source: https://ask.fm/Laudandus/answers/141906299533

Laudandus, I'm a sheik main and I've been playing for about 14 months and I'm improving a lot. I've taken games off of slox and dj nintendo (almost a set damn it) but i recently feel like i've hit a wall. how do i improve? also i feel like i can beat anyone but can lose to players a lot worse thanme

Recognize how little you understand. Both of these problems (losing to people way worse than you and feeling like you're plateauing) are easily caused by a lack of understanding of what you don't know. It's likely you are losing to the players "worse than you" because there are big parts of the game you don't understand - while your strengths are good enough to sometimes let you take games off of Slox and DJ, when someone plays a style that makes your weaknesses important you can't win. Play those people who give you trouble more with an open mind, and see if you can figure out what about them it is that you aren't doing well against.In general expanding your perspective isn't too hard if you're willing to abandon some of your ego - play some friendlies where you focus on holding center, some where you focus on camping platforms, etc. Focus on using a specific move as well as you can. Focus on making reads or reactions. If that's not the way you think about the game, you can focus on trying to look like a specific top player or even focus on creating a certain feeling - the point is just to make your playstyle more well-rounded.In the short term this might make you "worse", because you won't be constantly playing to your one strength, but in the long term you can keep that strength strong and pick up new ones as well.