Overcoming a handicap, need suggestions from experienced players

[Garquillex]

My right-hand index/middle are unnaturally fast. Me left-hand (all of it) is... not very good. And it also suffers from chronic pain just under the knuckles. It only hurts after some fatigue, so I want to keep that fatigue low while playing competitively 2-handed.

That means I want to take pressure off my left hand and add it to my much more capable right hand. Being an on-and-off player for 3 years, I have always stuck with the 1 hand 3 index method. Sure, it might fit me pretty well, but I no longer want to stick with it. Now I need to find a hybrid-spread method to accommodate my respective abilities. I don't think I can do that on my own though. I'm not familiar with the higher-end playing to the point where I can gauge the best options. Hell, the best I've done is almost FC'ing Raindrops, missing 3 all the way at the very end of that speedy chain at the end of the song.

I'm considering looking into split arrows/diagonal arrows. I read somewhere that it essentially takes some 2-handed trills and makes them one-handed, which is normally a problem for spread players, but is good for me since my 2 fingers can tap faster than the fastest trills. And in respect to that I want to setup a format that can let me choose different keys for different situations, which is only doable with both the in-game keymapping and the program for keymapping, which means there would be duplicates of most keys on the keyboard surrounding KL or whatever other 2 keys my right hand uses. I think this may be taking things too far, but it seems that it is evened out by the added complexity of managing 5-9 keys instead of 4. Edit: Extra keymapping has been cleared up as cheating.

Tell me what you think about the split arrows.

[ballaw hare]

In the options pane in FFR you can change the keys. Try something like QWOP.

[iluswirl]

The best I can figure is that you play a traditional spread (left hand on left/down arrow keys and right hand on Number pad 8 and 6 keys). That way, when you had a difficult trill for left hand, you could switch your right hand to cover both of the keys being hit. I'm not sure if that would work, but it's worth a try.

[Garquillex]

Originally Posted by ballaw hare

In the options pane in FFR you can change the keys. Try something like QWOP.

Well I already included the default spread setting. I said that I couldn't do the normal spread method because I need further customization.

Originally Posted by iluswirl

The best I can figure is that you play a traditional spread (left hand on left/down arrow keys and right hand on Number pad 8 and 6 keys). That way, when you had a difficult trill for left hand, you could switch your right hand to cover both of the keys being hit. I'm not sure if that would work, but it's worth a try.

I can't do that position because of my left hand. It's slow 'and' weak.

[foilman8805]

Is your left index worth anything?

You could do a hybrid spread that just uses your left index, and then your right index, middle, and ring on a set up something like (t, i, o, p).

That way the majority of the work is on your right hand, and your left just uses your strongest finger I hope.

This is a very tricky set up though, and would definitely take some time to get used to. It's simply a suggestion.

[Beethovens mask]

Originally Posted by foilman8805

Is your left index worth anything?

You could do a hybrid spread that just uses your left index, and then your right index, middle, and ring on a set up something like (t, i, o, p).

That way the majority of the work is on your right hand, and your left just uses your strongest finger I hope.

This is a very tricky set up though, and would definitely take some time to get used to. It's simply a suggestion.

Yes.

[One Winged Angel]

I think Destiny plays like that, except he uses the left arrow with his left index, and then 2, 8, and 6 on the numpad with his right index, middle, and ring fingers respectively...and he's one of the top players on the site.

It seems like an extremely difficult style to master, but he proved that it isn't impossible.

[Xx{Midday}xX]

Hybrid Spread: (L middle, L index, R middle, R ring), just so you all know, hybrid spread means something now =)

Destiny plays like this: lxDestinyxl - [num4 num2 num8 num6] (L middle, R index, R middle, R ring)

[One Winged Angel]

feh, close enough, rofl

[Garquillex]

I put this in the first post, but I'll put it here too.

I'm considering looking into split arrows/diagonal arrows. I read somewhere that it essentially takes some 2-handed trills and makes them one-handed, which is normally a problem for spread players, but is good for me since my 2 fingers can tap faster than the fastest trills. And in respect to that I want to setup a format that can let me choose different keys for different situations, which is only doable with both the in-game keymapping and the program for keymapping, which means there would be duplicates of most keys on the keyboard surrounding KL or whatever other 2 keys my right hand uses. I think this may be taking things too far, but it seems that it is evened out by the added complexity of managing 5-9 keys instead of 4.

Tell me what you think about the split arrows and the extra keymapping.

Originally Posted by foilman8805

Is your left index worth anything?

You could do a hybrid spread that just uses your left index, and then your right index, middle, and ring on a set up something like (t, i, o, p).

That way the majority of the work is on your right hand, and your left just uses your strongest finger I hope.

This is a very tricky set up though, and would definitely take some time to get used to. It's simply a suggestion.

I'm not so sure about just making it 1-finger/3-finger. I think that will be the final choice should everything else fail. I've already spent time with it last week, and I don't see any cons about using it yet. I just think the idea I'm still shaping may be superior, or at least for me.

[Flaming_Dingleberry]

Originally Posted by garquillex

My right-hand index/middle are unnaturally fast. Me left-hand (all of it) is... not very good. That means I want to take pressure off my left hand and add it to my much more capable right hand. Hell, the best I've done is almost FC'ing Raindrops, missing 3 all the way at the very end of that speedy chain at the end of the song. I'm considering looking into split arrows/diagonal arrows. I read somewhere that 2-handed trills are normally a problem for spread players, but is good for me since my 2 fingers can tap faster than the fastest trills. Tell me what you think about the split arrows and the extra keymapping.

Don't try to arrange the game in your right hand's favor, change your left hand to accommodate your right hand's speed. Also, it doesn't matter how fast your fingers are, it's all about control, especially if you can't FC Raindrops, you definitely don't need to be fast for that song, just control. Once you can control them to accommodate the rhythm of the song, then you can practice and eventually speed it up to faster songs. And even though your two fingers can tap faster than 20+ taps per second (the fastest trill I can think of [I don't believe you]), if you don't have control, you're limited to exactly 20 taps per second, and 15 taps per second would take much more control than you have right now, even though it's slower than what you're capable of. Split and diagonal arrows might help, but I can't tell you if they will, you'll just have to try it and figure it out yourself. Extra keymapping is cheating.

[infinity.]

Originally Posted by foilman8805

Is your left index worth anything?

You could do a hybrid spread that just uses your left index, and then your right index, middle, and ring on a set up something like (t, i, o, p).

That way the majority of the work is on your right hand, and your left just uses your strongest finger I hope.

This is a very tricky set up though, and would definitely take some time to get used to. It's simply a suggestion.

actually it's not that tricky,

ive always played with my right ring finger, so when i wanted to try spread thats how i set it up. It's actually fairly conveinent, and doesnt really have any weaknesses besides a right middle/right ring trill

[thechild]

Too bad double set-up is against the rules..

[Garquillex]

Originally Posted by thechild

Too bad double set-up is against the rules..

Originally Posted by Flaming_Dingleberry

Extra keymapping is cheating.

Alright, I was wondering that. I had that exact question in the first post originally, but it was lost when I revised it. I didn't know what double-setup meant when I read about it originally. I suppose 2 pseudo-arrowpads would be... very effective. So it's restricted directly to 4 keys? Well that blows 90% of my hopes out of the water.

[AznGreen]

That's how everybody starts off. I used to get cramps all the time because i was new at it and wasn't used to it. just keep playing and it'll go away.

[hi19hi19]

Play with your toes, then.

Sure you don't score as well, but it's mad fun!