/SuperNOVA ratings) such as my two favorites: "SO DEEP (PERFECT SPHERE MIX)" by SILVERTEAR and "CARTOON HEROES (Speedy Mix)" by BARBIE YOUNG. My whole energy is drained away from either "MAXX UNLIMITED" by Z or "PARANOiA survivor MAX" by 290 with full energy at the start.

I know there's constant exercise, regular diet, balanced meals, etc. But I'd like to hear more opinions, suggestions, comments, and experiences from you guys, if it's okay. You can also share them to other members of the same thread.

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For me, I do several things.

First, step lightly.
Second, step near the center of the pad.
Third, use the bar.
Fourth, don't crossover a lot (unless double-stepping tires you more).
Fifth, play more tiring songs until you have to sit down and catch your breath.

These are just theories. However, keeping this in mind while you practice helps a lot. Before, I can barely pass MAX 300. Now I can play that barely breaking a sweat.

With lots of practice, I got AA on POSSESSION, New Decade and Anti-Matter , passed 888 and Valkyrie dimension .

Just keep playing, eventually you'll build up more stamina to endure harder songs. Practice makes marvelous

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Jog a lot.
Play a lot.

Bracket.

I like those suggestions! Thanks Silverhawke

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Control how much your body moves.
It's the key to not tiring yourself out!

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Sixth, drink plenty of water(or gatorade)
If you have a video of your playing style on YouTube, maybe by watching it, we can all give you more tips.

Keep pushing your limits. The drain on your body as you approach a limit is greater.

For example, if speed is a limiting factor and you are "comfortable" with doing 150 bpm 8th note streams, then 160 bpm 8th note streams will tire you out far greater than 150. So how do you get 160 bpm streams to not tire you out? Focus on 170 bpm streams, and eventually 160 bpm will be significantly less draining.

The problem comes when you start approaching harder limits, physical in-game limits such as the "Hardest" songs. At this point, you can focus on "Mastery" of a lesser skill. You may find that your score (or ability to pass) Antimatter Challenge is not improving - try playing a solid 15 or 16 and shoot for a more precise score. You'd be surprised how quickly your score on Antimatter improves.

Push a limit, then master the skills contributing to that limit, then push the limit... so on and so forth.

Something I'll bear in mind... So far I'm still on the 13 or 14 difficulty (equivalent to 9)...

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I'm going to link to DukAmok's stamina guide here, since it covers pretty much everything.
http://studionyami.com/penfifteen/staminaguide_v11.html

My favorite part:

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Here are some of my personal tips:

1: Learn how to play doubles. Doubles play is leaps and bounds more draining on the body than singles play. After several sessions of doubles play, singles play feels easier on the body.

2: Pay attention to your technique. Pay attention to your body. If you're constantly stiff, that creates tension on the muscles, thus, depleting your energy faster. At the same time you don't want to flail about as that creates tension in the other direction. Do not be afraid to switch your play styles mid song, example: The beginning of Max 300 is rather simple patterns. I start off playing flat footed. Once the song kicks in and you have a flurry of LDURDUL, requiring twisting, I switch to playing on my toes as it allows me for quicker turning, but then I switch back to flat footed immediately after.

3: Control your breathing. This is a tip I learned while I began to run. Breathing through your noise is your body's preferred method of breathing and breathing through the lower part of your abdomen, not through your chest. Huffing and puffing actually works against your body and can quickly cause cramps in your diaphragm. It takes some concentration, but you'll find that breathing through your nose will prevent a lot of discomfort later on in songs.

4: Play nonstop courses and challenge courses. There are plenty of courses that contain easier songs, but these songs can become more difficult as you drain your stamina.

5: Do NOT start off playing difficult songs. If you plan to play over a span of hours, start off with easier songs (7s and 8s, or even 6s). After two sets, work up to more difficult songs. Save your hardest songs for the last song in a set so that the rest period between the game over/credits screen to the first song in the next set gives you time to recover.

6: Cool down your sessions. Once you've played all that you can, finish off with a session of rather easy songs. This allows your muscles time to cool down and properly begin the healing process.

7: Running won't help. Despite what Mr. Aegis says up there, running doesn't not increase your stamina in DDR and vice versa. DDR uses an different set of muscles than running/jogging does. I've even done Zumba before thinking oh, this should be cake, wrong. My legs and hips were severely sore after just a 20 minute session of Zumba dancing. The only activity that can effectively increase your stamina, I've found, is hiking as the hiking works a lot of the same muscle groups out, assuming you're making any significant elevation changes.

8: Minimize your movements. This might be easier said than done on a machine that's not in tip top condition. But the heavier you step, the more you drain your legs.

9: Use the bar. While I don't use the bar myself, it's been proven time and time again that using the bar increases stamina, when used properly.

I have a problem with trying to step close to the center... i can never get the arrows to respond because my foot is slightly up from the raised center

maybe i'm not heavy enough, but am i doing something wrong?

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Is this on an arcade machine or a soft pad at home?

This is a pretty big thing that DukAmok didn't cover. After playing doubles for so long, I went back to try some hard singles songs, and found the crossover ones to be the easiest. Now I have 97% SDGs on Mythology and The Beginning S, and a near pass on Bloodrush. (only one attempt made)

SparK:
If it's on a soft pad, you're out of luck, as stepping near the center can't be applied to soft pads because they aren't built the same way.
If it's at the arcade, your foot is probably angled wrong. What I see a lot of people do is this: Their toe comes down and hits the raised center, then a moment later, their heel comes down and actually hits the panel. On sections faster than their comfort, their heel never actually comes down far enough. So you probably need to pay attention to the angle of your foot, and tilt your toe up.
I'm assuming it's mostly a problem with the down arrow, because that's more common.

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Amen to Daiz! I'll also keep those suggestions in mind!

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It's at an arcade... i try to have my feet going so my right hits the up and the right arrow and the left foot hits the down and the left arrow.

it's not just a problem with the down arrow, but random arrows... i don't know if i'm stomping hard enough or if i'm just too light... I'll see next time i go and find out exactly what the problem is.

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OFF TOPIC: About Spark's Problem with Center foots and Softpads.
Softpads are a bane to center footers. But in the past 5 years of playing with it I learned some tricks.

Ghosting - I cannot stress this enough, it is basically being on beat of the song by stepping but not actually stepping on a note. Look at xKonsentox's videos and you will see that most of the time he ghosts. It is also helpful on songs with a crapload of doublesteps like Make It Better, Get Me In You Sight, but only go so far as 8s. Never try to do it on a song like Sweet Sweet Magic, or Paranoia Survivor.

Take A Break - These pads ain't designed for brutal training. Also in the past years of DDR the softpad sometimes stops responding well. Let it sit there, and relax. Eventually the pad will be up to par and you can enter back, full blast.

ON TOPIC: Energy

Play songs on your level that you can AA. Some songs are even made to help players get better before tackling big songs like So Deep. Such as Radical Faith, Destiny, or any other 7 or 8. NEVER EVER start playing 9s unless you are ready to take it to the next level and have perfected 8s and 7s. You will know when you are ready when you one day pass a Taq song without breaking a sweat.

Getting a feeling to the song - Play the song on a lower difficulty. Some songs have charts nearly identical to its heavy counterpart such as Paranoia MAX ~Dirty Mix~ or Wonderful Night. With this you can have a feel to the speed of the song so you know what to practice so it won't tire you that much. Hell make an edit that looks like a expert chart but its designed specifically FOR YOU.

Low Tier Bosses (AKA Psuedo Bosses) - Some songs are red but aren't really much of a threat. If you have perfected 8s go after Candy and Maximizer. If you are ready to step up to 9s and 10s try Trip Machine Survivor, Dance Dance Revolution, Kakumei, and or if your brave enough, Paranoia Survivor. Not Max, your going to kill yourself.

Practice, Practice, Practice. Practicing is crucial because if you never take your time with 8s or 7s then you will fall short for passing 9s or ever 10s In fact, it took me 2 months before I could finally pass Xenon, but I still practice 8s so I can pass Xenon with breaking too much of a sweat.

Finally youtubers. Find inspiration, looks at Konsento, Dr.D, iamchrisfan, and or Silenttype's old Doubles videos.

Thats really all the advise I can give you, I am sure you will eventually be on par with some of the greater people here on Zenius one day.

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Cowtao: The only problem with your suggestions is most of them don't really extend stamina/endurance, they're just general "get better at the game". I know some amazing players here who really lack stamina/endurance. They play two sets and they're done for the day, but they AAA'd every song they played in those two sets.

A few other ideas that I employed during my record attempt that greatly helped with my endurance and stamina:

Straighten up your body. Bending your body causes tension in the upper part of your legs and lower part of your back and tension = more energy draining. Part of the use of the bar, I believe, is that it helps keep the body straight when you play, bending primarily just the knees. I don't use the bar but I will raise my arms/shoulders up to help keep my torso straight. This comes at a price at making turning/cross overs slightly more difficult but for basic candle patterns I barely break a sweat, even on difficult songs.

Don't panic. I've noticed time and time again that when I first play a new song, if the chart does something unpredictable, I tend to panic/tense up and I burn way more energy than I should. I've also noticed that as I play harder songs over and over, their difficulty greatly decreases as the song becomes part of muscle memory where I don't really think about the arrows, I move to a pattern and I know what to expect as it comes up.

1. Don't forget to breathe!

You'd be astounded at how many players try to hold their breath through the second half of... well, pretty much ANY boss-level song. You do NOT want to be one of these players, or by the end, you'll have held your breath for 40 seconds - it's no wonder if your legs won't respond after that.

2. Don't outrun the song!

90% of failures on high-level songs come - not from having trouble keeping up - but from players actually outrunning the stepcharts!! This even includes the 400 bpm stuff, surprisingly.

3. Lower your center of gravity.

This one isn't incredibly obvious. But if you're standing up at full mast - which most difficulties allow you to do, even 15'ers like MAX 300 or roppongi EVOLVED, your legs and back are doing more work to hold you up, and you end up bouncing more per step. Just move your knees 2 inches or so to the outside, and you'll notice you're kind of "squatting" now. This allows you to focus more on leg control, and less on balance; which is especially key to songs with crossovers in them. You'll feel a little like a spider if you're doing this right.

4. Get into your "second wind."

It's not something I can explain well - but once your body goes past a first level of being exhausted, if you push through it, you'll get into a strange kind of "zone" where you're thinking less, but you'll end up doing better. Bust a few home versions on Endless Mode for a week, you'll start to get there so long as you don't give up.

5. Go pee before you play!!

Then drink water between sessions. You do NOT want to be in the middle of a passing run, when your bladder decides it's gonna explode in your pants. Unless you're CERTAIN you'll whip Valkyrie Dimension , Pluto the First , or DEAD END (Groove Radar Special). Pretty much nothing else justifies it. (Maybe POSSESSION or New Decade Double- too. But that's pushing it.)

6. Plan strategic misses.

So there's a part of the song that's totally wiping your ass out, regardless of what you do? Check that part of the chart out, and judge for yourself what of it you CAN hit, and try hitting just that. Even in ONI mode, the game gives you *some* margin of error, so be prepared to use that to your advantage if you must. You'd be surprised at how far in the wacky voltage-streams of Valkyrie Dimension you can get without hitting any up arrows. Or in the ending, without hitting any right ones.

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1. Aim for the difficulty ranges you are comfortable on. It is generally accepted that playing songs gradually in difficulty can help you to build up some stamina.
2. Check what kind of these methods is more comfortable with you: double stepping or crossovers. Although crossovers seems to be less energy-wasting, there are some people who choose to double-step instead. But, remember, if you double-step, step a little lightly. (I found that the epicness of playing HVAM with double-stepping is really high.) Some songs like RHYTHM AND POLICE (K.O.G. G3 MIX) is more fun to be treated as crossovers.
3. To treat gallops or pseudo-gallops, you should analyze the timing. If the timing between arrows is long enough, you may bounce your body high, but if short (like Burning Heat or SO DEEP ) you cannot bounce your body too high. Treat jumps the same way.
4. You should maintain your body no to be too rigid but not to be too flexible. I've tried to be too rigid but it waste more stamina because trying to be rigid limits my body movements too much, but to be too flexible often make you do unnecessary movements.
5. Listens to those songs you want to play. Getting used of BPMs and beats can help you to predict the patterns, controlling your movement speeds and adjusting your body limits.

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I've been reading to all your suggestions, and I've found immense help from them.

The version I'm currently playing in is DDR EXTREME (Japan AC). Though it's a great version, there's a little more strain than DDR X versions because of the life strains. I've also found out that if my purpose of playing difficult songs is to simply make a record of it to pass, I'll have a more difficult time in DDR EXTREME than DDR X. Recently, I tried DDR X2 and I've noticed a few differences between DDR X2 and the DDR EXTREME I was accustomed to. I found out that I was more free-flowing in DDR X2 while I was a little more strained in DDR EXTREME. This is because of the step judgment and the less stricter life drain in DDR X2.

Anyway, I found suggestions of "pushing yourself" useful.

Years ago, when I could pass most 7-footers and some 8-footers without difficulty, I found "AFRONOVA" by RE-VENGE, "PARANOiA Rebirth" by 190', "FURUHATA'S THEME" by CJ Crew feat. Sedge, and "RHYTHM&POLICE (K.O.G-G3 MIX)" by CJ Crew feat. CHRISTIAN D. all unbearable. I always thought back then that I had no hope in passing these songs. But after looking through strategy guides, watching performance videos, and studying stepcharts (and also doing a little bit of research), I managed to get through these unbearable songs. Of course, fails were expected in the beginning. But over time, I learned a few more techniques - particularly on conserving energy in stepping on the innermost sensors of the AC pads. Thanks to that, I full comboed "AFRONOVA" and "INSERTION" and many other 9-footers, nearly FC-ed "PARANOiA Rebirth" and a few close calls for others (near FC but with one GOOD, BOO, or MISS).

I know there are more difficult songs in DDR X versions, but I consider DDR EXTREME as my "building up" for those songs which I will encounter soon: "Fascination MAXX", "Healing-D-Vision", "Pluto Relinquish", and the harder songs of the Replicant D-Action. A new mall is going to open in our city, and I'm optimistic for a DDR X3 version to be put in our place. For now, I'll continue practicing so that when DDR X3 comes, I'll pass "FLOWER" by DJ YOSHITAKA in with ease.

Again, thank you for all the help! You guys are awesome!

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