Starting out on pad (tips & pad pls)

[PrawnSkunk]

Obviously there is a hell of a lot more technique to press buttons with your feet than there is with spread fingers. I also hear a lot of fancy lingo such as candlestepping, crossovers, and so on. What's the best way to start out learning feet technique? I don't want to teach myself any bad habits.

I currently have a plastic pad, trying to upgrade to a metal one.
(If anyone has a Cobalt Flux or similar metal pad, I'd loooove to buy it off them. Also advice on brands to steer clear of would be appreciated.)

[dragonmegaXX]

When you get a pad that doesnt move around, thats when you can start practicing your technique better.

What level are you playing on so far?
Do you play no bar or bar? Or both?

If bar(what Im better talking about) Try to use the innermost sensors when you play. The goal when you start playing faster and longer is to conserve energy, which you cant do if you're flailing your legs around at 180bpm 16th streams. You want to try to move your feet as little as possible. You want to try to keep your upper body relatively still too.
When I play right, my arms actually end up hurting more than my legs, because my grip is strong and keeping me balanced.

[Patashu]

0) If you're using a pad which has gaps through which dust and grime can accumulate, put something like a tarp over the pad when not in use and clean it before, during and after playing (with a more thorough disassembly and cleaning ~monthishly)

1) Find a comfortable place for your pad (where you can look straight ahead and not have to strain your neck to see the arrows) and then make sure that sucka can't move at all (tape, non-slip mats, build a frame for it... your choice should depend on the pad/surface/need to move it away when not using it. I just put my cobalt flux on a non-slip mat atm)

2) Play on the inside of the panels, not the middles/outsides. Learn to use your heels and your toes to minimize movement. E.g. if the pattern LDURLDUR shows up I hit that as:
Left with whatever is closest
Down with right heel
Up with left ball
Right with left ball
Left with left heel
Down with right heel
Up with left ball
Right with left ball
Watch this guy's feet if you don't see what I mean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pY9hB8JX0I&feature=plcp
EDIT: Actually, watching him again, a better foot technique to learn might be 'balls for up, heels for down, sides of the feet for left and right'. Hmm I may need to relearn my technique a bit

3) Push your speedmod highish (C400 is a good start). The less time you give yourself to react, the more efficient and tight your movements will have to be.

4) Warm up and stay hydrated

5) Don't bother learning crossovers until you're playing heavy charts. When you are, practice crossovers by playing charts like Rhythm and Police heavy, Boogie Down expert (itg) and Exotic Ethnic heavy. Charts like these have the properties that 100% of their crossovers can be done with no 'double steps' (using the same foot twice in a row) and so you won't spend any time worrying about 'oh shit, am I meant to crossover this or double step this' and can just focus on learning crossover technique.
Applying crossover technique is not always the correct thing to do - sometimes you just want to double step the random spinny shit, e.g. in Healing Vision heavy.

99) Play nobar

[PrawnSkunk]

Sounds like great advice, Dragonmega and Patashu. I'll be sure to look back on your posts.

I am extreme novice level, since I refuse to pay the outrageous $2.00/song that the only local cinema is charging. If I can't get a bar, I will play with a chair, haha!

[dragonmegaXX]

Play bar if you want be pr0

[igotrhythm]

I learned crossovers on this one chart...forget the name of it, but it had a down freeze with alternating left and right steps which FORCES a crossover motion, albeit a double step. Later on I managed to see that Freckles Heavy had LDRDL patterns where I could do crossovers without double-stepping, and even got 21g FC nobar on it once.

Then again, this was on DDR EX 1 and the patterns were 5 nps. I don't know anything. >>