GoldenWolf wrote:

It's the whole purpose of practicing, doing something you can't do efficiently at first to then being able to do it.

Sure that's true, but I still think it's wrong to just dismiss any request for help with "practice, nuff said".

Most people here seem to forget that HOW you practice makes all the difference. When you want to be good at playing an instrument, bad inefficient practice won't get you anywhere, it'll just lead to you forming bad habits which will stop you from being able to play more advanced stuff in the long run. Even when that's not the case, smart practice makes the learning process a lot more efficient.

Of course in osu! this knowledge isn't that readily available, still it would be more helpful for people to actually answer in detail what worked for them, how they overcame such obstacles, etc. it might just help.

I for one can't do streams too well at or over 170 and I'm having problems with shorter bursts above 200-210 too, and I can't decide if my hand position is sub-optimal for streaming (you can't really play the piano well either if you're sitting way too low, too high, or too close/too far) or it's fine and it's not hindering my practice. Tried a lot of different ways, but I just can't tell if it's actually any better and I tend to go back to the usual one. Also not sure whether I should play slow streams that i can play without tensing up and bottoming out, faster ones where I can't keep up unless I tense up a bit and press harder, short ones or longer ones etc. "Practice" is very broad.

Alright, let's be clear about this. I'm going to obnoxiously bold every single statement I find are important.
It's gonna be a long and messy post (too lazy to tidy it up once I start writing this), but try to read it from my view.

The word practice as taken from a dictionary:



If we were to put it into osu!'s context, to perform or exercise your skills in osu! would mean to commit and dedicate yourself to this game for a long period of time every day to improve or maintain one's proficiency (meaning SKILL). Most of this game is muscle memory so you probably won't lose a lot of skill if you don't play for a long period of time.

Let's break it up for the serious players (because I don't cater to casuals):

Commit and Dedicate:

To Commit and Dedicate yourself to this game is definitely the first step to improvement.
You have to be in the right mindset to be able to improve.
Don't or try not to involve your emotions while playing this game, play this game like a robot.

What this means is to play every damn map you see regardless of how bad the song may sound, but make sure it's something you can somewhat manage, difficulty-wise. (And that I'll leave it up to you to check it out for yourself, so it's pretty much trial & error).

This way, you have the habit of playing whatever you see and not what you jam to. (honestly, it's a very good habit to have.. at least for LR2/IIDX since you're able to spam all 8s/9s/10s)

Not only that, you are also presented a plethora of patterns, rhythms, and different mapping styles.

Yeah, you're gonna have to get used to it, sadly.


Long period of time everyday:

Let's face it, everyone has a busy schedule.

To me, 1-2 hours isn't going to cut it if you're looking for a serious improvement!

I know that I can't say I'm right about scheduling to play osu!, but when I played this game, I spent 10-16 hours a day (during summer only) to improve in all aspects of this game.

So I would say perhaps spend a hell load of time every day (4+ hours) and keep it that way.

Though don't prioritize osu! over social life and your work ethics. But do prioritize it over free-time if you really really wish to get better.



Now the 'I can't practice because I suck at it' part.

Alright, so the first rule to approaching this is to 'repeat with variation.'

Variation meaning repeat songs that have a similar situation in patterning, perhaps lower in difficulty.

'How do I find those types of songs that are similar in difficulty?'
Good question, I don't know. So... that comes from experience and playing many songs as I remember many different patterning in most songs I play.
I usually pull it up from memory when it comes to patterns anyways.


I won't tell you strictly 'what you should practice' and 'what not to practice' because that is all up to you to find out for yourself. Try not to ask others on what map to play. There is no 'right way to play' or the 'right maps' to play. Play them all, play all the maps you can even no matter how bad it is. I will emphasize again over and over.

SO MAKE THIS A HABIT. A habit forms once you repeat a routine for 21 days+, so dedicate to a mental plan of practising!!

So after realising how much of an idiot I sounded like when I wrote that, I have made a resolution to just play the maps I suck at. I will just complete the maps over and over and practicing even if I do get C-D ranks, bad accuracy and so forth. Just so playing these maps become almost natural.

B1rd wrote:

When I click on Scarlet's profile it says 'user not found'?

banned probably.

I'm going to assume what I've done for now (and continue for days to come) was proper practicing...Where you actually do things. This "practicing" thing is going to take...a very, very, long time isn't it.

Yes, it takes a very long time to improve, and the better you get the slower any improvement becomes.
As Layne said, if you play everything, play often, play a lot you will eventually become good.

Should I try to spend time doing few maps that I know are challenging or invest more time finding more maps?
Edit: I guess I was such a fool to ever think this would be easy...But at least it can only get better, more challenging and more fun.

DahplA wrote:

Should I try to spend time doing few maps that I know are challenging or invest more time finding more maps?

Find more maps and try the new maps on easiest->hardest by playing maps on trivial difficulties, you will improve your sense of rhytm(not saying you should play easy all the time but try it now again when you get new maps)

You shouldn't try to stay on the same maps 24/7, if you do so then you will surely remember the song after like 100 replays, but as Layne said, if you play different maps you will learn more patterns and you will have an easier time dealing with them in other beatmaps.

Andersfc wrote:

DahplA wrote:

Should I try to spend time doing few maps that I know are challenging or invest more time finding more maps?

Find more maps and try the new maps on easiest->hardest by playing maps on trivial difficulties, you will improve your sense of rhytm(not saying you should play easy all the time but try it now again when you get new maps)

You shouldn't try to stay on the same maps 24/7, if you do so then you will surely remember the song after like 100 replays, but as Layne said, if you play different maps you will learn more patterns and you will have an easier time dealing with them in other beatmaps.

Thanks. I've been spending my time trying to find maps that are around 4.0 - 4.5 stars ranking and trying them out. I've discovered that around this level, S ranks are much harder, which is nice. It brings more of a challenge.

Just another problem I have here. When I stream, it's very random. I sometimes either do the whole stream with 1 or 2 100's but other times, I am completely off rhythm and end up getting at least 3 50's. Are there any tips I can get (other than practice, I know that much) to help me. I paying attention to the approach circles helps a lot and makes me more accurate.

Streams are a bitch I'm still struggling with them, and a couple of things that seemed to help were these:

1) playing with speakers instead of headphones - hearing the sound of keys helped me notice I was off
2) spending some time playing those stream practice maps and staring at the hit error bar
3) not being so nervous and starting the stream too early
4) repeating the map long enough I memorize the song/melody/all that fancy music stuff

Figured out why I couldn't stream well. I wasn't hitting them fast enough, although this doesn't apply to slower maps.

so recently I started adopting to a new playstyle - Lifting my pinky when playing fast maps/or streaming. initially I thought my speed would come more naturally with that but as it became habitual I tend to "freeze up" alot more during transitions. (as in, fast singles to streams, or fast singles to fast triples) It might be because I never have really single tapped much besides fast jumps in my past osu experience, and i don't know whether or not this is a good practice or not. I gain more control when I hold down my pinky, but I lose out on too much speed and accuracy and it was became extremely aggravating for me since I feel like I'm playing below the skill level I used to play at.

What I've found is that as long as you're tapping with your keyboard, there are better ways to play, but most of us will never get to the level of skill that it matters. Yeah, tablet is easier than mouse, but if you don't have fun with a tablet, then why use it?

The way you get better at Osu is just by playing a lot, and the way to play the most is to have fun with it. You don't get better if you aren't having fun.

My friend tried to get me to just keep on AR 10 + maps all the time, but I wasn't having fun. I dedicated to it for about a week but I stopped playing slowly. I found out that if I stick to AR9-AR10 maps it is a lot more enjoyable for me, and that means I play more, and that means I get better faster even though I am playing 'easier' maps.

how the are all these above 10k ranked people able to read and play ar10, and why aren't they below rank 10k if they can read ar10

VioletMaid wrote:

how the are all these above 10k ranked people able to read and play ar10, and why aren't they below rank 10k if they can read ar10

1. there's not many ranked ar10 maps, and the ones that are are pretty hard [or impossible] to get good combos on for sub 1k
2. hard rock sucks for pp

being able to read and play ar10 isnt that important in this ranking system really, and most of the people sub 10k who train ar10 get less accurate at lower AR's and hard rock OD and their ranks hurt even more from it.

Bassist Vinyl wrote:

VioletMaid wrote:

how the are all these above 10k ranked people able to read and play ar10, and why aren't they below rank 10k if they can read ar10

1. there's not many ranked ar10 maps, and the ones that are are pretty hard [or impossible] to get good combos on for sub 1k
2. hard rock sucks for pp

being able to read and play ar10 isnt that important in this ranking system really, and most of the people sub 10k who train ar10 get less accurate at lower AR's and hard rock OD and their ranks hurt even more from it.

makes sense, why not train/practice other things than ar10 then if they won't be able to play any of the ranked maps for a long time?

Most of them are just having fun playing AR10
Some are just retarded and think AR10 is the key to be a pro, so they play that all day and then months later they realize they were all wrong, so they proceed to spend months trying to get some reading skills and they struggle a ton because they're too used to AR10

The latter is totally not me

Although in my case it really is the equipment. My keyboard is about to give out soon, I can feel it. The Shift, Z, and Q key are giving out with the shift key being near dead. I've since moved my tapping keys around eventually making way to numpad 1 and 2. Do not buy a rapoo E1050 they will bleed your fingers and don't last long.

I haven't bought a replacement yet because I'm saving up for a mechanical one. Too bad they're so darn expensive, it'll take me a while before I get one. I'm so bad at saving up lol.

To be honest, I find it easier to use a tablet compared to the mouse. Well, that's just me.

I did too.You use a pencil more than you use a mouse because of school.

lol someone ss the big black

Any maps that will give a lot of pp?

Go see what the top 10 players' best performances are and play those maps. They will give you a lot of pp.

(sigh) This forum needs a Kappa emoticon.

Gigo wrote:

(sigh) This forum needs a Kappa emoticon.

Please no.

The snap thing is probably the only thing I didn't know from what I read here, and yet, been a crappy player for over 2 years now. :/
I wish there was an easy way to control my nerves so that I stop tensing up. *sigh*

This is quite helpful, thanks for the post

to all of you seek skill
Korean proverb saying if you want to catch the tiger, you need to go to a cave of tiger
what should you do?

lovu wrote:

to all of you seek skill
Korean proverb saying if you want to catch the tiger, you need to go to a cave of tiger
what should you do?

move to korea and go to cookiezis house

buny wrote:

lovu wrote:

to all of you seek skill
Korean proverb saying if you want to catch the tiger, you need to go to a cave of tiger
what should you do?

move to korea and go to cookiezis house

Agreed c:

Just become a korean you will become pro in moments.

It may have been mentioned previous, but rrtyui doesn't snap to notes and he is by far the best player in osu! currently (pp doesn't prove skill for all those about to say that sayo is better)

DatPenguinTho wrote:

It may have been mentioned previous, but rrtyui doesn't snap to notes and he is by far the best player in osu! currently (pp doesn't prove skill for all those about to say that sayo is better)

sayo is better

edit:/ proven by pp
edit2:/ ofcourse he snaps but sayo is still better,proven by pp

f i z i k wrote:

DatPenguinTho wrote:

It may have been mentioned previous, but rrtyui doesn't snap to notes and he is by far the best player in osu! currently (pp doesn't prove skill for all those about to say that sayo is better)

sayo is better

edit:/ proven by pp
edit2:/ ofcourse he snaps but sayo is still better,proven by pp

Go watch rrtyui's Rainbow After Snow replay, he doesn't snap enough for most people to think he is snapping.

Sayo is not better, he even says that himself. Plus, pp does not prove anything as look at HappyStick, he is amazing at the game yet he is below people he is better than.

How surprisingly, it really happened to me.

want to say its a bull#$*( in fact every1 can start playing ar 9 maps but it you stay at this point etc me for like month and you have tryhard for real to complete a map in fullcombo( if you are korean) it is worthless, to be honest i have seen my improve to ar 9 but it ended up, however i keep playing this game and just started looking for threads like this one. Dunno why but i feel like my skill ended up, even after following ur tips cant do s%&*.

I would probably go with the ladder.

got it
when you see long streams, you prepare the ladder.
thx m8 doing stream never been this easy!

This really helped thank you so much!

Does anybody srs need this huge of a guide? This is a game where you press a circle and after that you press another one and maybe hold it few times and spin it once or twice its as basic as it gets. Why would you need a guide for it. Only thing that you need to do is consistently play. That's only useful tip you can give. Everyone who complains "I am not improving" is mostly 1st day player or just fat arses who can't be bothered to actually play the game so they just complain. That's my take on this.

SomeGuy147 wrote:

Does anybody srs need this huge of a guide? This is a game where you press a circle and after that you press another one and maybe hold it few times and spin it once or twice its as basic as it gets. Why would you need a guide for it. Only thing that you need to do is consistently play. That's only useful tip you can give. Everyone who complains "I am not improving" is mostly 1st day player or just fat arses who can't be bothered to actually play the game so they just complain. That's my take on this.

you havent played long enough to hit any walls in your progress yet but trust me they happen and they're demoralizing when they do. don't just blindly judge everyone. i wanted to quit a few months ago when i spent about 3000-4000 plays getting no better even just playing stuff i couldn't do well on but i pushed past it and started slowly improving again. just that progress wall was nearly 10 times more plays than you even have total... so yeah it can wear on the mind. i was logging in every day and getting consistently lower scores on my local rankings than my previous ones on songs i already played. nonstop. for nearly 2 months.

Bassist Vinyl wrote:

SomeGuy147 wrote:

Does anybody srs need this huge of a guide? This is a game where you press a circle and after that you press another one and maybe hold it few times and spin it once or twice its as basic as it gets. Why would you need a guide for it. Only thing that you need to do is consistently play. That's only useful tip you can give. Everyone who complains "I am not improving" is mostly 1st day player or just fat arses who can't be bothered to actually play the game so they just complain. That's my take on this.

you havent played long enough to hit any walls in your progress yet but trust me they happen and they're demoralizing when they do. don't just blindly judge everyone. i wanted to quit a few months ago when i spent about 3000-4000 plays getting no better even just playing stuff i couldn't do well on but i pushed past it and started slowly improving again. just that progress wall was nearly 10 times more plays than you even have total... so yeah it can wear on the mind. i was logging in every day and getting consistently lower scores on my local rankings than my previous ones on songs i already played. nonstop. for nearly 2 months.

Yeah, but you like look at Dota2 or TF2 or cs go where people hit really big progress walls which makes them quit the game because of complicated tactics or too big pressure a lot of times and here people need guides with a game that is as basic as it can get. Why would you even play this if you don't enjoy it in the first place