The Dreaded Left Stick Debate – AST1N’s Personal View
by AST1N | 8 years ago | 0 Comments
The Dreaded Left Stick Debate – AST1N’s Personal View
In this league, we pride ourselves on playing as sim as possible. In doing so, we have created numerous rules to keep ourselves in check, and the one rule that seems to have the most controversy would be when a user gets a bad case of Leftstickimus Syndrome, or as many of us users know it by, LS. The left stick rule we abide by is officially defined below:
These 86 words do not give justice to what should and should not be allowed. Instead of hours of pointless GM debates that will get lost forever, I have decided to break this rule down for more clarity for your personal running game.
Zig-Zagging to Avoid CPU Tackles
Now let’s face it, it is too easy to gimmick the CPU AI into missing tackles, and the zig-zagging running animation’s sole purpose is not for field position, but rather unpolished video game development. I believe we all know what this looks like, but I will draw it out to avoid all confusion.
In this picture, if the player in red followed the movements of the red arrows, the Broncos defender would, in most cases, dive towards where the runner was at and completely whiff. You do not see this in the NFL, and you should not see it in the RZ. This maneuver is rarely debated and won’t be discussed further.
Left Stick to Avoid Defenders
The first thing I want to point out is the wording of this phrase. Many people are quick to call out a LS without thinking about what the animation/user is trying to accomplish. Just like the laws we have here in the USA, the users INTENT is key to the legality of the move. Let’s take a better look at what I mean by this.
Here you will see a simple counter play designed to go right at the left tackle, with a pulling right guard.
As you can see early on, the RB is headed at a 45 degree angle, headed right at the pulling right guard (who is running at a straight line towards the sideline.
As the hole develops, the right guard heads up field as the play was designed. It is here that the user needs to make a choice.
Choice #1 – Following Yellow Arrow – No LS / No Evasive Moves
If he runs completely straight as he started (45 degrees), he will run directly into his TE blocking for him, which can cause you to get stuck/get tackled. If there is a hole to run to in the NFL, the runner will hit it. It would be un-sim to run into blockers and defenders when the play has set up perfectly as planned.
Choice #2 – Following Red Arrows – No LS / Using a Juke or Spin
With this option, a juke or spin will maneuver away from the blocking TE. While this choice is better than doing nothing, you do have a problem. The direction you are headed will still be heading at a 45 degree angle, and not following your blockers, and eventually you will run to the sidelines instead of heading up field. Even if you juke away from your TE, you will still eventually need to change directions up field.
Choice #3 – Following Blue Arrow – LS up field following the LG / No Evasive Moves
You saw your LG make a 90 degree turn up field in the designated hole you are supposed to be hitting. It would be unfair if you were to let your other 10 offensive players down for giving you such a beautiful hole to hit, and your only reason of not hitting it is you are afraid of “cheesing”. If you make this cut up field, the naysayers would be in an uproar. However, let’s go back and look at the official wording of the rule.
“You cannot use the left stick to maneuver around defenders…small changes in directions is allowed but completely reversing field or sharp cuts TOWARDS THE SIDELINE are strictly prohibited.”
This is what many of us tend to forget. We see a runner make a planting cut and we lose our shit. We must remember WHY the LS move happening. If you have a defender heading right at you, you cannot use the LS to evade. If you have a hole you need to hit, you are maneuvering around BLOCKERS, not DEFENDERS. I know there is a fine line when it comes to a blocker/defender matchup, but if you did not cut with your LS ever, plays like tosses, sweeps, and flat patterns would run you straight into the sidelines. Some LS maneuvers are NECESSARY for realism to the game. The only reason LS should be called is if you are blatantly trying to gimmick the defense.
Poor Finger Mechanics
Another thing to remember is the user’s poor finger control. I will be the first to tell you that I am not great in judging the direction a player is headed and corresponding it to the direction on the left stick. If a player is running a slant route at a 25 degree and I throw it to him, I have a little variability in the direction the stick is pointed to maintain the same angle he is running.
If you look at the controller above (angles and sections not drawn to scale; the margin for error is much tighter), the yellow line represents the direction the runner is headed. If you move your left stick anywhere within that orange space, the runner should banana their direction without any sharp cuts. However, as soon as you hit that red line and move into the blue area, your player is programmed into making a cut animation. Sometimes this is beyond your control. If you catch this slant in the middle of the field at that angle and there are no defenders downfield between the hashes, it would be silly to keep running that same angle towards the opposite sideline. You will want to get up field, all while avoiding the cutting animation and backlash you will receive from it.
You aren’t avoiding defenders by doing this, you are making a football play. That’s what all this should come down to. Sometimes quick and shifty players are hard to control these slight movements, and they are more prone to cutting animations. Just because you see a cut animation does not warrant “LS” being called out. If there is malicious intent behind the cut, then that is one thing. We are all human and we are playing in an imperfect virtual world.