[korny]

I know how to do all those things just fine, but implementing them into a fast paced exchange effectively is completely different.

Crouch cancelling is simple in execution, but can be very tricky when caught up in your own rhythm. It is simply pressing down to crouch which greatly reduces the impact of an attack launching you and in some cases with certain attacks, will keep you at a stand still. What's tricky about it, is you have to predict that in a certain situation, it is better to negate the force of an opponents attack by crouching cancelling, to take advantage of the punish you can administer afterwards.

L cancelling has to be done in order to reduce the lag of an aerial attack as to not be caught up in your characters pace when playing against those who use it. It is essential. You're a sitting duck if you're playing against speedy characters especially if you're not L cancelling to keep up with the speed of those characters. Go into training mode and just practice pressing L or R right before your character hits the ground after using an aerial that has considerable lag, until you notice the difference of the lag reduction and then feel like you've got the timing down. Then start working on aerials that are quicker with less lag to gradually get the timing down more and more. The problem I have is following up after L cancelling because of the way I hold and use the controller. It's just habits i'm trying to work through.

DI is pretty difficult to master, and in some cases is not even your best option. It is always your best option of course, when your percentage is high enough that you would usually die from being launched off the screen but instead, through knowledge of the direction in which any certain attack will send you (which is something you will have to learn for every single attack to be able to DI effectively) you change the intended trajectory.

If you are knocked horizontally, hold the control stick diagonally upwards in the opposite direction the character has been knocked. This results in a more upwards trajectory and will save you from being launched directly horizontal to your death.

If you're knocked vertically, you'll hold the control stick either left or right. This results in a more diagonal trajectory sending you in a more horizontal manner than originally intended saving you from being launched directly vertical to your death.

If you'd like me to explain any of these things more thoroughly, I'd be more than willing on skype. Every character is different and the effects these things have vary between certain match ups which requires knowledge of the game and said match ups.