Stiff arm help

[cgalligan]

Just wondering how you guys use the stiff arm?

- do you press it right before contact?
- do you hold it as you run?

I can't seem to figure it out, as I dont know WHEN to hit the stiff arm button...

Also...

are there any stiff arm animations other than the one where the ballcarier THROWS the Defender to the ground??? This is the only stiff arm animation that I've seen... I'm really hoping that there are some other ones...

[datruth]

I've got my best results by holding the button down a yard or two before being touched. Although it's very difficult to time and very rarely works on Allpro. It practically never works while playing online due to the exact timing needed for it to work and the added issue of Internet lag.

Yes. There are about 5 different animations but you NEVER see the other ones play out due to the default Allpro players tackle ability. If you adjust the CPU tackle slider to 0 on Allpro you'll see many new stiff arm animations play out and the gang tackling starts to seem appropriate and not to overpowered.

BTW who are you using, and what level do you play on?

I'm using Blount from Tampa Bay. 98 stiff arm rating

[cgalligan]

Peyton Hillis

And I pretty much only play my Online Franchise games... I can't stand this game Offline vs the CPU

[datruth]

Let me preference this by first saying I'm not getting consistent results no matter what I do, and you're better off trying to run around a defender, than use a special move to avoid him.

After trying different techniques in practice mode and online, I will say that the stiff arm animation seems to work more when you hold the button down while running in the open field. I think it depends on how soon and how long you hold the button as well as the angle of the tackler.

I think that one of the main issues causing the stiff arm animation not to work properly is the fact that there is only one button to stiff arm right and left. At times it's very hard to see which hand the ball is in so I tend to make the mistake of tapping the button when I want to hold it to trigger a stiff arm. It was better when the shoulder buttons controlled the stiff arm that way you knew the right button was stiff arm right and the left was stiff arm left. If the ball was in the right hand and you hit stiff arm right it will automatically move the ball to the left hand.

Rapidly tapping the A button sometimes works when in a crowd or going through the line of scrimmage. But I wouldn't recommend doing this often. You could get hit while the ball is being switched from hand to hand and fumble.

Another reason why it's ineffective is because most of the animations are too slow. By the time you get one guy off of you with a successful stiff arm, the defensive pursuit has caught up to you. If I'm not mistaken, every successful stiff arm animation causes the ball carrier to slow down regardless of his ability.

I've also noticed a trend, where if there's only one man to beat between you and a big gain, you have less of a chance to get by him with a stiff arm. No matter how big the mismatch is. If that same defender has help coming to assist in the tackle, you have a better chance getting past the first guy but the help will take you down soon after.

I'm not sure if the elusiveness rating matters when it comes to using the stiff arm, but most of Hillis and Blount's ratings are very similar. Hillis has the better elusiveness rating and it seems like his stiff arm is more effective despite the fact they have the same stiff arm rating.