I can attest to this. Although I do not compare myself to those at the top (as you said, Halogen and Dynam0), my improvement ever since I started playing this game has been tremendous. I still use these top players as a representation of the best and look up to their scores. I want to be that good, so I keep practising.
I think a lot of the trouble newer/inexperienced players face is as you mentioned - being discouraged. "Well I'm bad now, this game is way too hard for me, there's no point for me to keep trying" (some of my friends think of themselves this way while playing FFR; even I still suffer from that problem in other games). This game is not easy, by any measure, but practising will get you through that phase.
I also switched to spread from index and lost a ton of skill, but once I learned how to play spread, I went above the cap that I hit playing index.
That being said, any new players just have to
power through and keep playing. You might think it's a waste of time and that you'll always be at the same skill level, but the improvement does come eventually.
Example: I've been a part of this community for 7 years now (6.4 with an account actually). For the first 4-5 years of FFR, I was
bad. I didn't want to keep playing, the friends that introduced me to the site were still marginally better, and I couldn't see any improvement coming in the future. I kept playing to FC this song or pass another and I was rewarded the next year with a massive skill boost where I skipped from D3-D6. I don't even play that much, if I was more motivated I could probably reach bigger and better things!
Don't give up. We all started somewhere but there's no limit to where you can end. There's always a harder song out there for you to conquer and you're the only one that can tell yourself you won't succeed.
Don't lie about your scores: This is a solid point. Because of my frustration with my lack of skill when I started, I resorted to using an FFR trainer on my first and second accounts. I legitimately don't think anybody knows this, but I did lie about my scores and I did cheat for the first year or so.
The botted scores I had before are now scores I can surpass legitimately. It's all about practice.
http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...e/Shadowkill45
http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/profile/truleb4life
I wasn't aware of blacklisting at that time, so I was pretty shocked when my scores stopped recording on both accounts. I was stupid cringey back then and you're better off avoiding that headache all together. Most people who cheat are shunned and looked at very differently. Don't be one of them and just play the game like it's meant to be played (for fun and personal improvement).
I've always found starting out with songs quite a bit above your current level of play to be really helpful. Play songs that force you out of your comfort zone. If you can pass a level 30 song, move on to 35s or 40s and try to pass that. If you can AAA 30s, try to AAA 35s and 40s. Force yourself to get used to harder songs instead of sticking to your comfort level. It's the same concept of playing in team games. Play someone much better than you are and you get better. You want to win, so you develop the skills required to beat player x. Same thing, play something above your skill level and hone your skills and beat song x.