So you picked up Dance Dance Revolution did you? Good for you, it's a fun game that you'll surely enjoy. I'm sure you've watched someone that was really good and thought, "Wow, how are they that good?" These 5 tips will help you get there!

Don't Put Your Feet In the Middle

This is the one I see the most and it drives me nuts every time I see it. There is no penalty for leaving your foot on the arrow, so leave it there. NEVER bring it back into the middle. If you do that, you're doing twice the work, once to the arrow, then once back to the middle. Your feet should never be in the middle.

Alternate Feet as Much as Possible

I've noticed a lot of people seem to have a "favorite" foot that they use whenever possible. Avoid this, high speed songs need both feet. Do your best to alternate your feet on every arrow.

Learn to do Crossovers

Going along with the last tip, learn crossovers. They are effective, look cool, and are a must for nearly every tough song. Picture you are alternating feet. Lets say you start with a left (with your left foot), down (with your right), then right (with your left). You'll see you have to "crossover" your body to get your left foot there. That's it! It'll feel weird at first, but you have to do it to get good. A lot of songs go "left, down, right, down, left, down, right, etc" in fast fashion. Imagine trying to do that without a crossover! Try "spin the disc" standard if you have that song for a good practice. Very hard songs will make that even worse, with a series like "left, down, right, UP"...try that one out for a second and you'll see the problem. That is called a "spin" and those look awesome but are VERY hard.

Learn Gallops

You've probably seen these too. A bunch of 1/4 notes followed by a 1/16th note. It's hard to explain, you'll know them when you see them. You have to "gallop" to do them. Almost bounce to them. It's almost like doing a jump (two arrows at a time), but one foot falls just a split second behind the other. Songs like Tsugaru use them.

Don't Stomp

I see this one a lot too. People just stomping on the pad. While I understand it isn't truly dancing, flow with it a bit. Don't stand there, arms stiffly to your side, stomping like a mad man. Flow with the song as if you were dancing. Don't be afraid to get your arms into it. Bystanders will enjoy it too if you really get into it. "Cowgirl" is a fun one to pretend to be whirling a lasso above your head during the song. Stomping also slows you down a lot. It takes a lot of energy to stomp and is very slow. Just step to the beat.

Those 5 quick tips should really help a staring player get a good foundation at playing DDR! Just remember, NO feet in the middle, alternate those feet, learn crossovers and gallops, and do NOT stomp!

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