Having played Fifa on the Xbox for the past 10 years, the last 2 mainly on Pro Clubs playing for some of the most well run and competitive teams in the business, I decided that it was time to write my first article for UltimateFIFA about something that I’m sure 99% of the FIFA PRO CLUBS gaming community experience at some point in there digital careers…  I call it…

Hitting the wall!

Have you ever noticed how one minute your spanking teams left right and centre and everything seems to go exactly were you want it, you skin all who try to take the ball from you, your able to pull off the most divine skill move to leave the cabbage of a defender in your wake or you make a crunching, edge of the box, perfectly timed tackle and the next your suddenly playing like you’ve never held a controller in your life, your passes all go astray, you shoot like your ankles have turned to putty, you miss-time every challenge you attempt to make… and no matter what you do it only seems to get worse until the point your questioning your sanity or wondering whether your console has been taken over by an outside force…

Well fear not my FIFA brothers and sisters you are by no means alone, and there is a very simple explanation for this peculiar down turn in your fortune’s…

It’s called confidence!  Yes that’s right, just like in a real life situation you can actually suffer from a lack of confidence in game which will affect the way you play.

Why???

Well it’s simple really.  When your suffering from a lack of confidence your whole gaming experience changes, first of all your not relaxed both in terms of your mental approach nor your actual bodily posture.  Secondly, your tense, apprehensive and you begin to rush your choices.  Thirdly, your frustrated and the harder you try the more frustrated you become when something doesn’t go according to plan.  Finally when you experience “Hitting the Wall” you become your biggest critic, you feel like your letting your team mates down, your in game club down and mainly letting yourself down and the whole vicious cycle begins anew.

How can I Fix it???

you cant…. :)

Oh all right you can lol, and its very easily done too.  (This is the easy one…)  Walk away from the game for a while, take a break, play something else for an evening, don’t play anything at all for an evening (I know that’s sacrilege but it works!)  In general, just forget about Clubs and FIFA for a while.

Communication is the Key……..Talk!!!

I can not stress this enough!  Talk to your team mates in game, let them know what your doing, call for passes, tell people to make runs or cover defensive positions, but TALK!!!  When your confidence is low you wont talk at all, so talking actually helps breed more confidence, not just for yourself but also for your team mates, some of the best football I’ve ever played in game is when people are talking and communicating.

Keep it simple…

Yes sounds obvious and it is, but how many of us use this combination  for instance

[LB]+(A) ([L2 + (X)) for a standard pass which when playing with AI would constitute as a one-two?  Well, believe it or not [LB]+(A) ([L2 + (X)) will detract from the accuracy and weight of the pass.  When we are playing with other people its not needed.  You can use a simple (A) or (X) pass to your team mate and make the run yourself – if your talking to your team mates they’ll know you want it back.

When shooting just pull your leg back over your head and hit the ball hard.  When defending, take your finger of the Right Trigger while holding (A) or (X) to perform a standing tackle!  Instead just wait until your opponent is closer and simply use (A) that way you wont miss-time as many tackles or be left looking at the attackers heels half as much.  Standing still works too as the game programming makes your defender stick a leg out for you…

Forget the tricks…

Until your playing freely again the trick stick is bad!  Just give the easy ball and take the easy option.  Work through it and start building your in game confidence back up again, remember its only a game after all and that your controller doesn’t bounce (as I have found to my dismay)!

Team Mates…

If your a team mate of someone who seems to be suffering, don’t criticise them as it wont help at all, it will just make things worse for them.  Try and be constructive and encourage them, remember if they were a good player two days ago then they still are a good player now and haven’t suddenly developed blindness or 2 left hands – they just need a little positive communication.

So, all in all just try to relax before you play do some meditation, give some money to charity and try to enjoy your gaming experience, sooner rather than later you’ll find that you have broken through the wall and have started to play some Uber Cool Amazing Hawt Sauce football again!

Thanks for reading

Good Luck

Sando1980

2 Comments
  1. COLE UK March 3, 2011 at 10:10 am

    Good advice mate – I’ve hit the wall soooo many times!

    Another problem I have is that when I try to keep it simple I tend to become more predictable. When I’m stale A break always does me good though and I come back hungry again.

  2. FVPA Mark April 16, 2011 at 11:48 am

    Cracking write up, Sando

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