Improving Madden Stick Skills - ZFarls's Blog

ZFarls's Blog

Improving Madden Stick Skills

Posted on June 3, 2010 at 10:37 AM.

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Stick Skills! Whose got em? They aren't for sale. However, if you follow some basic football principles along with good Madden ideology even you can become a master of the analog.

Why do people struggle with stick skills?
Most new players think they aren't good enough to play on any other spot than the d-line. When they play as the safety, they get exploited for long touchdowns and aren't sure where to line up. In turn, they are afraid to get the experience of playing in the secondary and can never get better.
So how can I improve while limiting the damage caused by my own ineptitude? Lets check out some basic rules for getting better on "The Defensive Sticks"

Know your assignment - Sgibs says "under no circumstance should you play as a defensive linemen, unless you are planning on bringing him off the LOS and play coverage with him (not recommended either). When you are just getting used to usering a deep safety look to user either the FS or SS that is in the "short yellow" zone. This will minimize any type of deep ball over the top and will hide any mistakes that you make. For the more seasoned vet look to play with the FS or SS that is in the deep blue zone. Look to jump any quick routes and then recover deep"

Make sure you know what part of the field you are weak in. If you are the lone man in a deep blue zone, you can't worry about the flats because a deep throw is your responsibility. You would rather give up the 5 yard flat throw then a 30 yard deep ball because you bit on a short route.
If you only have 4 guys in man coverage and they are sending out 5 routes, you need to know which player is uncovered and shade to his side and route.
Start out playing conservative and as you learn your opponents tendencies, you can sneak up and make some plays on the ball. You WILL get beat deep sometimes, but this is how you learn.
To minimize the damage, a good strategy is to play as a guy with a good rating. If you are playing with Polamalu who is the fastest safety in the game, you are likely to "recover" quicker than if your playing with a slower more physical guy like Darren Sharper. We like to utilize either tall, fast or good hit power guys with low awareness. When you control these players, you give better control then the computer and their low rating and increase their value.
Some good players are Pat Watkins (Tall and strong for defending against rocket catches) Tyrell Johnson - Great "legs" rating with speed, agility, acc.
Dont be afraid to sub in a CB at SS and control him either, we LOVE to roam with guys like Antonio Cromartie who is a specimen.

Dont always go for int or hit stick-
Part of knowing where to be, involves knowing what to do at the moment the ball or player arrives. If you are the last guy back, simply go for the swat and try to knock the ball away. If you have help however, strafe and go for that interception! Once you are in position, you will start missing plays which is frustrating, but soon enough you will be laying hit sticks in the open field rather then letting the computer wrap up for you. Know the smart play to make!

Dont ALWAYS play as the same guy-
You want to change up your player rarely but enough to keep your opponent guessing. Everyone has a tendency to get comfortable with a certain way of playing. Perhaps try switching down to a LB on play to guard a pass over the middle, just to give your opponent a "what was that, why is he doing that" type of moment.

Practice- Be ready to make some mistakes, nothing worse than making a correct read, getting the hit stick lined up and then you miss the tackle and think "stupid game" It happens to everyone! The more chances you have to make plays the better you will become!

Dont Be Afraid
Usering is very important in Madden, when done effectively you can deter many throws from a human opponent, create turnovers and prevent little tactics that work over and over against the cpu. Usering was instrumental in our goal line defense as it allowed us to lock up nearly half the field by defending the quick throw which allowed the pressure to get in quickly. The more we used our safety, the more confidence we gained in our abilities to make game changing plays on defense.
I promise you, that if you follow the tactics in this article, you will over time become a better Madden Player. You WILL let up 15 more td's during Madden 10, BUT by the time Madden 11 arrives, you will be a user machine dedicated to changing the game on defense.
The Choice is yours, are you up to the challenge?

Comments

# 1 malachijohn666 @ Jun 3

this is a great piece. I struggle with Madden, particularly on Defense. Are there any good sites or tutorials out that that could help someone like me? Please PM if you know of one.