CXu wrote:

You can conserve energy just by switching which finger you use for singletap though.

Thatgooey wrote:

Still do not agree with tensing makes you stream faster. Tension in your arm when trying to move fingers rapidly is not good. Grandmaster piano players spend the better part of a decade learning to play while fully relaxed before they gain full control of their fingers. Tension in your fingers will cause tension in your arm, which causes tension in your shoulder, which causes tension in your back. This tension in your back will create pressure and tension in your other shoulder, which disrupts the movement of you other arm, which causes the fingers in your other hand to behave differently. The only place that tension can be controlled well is in the wrist. It is a pivot point where tension will not spread to the rest of your arm/back/shoulder. Tensing your wrist while streaming does nothing, but it does help for single tapping, since it will cause your wrist to snap back quicker. You don't want to tense the top part of your wrist. You will feel a burning sensation if you do this incorrectly. The part you want to feel the slight tension in is the under side that connects to your palm. When streaming, you use muscles that are in the forearm to move the tendons that control your fingers. There should be absolutely no tension at all in your hand at any time. Wrist only.

I am not trying to tell you your way is wrong, just that tension is a temporary and VERY short term/short lived way to increase speed. It is a bad habit that will lead to big plateaus in your game play and limit what you can do. It will also lead to injury trying to push yourself by adding more and more tension, thinking that it is the proper way to become faster. I only say these things because I want to provide information that I think could help someone. I, too, used to be a young fledgling DT player who discovered that tensing up really tight could make me play slightly faster, and I ended up getting nowhere until I received guidance and applied my own critical thinking to this. You do not have to take my advice and are free to play as you like, but I just want to let people know that if you slow down and practice fundamentals first, that you can provide yourself with the tools to improve with much higher ceilings.

those wrote:

CXu wrote:

You can conserve energy just by switching which finger you use for singletap though.

I may be able to left click 110, but I can only right click around 95, so I'm not sure this tip applies.

Ailis Re wrote:

I play alternating because it helps me keeping up with the rhythm.
When I started using the keyboard I played singletapping, but I realized I couldn't get much speed with only one finger.
Plus, when you have to click a circle right after a slider, it's a lot easier if you do it with the second finger, because you wouldn't have the time to do it with the same finger you were using for the slider. Some maps have got a lot of tricks like this.
Regardless of the time you spend practising on one or two finger, it'll be up to your own aptitude. What is bad for me could be good for you and viceversa. :-)
Anyway, I don't think there is a better way to play: everyone should find the way that allows him/her to play at the best of his/her capabilities.

Kaeru wrote:

You don't need to push yourself. I've alternated since the first month I've started osu! and I can see my accuracy on stream maps get much higher with every passing week. It doesn't matter if you single tap or alternate. What matters is that you stick to what you choose to do and you play often.

I find now I don't need to really pay attention to the speed of streams anymore, it just happens automatically. I sometimes get nothing but 300's on streams now without needing to pay close attention to hit circles or the "speed" of a stream. It just comes naturally over time.

winber1 wrote:

it's not about accuracy, it about speed and stamina. generally, being able to stream at higher speeds, like at 220+BPM, will require you to push yourself to your limits, rather than just comfortably playing 180BPM maps all day, even if they are streamy

Liut wrote:

that's cause while playing a piano you don't want to tense up your arm, cause it will make your hand/fingers stiff and for playing a piano you usually want to have waaay more elasticity (mainly because you are just not using 2 fingers or doing 220 bpm streams), for what i could see fast streamers don't really move their fingers really much, they just vibe them.
But, hey those are only opinions and i'm totally not an expert on this argument

MillhioreF wrote:

and also makes snapping easier for some reason.

jesus1412 wrote:

Ailis Re wrote:

I play alternating because it helps me keeping up with the rhythm.
When I started using the keyboard I played singletapping, but I realized I couldn't get much speed with only one finger.
Plus, when you have to click a circle right after a slider, it's a lot easier if you do it with the second finger, because you wouldn't have the time to do it with the same finger you were using for the slider. Some maps have got a lot of tricks like this.
Regardless of the time you spend practising on one or two finger, it'll be up to your own aptitude. What is bad for me could be good for you and viceversa. :-)
Anyway, I don't think there is a better way to play: everyone should find the way that allows him/her to play at the best of his/her capabilities.

This is what I mean by alternating players don't improve as much, they don't push themselves and most maps end up being within their comfort zones to play, but far beyond to play right.

NixXSkate wrote:

i don't alternate because i think it's not fun, and i'm too lazy to learn something that isn't fun.

Ailis Re wrote:

Well, I'm totally the opposite: I get bored tapping with only one finger and I enjoy the rhythm when I alternate. XD
I guess it's up to everyone's skills and preferences afterall.

NixXSkate wrote:

people that have alternating down pat snap better than people that singletap (at least with mouse anyway).

NarrillNezzurh wrote:

Do you have any proof of this at all? The way I see it, at worst it's exactly the opposite of what you're claiming because singletapping allows every snap to consist of a single set of motions, and at best it doesn't matter because you don't snap with your keyboard hand either way. I can't think of a single reason why alternating would improve snapping, and it's definitely the exact opposite for me personally.

Silynn wrote:

just run around in circles and usually hit things like that

Silynn wrote:

NarrillNezzurh wrote:

.....The way I see it, at worst it's exactly the opposite of what you're claiming because singletapping allows every snap to consist of a single set of motions......

.....in this case, if you alternate it, you're hitting k1+k2 on one line, then k1+k2 on another line (so you're going from point 1 to point 2 on the screen AND on the keyboard).....

iantanye wrote:

If you don't alternate all the time you are objectively playing this game wrong. I am qualified to say this because.

iantanye wrote:

If you don't alternate all the time you are objectively playing this game wrong. I am qualified to say this because.

winber1 wrote:

iantanye wrote:

If you don't alternate all the time you are objectively playing this game wrong. I am qualified to say this because.

flawless argument.

master, i bow down to you OTZ

i will now alternate because of this statement