[LeftyRighty]

I feel that I hit my peak sometime in the middle of last year (probably low D6), and I was in the same situation as you, with the slow decline of my skill (I think I've even talked to you about this a few times too, haha). It felt like I just sorta hit a brick wall in terms of skill improvement, as I wasn't really getting any notable scores at the time, and I was also having a lot of trouble getting my hands into a comfortable position like you. Since I've hit that peak, I've been on an indefinite hiatus (mainly due to issues with FFR that wouldn't allow me to play it properly) and I've kinda accidentally disappeared from this site and game. I've been really wanting to get back into the game, and Prawn's idea seems to be a good one, as it would expose us to lots of files that we haven't played, and this is good if you're like me and would only play the same set of 10-15 files or so in a session. I've been putting off derusting for way too long now, and this seems like it would be able to help out a ton.

If only I could get FFR to work again... Guess I have to stick to Stepmania for now, once I become active again.

Also, discouragement is a big issue when it comes to situations like this. Aside from Prawn's suggestion, have you ever thought of making a progress thread for SM or FFR? I know it helped me back when I was trying to break through the D5 barrier. Try making a list of goals to put in that thread and slowly keep pushing yourself to achieve them. Doesn't matter if they are small things, because as long as you're achieving them, then you're improving, y'know? You can look back on your progress and it might give you some encouragement and reassurance that will allow you to see that you're actually improving. Plus, people can give you suggestions and all that cool stuff.