I need some help with my technique...

Hey guys, I wasn't sure which forum this belonged in, but it pertains to 4-panel games in general.

I just got an Omega GX pad to play at home, and I am having an issue with my foot accidentally triggering the left arrow a lot. It's so bad that I actually thought the first pad I got was defective. However, he sent me a replacement, and the same thing was happening so I recorded myself playing and saw what I believe is the problem.

I'm a long time player, and I've never had any problem with the way I play in the arcade. Since I got this pad, I've gotten around 50 AAAs at home on 7-8 foot songs, but any time I try to play something more difficult, it's miss city because of my foot overstepping and hitting the left arrow. Can you guys take a look at this short clip of the problem happening and tell me how I can adjust my technique to avoid this?

If the left arrow misfires when you press down, then place more weight on the heel of that foot.
If the left arrow misfires when you press up, place more weight on your toes.
That should, if anything, lessen the amount of misfires that happen.

And thus, the problem with flush pads as these. Normal arcade pads allow your feet to "pivot" over the metal casing, causing either the heel to hit the down arrow or the front of the foot to hit the left arrow. With the pad being flush as such, you have to either spread your feet out more or play on your toes.

i don't think the pad being flush is a problem with misses; lots of dedicab owners go out of their way to get their pads as flush as possible...

OP, your technique isn't correct and the only thing that can really be said is watch some pro footcams (anyone who can do 17+ will do)

you will notice that they only use the heel of their foot to hit the down arrow, only half of their foot (horizontally) to hit left/right, toes to hit up, etc

I appreciate your input, but I don't think there is a "correct" technique, as the way I play has always been fine for me on arcade machines. I do agree that the pro technique is much more efficient, though, and I'm working on being able to use it well.



From the videos I've seen, the creator of these pads plays all toe, so it's no wonder he's never had my problem, heh

Daiz has a point in that the flush pads are probably causing the left arrow misses, but I think a better solution would be to pick up your feet just a bit more. That way, your weight is off the left foot as you move it to the left arrow, and you don't get an early fire as you enter the sensitive area for that arrow. (It's not an immediately obvious adjustment, even when watching pro/17+ players' foot technique) I'm not familiar with Omega GX pads, but you probably won't have to lift your feet entirely off the pad for this to work, just mostly. I have a generally flat-footed playstyle, but I'm very attentive to my weight distribution, as a consequence of playing lots of doubles.

Also, not to be "that guy", but actually doing the crossovers in a chart like that will help, because your foot will be there for the step and nowhere nearby to trigger the sensor beforehand

---

Well, I'm doing some modding to the pad, to raise the non-arrow portions, which will simulate arcade pad paneling, and hopefully will reduce my issues.

I get what you're saying, but my foot isn't triggering the arrow early that I'm intending to hit. The problem is: say there's a quick run of DUL. When I hit the down arrow with my heel, my toe hits the left arrow, and it's close enough to the timing window for that last left arrow that it gives me a miss. I've tried focusing on my weight distribution, and still had issues. It's just going to take some work, I guess.

EDIT: Also, I usually do crossovers, but I've read some people saying staying facing forward all the time is best, so I kind of experiment with both ways.

"Facing forward" generally refers to how you'd angle your feet when not doing crossovers. If your foot was facing forward, it could not be over both the down and left arrow at the same time. It helps avoid accidental triggers, and saves you energy with patterns that "change direction" a lot. You don't have to keep them perfectly straight at all times, its just a loose rule of thumb.

My pads are pretty flat and I don't get many misfires.