This is the beginning of at least a two part series on the power of small tweaks to your game that can lead to more wins in the long run.  Part 2 will be out Sunday.

When most players are trying to get better, they often ask other players what they think they need to improve on.  It seems as though most of these players are trying to figure out if there’s a combo they’re not doing, a move they don’t know how to counter properly, or something really specific that they aren’t aware of yet.  The problem is, it’s just usually not that simple.  There are lots of little things that go into your game that if done properly, add up to more wins in the longrun.  It is these small tweaks to your game that are often overlooked that can provide that extra oomph you need sometimes in a close match.

Here are some examples of little things can do:

1. Double-tap your buttons as much as possible
   In 3rd Strike, almost all of the players with the best execution double-tapped their buttons.  This made it easier to do links, as well as pretty much all combos and pokes.  The reason for double-tapping is simple.  Hitting the button twice in quick succession gives you twice the chance for your link or combo to connect.For those of you who haven’t seen this done in person, scrape your index and middle fingers on your desk/leg/table/whatever in a forward to backward motion.  The same motion you’d use if you were at a Blackjack table.  Now when you scrape your fingers, do it so that the middle finger is ahead of your index finger.  You should now be hitting the buttons in quick succession with your middle finger hitting the button a fraction of a second before your index finger.

   In Street Fighter 4, I almost always try to double tap all of my links and block strings.  The only time I don’t is when I’m doing three jabs in quick succession.  This means that I have a higher percentage of hitting my links and combos which means I have a higher percentage of winning.  Let’s say that you were 90% accurate on your combos, but once you started double-tapping, you were now 95% accurate.  Over the course of 20 games, that extra 5% would get you one extra win, in theory.  Of course, in the real world it may end up taking longer or shorter for your extra accuracy to win you a game, but you get the idea.

2. Building the maximum amount of meter possible
   As I got better in 3rd Strike, I started to notice little opportunities for building more meter than I normally would.  Playing a character like Urien, where his entire game is based on him having meter, I started to make sure that I was using each opening to build as much meter as possible.  For example, if you knock someone down in the corner and they don’t roll, how many standing strongs and fierces can you get out before they get up and which one or both builds the most meter?Another situation is after you hit them with D + FP –> Tackle.  Do you just dash across the screen?  Do you do one dash and then a charge partitioned Headbutt?  Or do you do F + MP, Headbutt (credit to Emphy) to get across the screen to be in your opponent’s face right when he gets up.  The last option builds the most meter and that extra meter that you get every time you’re in that situation adds up.

   How many times have you been in a situation where you wished you had just one or two more move’s worth of meter?  How would your game change if you had that meter you needed more frequently?  Once you realize how much meter you’ve been missing out on, you’ll always want to make sure you are taking advantage of each meter-building situation.

   A Street Fighter 4 example is what Balrog does after he hits his Ultra.  The Ultra hits them up so high and Balrog recovers so quickly, that you have time to get a few moves out.  I see a lot of Balrogs just walk or dash forward after hitting the Ultra, instead of thinking of how they can use these few extra seconds to build a little more meter than they otherwise would have.

   Other Balrogs will do one special move to close the distance such as FK Dash Upper.  This builds 20 points of EX meter according to the frame data.  The Turnaround Punch, however, builds 30 points.  This is an increase of 50%.  Credit to Ronstoppable for bringing that to my attention.  The beauty of it is that against a lot of characters, you can do two Turnaround Punches and then a meaty jab Dash Straight.  This is 100 points of EX meter total (30 Turnaround Punch + 30 Turnaround Punch + 40 Blocked Dash Straight), or an increase of 300%.  That’s a huge increase when you think about the total number of games that you’ll win because of the extra meter you built.

Stay tuned for part two of this series coming out on Sunday.  In the meantime, think about this next time you’re playing and see if you can get in the habit of making these small tweaks to your game and coming up with more.