How to Become a DDR Master
Even though we’ve all had to learn the hard way that “It’s harder than it looks,” you don’t want to give your friends the satisfaction of watching you eat it on the arcade floor. Even if it means a little incognito, at-home practice, there are a few easy tips to mastering at least the basic levels of the game.
- Don’t Punish the Pad: Your determination and concentration may make you want to put down a heavy foot on each step, but this is not only ungraceful, but unsuccessful. You don’t have to stomp on the arrows to register your body weight, you’re not a feather. Stomping also takes longer and can throw you off balance, making the next step harder to execute. Besides, it makes you look like you have a personal vendetta against an arcade machine, which will lose you major cool points.
- Stay Out of the Middle: After the game starts, there is no logical reason to have your feet in the middle of the pad. It’s much easier to go from one arrow to the other then to go from one arrow, back to the middle, and then to the next arrow. You won’t lose points for keeping your foot on one of the arrows, so don’t waste your time. Especially when you move to the higher levels, this will kill your game.
- Use Both Feet: Would you go to a club and hop around, dancing on one foot? No. So, why do it on a simulated dance floor? Even though it’s easy in the beginning to rely on your dominant foot, this will form a habit of play and limit your ability as you advance in levels.
- Listen to the Song: The steps actually match up with the beat of the song, so if you can focus on getting into the rhythm of the music, the steps will come more naturally and you’ll begin to flow with the game.
- Challenge Yourself: If you spend all of your time memorizing one song, you may have that one mastered but you won’t really impress anyone. No one wants to watch you do the same routine over and over. The only way to get better is by taking chances and trying new and harder levels each time.