As I mentioned in my intro post, I have been exploring ways to improve my game.  Aside of the common sense stacking, error reduction improvements, and rotating both ways, I am also considering the following:

Rotation limited stacking
We know that one of the most effective ways to reduce the number of keystrokes you make is to rotate 'both ways'.  This limits the number of keypresses significantly.  If its possible to architect a stack that capitalizes instead on no rotation whatsoever, does the strategic cost outweigh the benefit of not having to rotate at all?

Parallel Input
Before I started customizing my keys, I commonly handled hold and hard drop with my left hand and rotate, soft drop, and movement with my right hand.  I am curious as to whether or not moving rotation to my left hand will allow me to simultaneously move and rotate more quickly than I can manage with my right hand alone. (Or is it more likely that rotation and hard drop are done in parallel/quick succession?)

What are your thoughts on these strategies?

What else do you do to limit your keypresses?

I'd definitely recommend trying the "Parallel input" you've mentioned because I think your current setup doesnt balance the load evenly between both hands.  Your left hand only has 2 keys to use, hold and hard drop, while ur right hand has 5, rotate left/rotate right, soft drop, and move left/move right.   Also the ability to move & rotate simultaneously is important if you want to reach peak speed.  So yeah, do what it takes to get rid of the handicap that you're in right now.

Quote from: Blink
I'd definitely recommend trying the "Parallel input" you've mentioned because I think your current setup doesnt balance the load evenly between both hands.  Your left hand only has 2 keys to use, hold and hard drop, while ur right hand has 5, rotate left/rotate right, soft drop, and move left/move right.   Also the ability to move & rotate simultaneously is important if you want to reach peak speed.  So yeah, do what it takes to get rid of the handicap that you're in right now.

Have been trying the parallel for the last couple of days along with double rotation, but these 2 minute+ 40 line times are going to make me cry... lol

It will be nice when I don't feel like I need to go back to the right hand with one rotate to "take the gloves off"

To further on this, I assigned the most frequently pressed functions (hard drop, then movement, then rotation) to the quickest fingers (my right hand is faster than my left, index and middle fingers are the fastest). Also, I use home row so my hands aren't all stretched out.

Give yourself a couple of weeks to learn any new setup. It's a pain, but it's worth it.

Ok, I have been using Enter(return) for the hard drop. The upper arrow was my rotation and left and right. I'm really used to that. Can anyone give me tips on how to break my habit and rotate both ways.Btw the problem here is that I have to use the upper arrow as the hard drop and z and x for rotation. Its really, really hard for me to play that way after so many years of using the upper arrow for rotation.Can anyone give me any other key combinations I might use or any tips at all?

i use the home keys like caffeine, but the assignments are probably a little different.

S-rotate left
D-rotate right
F-hard drop

J-left
K-soft drop
L-right
;-hold

it divides rotation and movement between my two hands which allows for simultaneous rotation/movement.

I'm currently in the process of switching to:
L-Shift -> Hold
Space -> Hard Drop
A -> Left Rotate
D -> Right Rotate
Numpad -> Movement, Soft Drop

I'm toying with the idea of moving the hard drop to "up" on the num pad... but as this was previously my old rotate, it makes me prone to error

Hard drop should be up or down, depending on comfort. I'd definitely recommend splitting rotation/hold for one hand and left/right/drop for the other hand. It makes far more sense.

If it's uncomfortable, then give it a while. You should be prepared to be slow as heck for a couple of days or even weeks to allow greater speed in a couple of months.

Quote from: Rosti_LFC
Hard drop should be up or down, depending on comfort. I'd definitely recommend splitting rotation/hold for one hand and left/right/drop for the other hand. It makes far more sense.

If it's uncomfortable, then give it a while. You should be prepared to be slow as heck for a couple of days or even weeks to allow greater speed in a couple of months.

Just changed to up (having a few errors of judgement... makes for 'interesting' fields sometimes)...  I've managed to chop 30 seconds off of my 40L time so far today... so maybe it won't take too long afterall  (still have 1 min of time to gain back though....

Just curious, how fast were you using just the up arrow rotation? I'm at about 120-130 tpm currently and expecting to be at 140 soon. I'm too lazy to change my keys.

Quote from: emomissionkid
Just curious, how fast were you using just the up arrow rotation? I'm at about 120-130 tpm currently and expecting to be at 140 soon. I'm too lazy to change my keys.

I'm playing with about the same speed. I guess 140 or 150 is the max speed one can reach with single rotation. I will try to learn to play with double,but it will be hard and it will take considerable amount of time.The only reason I do this is because I want to increase my speed a bit(well speed is the only reason for someone to use double rotation). However, the thing is that at some level of speed you a person is no longer improving, but is rather weakening his play. In a game like blockbox, a slow player does not have a chance against a fast player.I have noticed some serious flows in that game that I will discuss in a new thread soon.

The thing I wanted to say is that I`m not sure if double rotation will help improve my play(not just my speed).If I play a game like blockbox it will certainly help me improve my performance, but I don't play that game, so I'm still wondering.Nevertheless I will learn the double rotation.I only have to be careful in not getting too "enchanted" with the high speed, because this will deteriorate my play, rather than improve it.

Quote from: SpawN
The only reason I do this is because I want to increase my speed a bit(well speed is the only reason for someone to use double rotation).

using both rotations can also allow you to make twists that weren't possible before, and playing with instant gravity will be easier. all of that depends on which rotation system you're using though.

I think mzhang can go 150+ tpm using only one rotation but its not something i recommend

How fast you can go with whatever configuration or with a gamepad or whatever is irrelevant. The fact is that if you were playing with a more optimal configuration and a keyboard you'd be able to go faster. Maybe it'll take a couple of weeks to get used to, but there should be a noticeable improvement, and it's probably the easiest and fastest way you'll ever have to be able to add 10 or 15 to your TPM value once you've gotten past 120.

Maybe there are people who can get 180tpm with a weird keyboard configuration or a gamepad, but they'd probably be able to break 190 or 200 with a more optimal setup, and I think it'd be a poor mentality to be happy with what you have because you're too lazy to switch. You should always strive to do what you can to better yourself.

Quote from: Rosti_LFC
How fast you can go with whatever configuration or with a gamepad or whatever is irrelevant. The fact is that if you were playing with a more optimal configuration and a keyboard you'd be able to go faster. Maybe it'll take a couple of weeks to get used to, but there should be a noticeable improvement, and it's probably the easiest and fastest way you'll ever have to be able to add 10 or 15 to your TPM value once you've gotten past 120.

Maybe there are people who can get 180tpm with a weird keyboard configuration or a gamepad, but they'd probably be able to break 190 or 200 with a more optimal setup, and I think it'd be a poor mentality to be happy with what you have because you're too lazy to switch. You should always strive to do what you can to better yourself.

That is why I have motivated myself to start using double rotate. However, as with everything else, after a certain level of speed, you are obstructing your play. Too bad I can no longer play online on a high level at least for some weeks, since if I really want to break my habit, I have to use the new configuration without exceptions.