Sproder into Ripto: Thoughts and Tips

I don’t know exactly how long it took me to get my first SiR. I think between 15-20 hours, over half of which I had a baby in a baby-carrier on me for. Just because of how busy I am, I had to practice in short spurts over the course of a couple months to get this; but I’m glad I finally got it. Since then, I’ve been able to get it several more times without much trouble, but I still need to get my consistency up before I apply it to runs.

There seems to be a lack of in depth explanation of how to learn and perform this trick. I wouldn’t be able to currently make a very good tutorial; but I tend to think pretty analytically—so instead, I made a detailed outline of the main points and tips that helped me…

The basics:
-If you end your sproder too close to the pillar it'll be more difficult to curve around it, likely resulting in a bonk. If you start your sproder earlier on the wall by initially hooking left with the DJ, you'll end the sproder further away from the pillar giving you more clearance to curve onto it.
-Take sharp angles coming off the white pillars, but keep your sproder angles relatively shallow while on the grey walls.
-The only dpad inputs you should be using are left and right.
-Good sproders involve short charges. Charges normally actually lose height, their main purpose is to prevent flops as you chain wallglides together. VERY SHORT CHARGES.
-Sproder inputs = x, roll onto square, roll off of square, release x, repeat

Once you are familiar with the basics, the rhythm and feel of the trick honestly just need to be labbed out and felt for yourself. That being said, there are a few important general things to know:
-It can help to think of sproders as CHAINS OF DJs early in the learning process. Keep the inputs clean and the sproders (DJs) separated, but bounce back from one to the next as fast as possible.
-Proper angles are what give height. But early in the learning process, it’s probably better to keep largely parallel with the walls to get more practice of the general angle patterns and good sproder inputs.
-During the trick, your d-pad inputs are essentially just going to alternate except when you come off the pillars. You need to practice and get used to a rhythm of alternating, but then doubling the left input as you go around each of the pillars.
-The beginning of the trick is the most important, setting the basis of the remainder. There are a few important elements to a good start: 1.) start with a good double jump; 2.) a pretty sharp angle on your first sproder around the first wall corner will actually give you some good height as you move around the first pillar; 3.) following the initial DJ, your first three sproder (glides) need to be pretty short as well. Starting high is ideal, but giving quick glides, or quick sproders, as you start and begin to move around the corner will ensure you maintain your height AND don’t bonk on the pillar.
-If you keep flopping throughout the trick, it’s because your inputs are messy or hasty. 99% of the time you flop, it’s because you pressed X to initiate the next sproder too soon after releasing Square from the previous. The inputs need to be clean, and charges are brief. But not only does each sproder need to be separated by a brief (ideally imperceptible) flop, there’s actually a brief period of a few frames after releasing square in which glides cannot be initiated. The most productive thing you can do during those few frames after releasing Square is roll back onto x to maximize your maintained height during that brief “charge stop” period. Remember, holding X results in more height in sproders just as it does in DJs and in proxies (in Spyro 2).
-You may also flop because you don’t actually release x before initiating the next sproder. That seems more obvious, but just be sure your inputs are clean and your sproders are separated, similar to a series of DJ inputs.
-Trust the process; better control and micro improvements come. There’s a lot of nuance to the trick. There’s actually a fair bit of leeway as well. The inputs are not what’s precise. The general pattern is what’s precise.

Tips to improve consistency:
-Once you get sproders down, think of them less like DJs and start treating X like your home base. This will help you extend you glides a bit more for longer sproders in the latter half of the trick. It will also help you keep fluid transitions back into glides after charges.
-The general rhythm of the sproders (or not specifically, the glides in the sproders) is not exact, but something like this: DJ, mid, short short, long, long, mid, short, short, short.
-It’s probably easier to think about it more simply though, to get a basis for the rhythm first. If you think of the initial DJ as a sproder: short, short, short, short, long, long, short, short, short, short. Pretty simple.
-Remember, short charges and proper angles, but the most important harsh angles are the first wall corner before first pillar and coming off the first pillar. Once you start figuring out the rhythm, height really makes or breaks the trick.
-Its important to be intentional with your dpad inputs/angles, especially at the points wher you need to curve around the initial lip of the pillars or turn sharply into walls.
-Just for further clarity regarding the delay between gliding after releasing Square: there's a charge "start" time and a charge "stop" time. The minimum charge length is "start"+"stop". Pressing Square initiates the charge "start" time. Charge is maintained as long as Square is held. Releasing Square initiates the "stop" time. There's no actual lag between the charge having stopped and being allowed to glide. The perceived lag is the charge stop time. You just have more lag if you release square before the end of the "start" time since you still have to wait for both "start" and "stop" to finish. So while the constant (but unconfirmed exact) value of the minimum charge never changes, if square is held for fewer frames than the charge “start” time, the “stop” time will seem longer. The value is probably something like 5 or 6 frames.