Crossover vs double step when sightreading

[u/Jageems]

How am I supposed to tell whether a crossover will resolve well or not when sightreading charts? Should I just double step crossover patterns when I'm sightreading, then play the intended crossover when I replay the chart or learn it? Or is there a way to recognize ahead of time that a crossover will resolve cleanly? Do I have to just play more?

Spin patterns, for example, throw me off because I don't actually see that a pattern is a spin until after I've already committed to the crossover for the first 3 notes (my scroll speed is around 580bpm if that matters).

For context, I am a bar player. I've been playing for about a year now. I can AA most 12s, A+ most 13s, and A some 14s. I am comfortable with executing crossovers and patterns like laterals, and I usually get A on 11s in doubles play. I just panic when cross overs dont resolve and force me to double step which makes me miss a lot of notes afterward.

[u/mysticrudnin]

You can't really know ahead of time.

Newer songs will probably resolve, older ones probably won't. But that's just a tendency, and not a rule.

Some of these spins may be crossovers where you have to start out crossed.

[u/Jageems → u/mysticrudnin]

I guess I'll just try to alternate my feet as much as possible when I sightread, then. Thanks!

[u/QuantumPolagnus → u/mysticrudnin]

You can totally know ahead of time if you slow the read speed down. If you crank the speed down slow enough, you can see the entire pattern before you have to commit.

I may be biased, though, 'cause I read really slow. I'm most comfortable around 200bpm and only ramp it up to about 450bpm for 17's and 18's.

[u/mysticrudnin → u/QuantumPolagnus]

I also like to read slow, and it's true that slower read speeds give you more time

Some charts have some pretty long segments that don't resolve though, more than fits on screen at once even at 1x.

[u/QuantumPolagnus → u/mysticrudnin]

True, but then you at least know it doesn't immediately resolve. If I really want to go for it, though, a slow arrow speed lets me turn around and turn my head to catch the next steps until it either resolves or I decide to double-step to turn back around.

[u/yimmysucks → u/mysticrudnin]

what does "resolve"mean

[u/mysticrudnin → u/yimmysucks]

"Makes sense" basically. Like, you never have to make an impossible move or a spin, and it puts you back to a playable position

[u/Ver_zero]

Every crossover resolves if you're brave enough lol. If your interested In learning some of the funkier foot patterns for fun or style then the best way is to "trust the machine" and force yourself to always alternate feet no matter what as practice. It's hard and scary especially since it's easy to fail songs doing this. DDR has some pretty interesting patterns beyond front crossovers and spins and this way you'll eventually build muscle and sight memory for them. Some you'll wind up turning your back to screen for a while or pivoting left and right alot. If you're more of a high accuracy bar player it's probably more energy efficient and accurate to just double step a lot of it. I find a lot of the patterns that really make you pivot or turn your back to the screen are tougher or not worth the effort if your holding on the bar.

[u/Jageems → u/Ver_zero]

Yeah, having my back turned away from the screen sounds pretty daunting. I wanna aim more for high accuracy, so ig I will have to double step those patterns. I'll try to keep alternating and doing crossovers as much as possible tho. Thanks for your reply!

[u/SeaAimBoo]

Tbh, this depends a lot on the chart and on the era it was made.

You CAN get good at sightreading crossovers. For example, the crossovers in Sunkiss Drop are notorious yet always resolve smoothly. Even if you don't memorize the exact placement and timing of the notes, you can get through the patterns as long as you commit to the crossovers, not mixing it up with double steps.

Completely unlike something like Daikenkai, which has crossovers that resolve to foot switches, double steps, and spins.

My advice? Sightreading involves knowing not just when to crossover, but also when NOT TO. My personal method is to play at a slower speed (close to 1.5x, if not lower) so I can always see more notes and identify the incoming pattern more easily. That way, I know if a crossover is coming and whether or not it resolves smoothly.

[u/argetlamzn]

I’m also curious about this! I’ve found some spins only after watching other players on some of my favorite songs.

[u/qilieun]

you should be sightreading at a slower speed than what you’d read at for songs you’re familiar with. it’s also important to find your comfortable reading speed range in general.

it can also help to change your noteskin, as well as the lane and background graphics. this might only have a small impact, especially if you’re playing DDR World which has pretty good default settings. the wrong noteskin makes a noticeable difference for me though.

easier diffs will sometimes feature the same patterns at slower speeds, or introduce similar recurring motifs that might make the harder diff easier to sightread. this is especially accurate for gimmicky songs.

some ppl like watching the charts or playing them on a keyboard before attempting them at the arcade. not really a sightread at that point though. i didn’t really like doing this at all for a long time and it still feels a bit too much like homework for me. but as im trying to get into harder diffs ive recognized it can save a lot of time.

also some patterns are going to be just too difficult to tell on a sightread and that’s ok. i feel that i have strong sightreading yet boss charts consistently trick me into incorrectly doing a crossover or double step.

all that said, i wouldn’t overthink it! your ability to sightread these patterns correctly will naturally improve with practice. my best sightreading is when i’m in a flow state and not actively thinking about any of this.

[u/Jageems → u/qilieun]

Yeah maybe I just need more practice lol. Thanks for your advice!

[u/djfxonitg]

That’s a hard one because some do resolve a little funky but allows people to freestyle a lil more. As others have said though, it’s almost impossible to know ahead of time.

[u/XephyrSG]

I think I'm pretty good at sightreading (I've gotten one or two 16 sightread PFC's and multiple others below that) and its mostly experience with playing a ton of charts to be comfortable with swapping between forms.

Even though some DDR charts can be...interesting, most of them give you a sense of what they expect from you by the first chorus. It's generally easier to start double stepping most patterns at first, especially 14s and below because there are very few patterns you're "forced" to crossover due to speed. If there's a particularly nasty crossover you'll have to double step two 16th notes to resolve it, but DDR trains this skill pretty well over time. Once you double step that blind crossover, you can decide whether it's worth it to start defaulting to crossover form.

At 14s in general, if the crossovers are within 8th notes and 16th notes happen after the crossover resolves, I'm double stepping that until I feel like crossing over would be more accurate/comfortable. If the chart forces me to take a hard crossover early, like RDL, I gotta assume the chart will do that but worse later, so I change my form/default to trying the crossovers (Come Back To Me 14 is a great example).

Sometimes you still get burned because, like others have said, DDR charting can be unintuitive and some charts just require multiple plays. Once you get up to the higher difficulties crossovers become much more mandatory, but that's up to you whether you want to play the charts "as intended" on those middle difficulties. Scroll speed shouldn't matter, but lowering it a touch could help if you're at the brink of your read speed and feel like you're really snap reacting to the notes.

[u/Jageems → u/XephyrSG]

Thanks, this helped a lot!

[u/iProxymoron]

Try sightreading on lower scroll speeds as a personal rule. Go back to your natural read speed after a play or 3.