-Keep Relearning!-
When I took my first steps on a DDR pad I was terrible at it. So don't feel bad if you have trouble at first. I remember seeing the pros on the Internet and I thought to myself "I'll never be that good." Don't give up! My first tip is to play the game a lot for about a week to a month or so. During this time you might get a little better. Here's the important part! Completely stop playing for 2 weeks to a month and then come back to playing it. I can't stress doing this enough. When you come back to the game at first you'll seem a little rusty at it. Every time you relearn something you'll be better at it than you were before. This means that after you overcome your rustiness you'll make a big leap in what you can comprehend. Songs that were to hard to comprehend will suddenly be much easier. It's kind of like once school is over during summer break. At the end of the previous year the students are at their best. At this point its more difficult to help students to learn as fast as they did at the beginning. Once they come back to school the next year they may be a little rusty but after they get back into the groove of things they are more fluent readers and better at everything than they were before. This is the beauty of the human brain. Every time you relearn something you remember it better than you did the first time. So don't give up!
-Learning to Comprehend the Arrows-
One of the biggest things I discovered that was holding me back was my stiffness due to my inability to comprehend the arrows. As you get used to the arrow combinations you loosen up a lot. The better you get, the less you have to think about the notes. People often ask, "How do you understand all those notes there!" Really, I don't have to think about them one bit. It just comes second nature. When you get to this point, then your locked up arms and robotic legs smoothly glide from arrow to arrow. It's kind of like learning to read. At first, you read slow and focus on every letter of each word. Then you don't have to think about the letters as much and you focus more on each of the words. Eventually, you read fluently and can possibly guess what's coming up next. DDR is the same way. At first, you focus on each individual note. Then you focus on combinations of patterns. Then, you get so good, you don't have to think about what your doing one bit and everything you see in your peripheral vision is all you need to know. Just try to relax when playing. Make sure you're not holding your breath. Sometimes it's difficult to relax but if you don't you'll tire yourself out and end up failing. Just remember, the less you have to think, the better!
