Tips on improving accuracy/PAing?

I've been playing DDR on my toes since I started playing seriously (which wasn't very long ago: December of last year ), and I generally lean more towards getting high scores on easier songs than passing harder ones. After reading some useful posts/articles, I tried to play flatfooted since it allegedly improved accuracy and decreased stamina usage. It seemed to work, since I got an FC on a somewhat tricky song (The legend of Max ) and got my first no-bar FC AND AA (Everytime We Touch Cakewalk song, I know, but still.)

So I decided to try for a PFC. I picked GOLDEN SKY because it was the first, and so far only, SDG I've ever gotten. I tried around 10 times and I just couldn't do it; I tried using 3x (since I mostly use 2x), I tried focusing on the chart as hard as I can, lazy scoring, using 'Small' arrows (I saw a guy pass FLOWER on Extra Stage with it; so I thought maybe it helped him ), going back to playing on toes... I always get the usual amount of greats (around 10~25). On one try I was able to PFC the song up to 100 combos, but when I got a great... everything went to shit, lol. I got around 15 greats on that run.

So basically, do you know of any tips on improving accuracy? Does it help if you can hear the sound of your footstomping? Does it hurt my arcade accuracy if I practice at home with a soft pad taped to a piece of hardwood? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

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(jumbled thoughts in no order probably)

Accuracy is something that takes a lot of practice to get into, you can't exactly just practice it for a day and expect to get AAA's. It's something that slowly grows the more you play and get better muscle memory for.

I guess for starters, find a good BPM range to use that's fast enough to keep the arrows relatively low in density on screen but slow enough that your brain can actually process it fast enough to know where to put your feet. Older versions of DDR (before X3 or something I can't remember off the top of my head) kinda don't have many options for speedmods unfortunately so your range is probably gonna have to be kinda big depending on some songs bpm's (for me personally I try to aim around the 580~630ish bpm range).

Flatfooted is probably a good idea to get into given that you don't have to move your foot much to hit arrows but if you felt more comfortable scoring with toes only technique you're certainly free to go with that (take it from me though that it's gonna make harder songs pretty murderous on your legs). Having good shoes certainly helps too, though depending on your budget for such things it might be hard to find a decent enough pair.

If you're trying to go for PFC's, be aware that you're gonna have to get over a pretty big wall of nervousness on instances when you're doing really good but OOPS got a great AAA ruined. You are essentially going for the absolute perfect grade and you cannot make one mistake at all during the song; it's a pretty daunting task mentally and something you're just gonna have to get over one way or the other with practice.

I can't exactly say a softpad would be a good idea if only because you're not really gonna see if you're improving at all compared to arcade pads (not that you won't, but pad crap is bound to happen for the former)

There's probably some threads on which songs are the easiest to AAA on so forth, might be good to look around there for easy stuff to start with.

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I feel like getting PFCs relies on 3 things: your rhythm/timing, your stamina, and the condition of the machine you're playing on.

Being able to PA harder songs will help you in general, and PAing harder songs requires more energy, so it will take work to build up.

One other thing is, try to make every step even. Not everyone may have this problem, but as a musician, I have to remind myself not to step matching the dynamics of the music. Being able to hear the tap of my foot on the pad helps me a lot, but some machines don't give you that satisfying tap (I find X2 cabinets have kind of a squish when you step).

Tapping your feet to music when you're not playing could also potentially benefit you by maintaining/building your internal rhythm.

Just some thoughts!

EDIT: Also, what maxx said about the mental aspect is a big thing too. I can't tell you how many times I've been at the end of a song with all perfects, then I get nervous and botch it. You just have to think positive and stay focused and relaxed as well as you can.

I think something that's more important than timing/rhythm is CONSISTENCY. It's easy to stay on rhythm for small bursts, but remaining consistent is an entirely different thing. This requires controlled movements of your body. You already have rhythm and timing or else you wouldn't be getting Perfects at all, but staying consistent can be incredibly difficult (try PFC'ing a song that's off sync, even a little).

That said, you're doing a good thing, imo, to play flat footed, but you are probably drifting too early/late as you play, hence your greats happening. The thing that helps me is to play both visually and audibly. And by audibly I don't mean via the music, but via your own steps. If you can hear your steps and match them visually to the arrows, you'll do better to remain consistent.

One day when I have the time and motivation I wanna make another video series on how to improve your DDR game from beginners to my level.

In general I will echo whats already been said and just suggest working on your mental game by breaking down in your mind what you need to improve, this is a huge one. If you know you always step early in a certain stop, force yourself on your next play to step later in said spot. Rinse and repeat.

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@Daiz: I was kind of factoring staying on the beat with rhythm/timing in general, but you made the point much better.

@Dr.D: That would be awesome! I've always wondered how to cross that line from an okay player (like me), to a world class player (like you).

As a PA player like me, whenever there are crossovers (or sometimes candles), I don't necessary do the crossover move for practical reason, just like double-tapping all of them. It's more weight-balanced to PA (and less risky to great, at least for me) than doing the actual crossover moves.

A big help for me was playing Stepmania with Assist Tick turned on, and getting used to the sound of my foot tapping the panel co-inciding with the 'tick noise' coming out of the speakers. Being able to imagine the tick sound in your head even when it's not turned on definitely helped me visualise when to hit the arrows.

I don't necessarily mean stomping, because you really don't need to make that much noise. If you play on your toes, then think of it like hitting a drum. It's a short, precise movement, and you're just tapping out the notes to the song.

Thanks, everyone! I'll keep your tips in mind the next time I go to the arcade.


Yeah, I can relate. There's this voice in my head screaming "DON'T MESS IT UP, DAMMIT" when I'm trying to get high scores on songs, especially the harder ones. When I manage to tell the voice to shut up... greatness happens. I think I'll focus on my mental game.


If you do decide to make the series, I'd love to watch it!


I don't think my accuracy suffers from double-stepping, but I have a rather clumsy technique. I tend to crouch quite a bit when I double-step, and also when I do step-jumps or jumpstreams.

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The following explanation is typically how I explain how to improve when people ask me.

While you're playing, try to keep your "internal metronome" and "internal global offset" as accurate as possible. That means if the BPM is 140, constantly maintain that BPM. When you get feedback that you're off (either through a great or a perfect in newer games), that means you went too early or too late, and thus you need to shift your internal global offset WITHOUT CHANGING YOUR INTERNAL BPM. A lot of times I see newer players play a 140 BPM at 135 BPM at a certain part of the song, which makes them get late greats, then to fix that they switch to 145 BPM, which will get them perfects but eventually lead to early greats. That is NOT what you want to do. As soon as you get an "off" judgment, switch your internal global offset, so the correction helps ensure you don't drift off again.

It's hard to explain but this is what I think about when I'm playing.

Try practising on StepMania with the "assist tick" on. It helps a lot.

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I think I get it. Basically, when you're getting a few perfects/greats in a row, that means your internal OFFSET (not your speed) is off and you have to adjust it, right?


I find it especially helpful when practicing songs with odd patterns, like RED ZONE or volcano

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Your speed might also be off. What I'm saying is that when you're correcting yourself, don't fall into the common trap of adjusting your BPM wildly, because your BPM should remain constant. (I'm of course talking about songs with constant BPM, but you can extrapolate what I mean to songs that change.) You should be fixing your internal global offset.

As a crude example, let's say you're playing Brilliant 2U, BPM 150. You're getting Marvelouses just fine. All of a sudden you get a fast Perfect (you hit it, say, 10 ms early). What does that mean? Well, you hit the note earlier than you were supposed to. That doesn't mean that you should start hitting successive notes slower and slower (decreasing your BPM to 149), because even though it'll look like you've fixed the problem, you'll go from getting Marvelouses to slow Perfects to slow Greats. What you need to do is maintain your 150 BPM metronome and switch your internal offset 10 ms later. That will ensure that for the next note, you'll be completely on, and since you're still stepping at 150 BPM, all successive notes will be on as well. Again, this is a crude example, but this is what I'm thinking of every time I play.

Ah, okay. Indeed I overlooked the possibility of my speed being a little off. I think I understand your point fully now.

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I just finished a session at the arcade, and managed to bag another SDG (Every Day, Every Night , 5 Greats)! I could barely hear the sound of my feet because it was so noisy at the arcade, but nonetheless many of your tips were helpful. I found the most important thing I needed to learn was to keep a calm mind and to not get fazed when getting a Great. Switching up the songs (instead of trying to PFC one song over and over again) also helped calm my nerves a bit.

Again, thanks to everyone who replied! I'll keep practicing and hopefully I'll earn a PFC soon!

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