Madden for beginners

[kaymagic91]

The biggest problem about this game is the steep learning curve if you arent from America your pretty much lost as to how this game works because american football is very detailed so here a couple pointers ive picked up. Ive only played it for a week but ive picked up a couple key pointers and now play well on all pro.

1. run the ball. this means that instead of making those 40 yard passes you see on tv, you should spend 80% of the time running. You only need to run 10 yards and have 3 gos at it. You shouldnt be bombing the ball down the field unless theres a really obvious weakness you can exploit in the opponents defence. think if you pass you can get intercepted and lose possession anytime but if your running its almost impossible if you protect the ball.

2. Learn to audible, almost on every play i have to make adjustments, you need to read your opponents position and know what your going to do before a play starts. it will prevent alot of sacks and interceptions.

3. recognise defences. Cover 2 is basically when you see 2 players deep down field.to exploit this make any pass play that gets your players inbetween the space of the two defenders deep and the scrimmage line.cover 3 works the same but is alot more tricky, fortunately that extra defender down field means theres less players charging at your qb so you should have more time if you know what your doing

These are all zone defenses meaning that if you time passes well its very hard for them to stop as there usually a space between you and the defenders seeing as they arent marking players individually. These are the spaces you should look to pass into. To exploit man defences you should look to use plays that change your players direction or have blockers, the defenders has to react to what your doing so there usually a delay and thats where the exploits are. Recognising defences is the only way to win in this game.

Recognise blitzes. This is when the opponent rushes your qb, this gives you alot less time to scan the field for weakness and open receivers. To beat this you can either use a formation that has alot of blockers or run any play that gives the ball away quickly. At first you will be sacked alot like i was but youll eventually realise that during a blitz once the ball is out of your qbs hands there is alot of space to exploit. use running plays, screen passes, you wont have enough time to launch a long range pass downfield from my experience just get rid of the ball. A blitz usually has alot of players on or near the scrimmage line and few players after that, anything beyond that scrimmage line can be exploited.

Pick a team. maybe you should do a little online research to know what these team do and what their strengths are, just pick a team and go into practice mode, stick with that team for a while and recognise the plays, the players and the strengths, this way youll know exactly whos doing what and when. My copy of Madden 12 might as well be called Eagles 12 the way ive stuck to that 1 team, after you get comfortable you can start switching but always go into practice first, so you get familiar with everything.

learn rushing controls. Before once i got the ball i would just hammer the sprint button until i got hit. alot of the time if you can just beat one defender the entire field will open up, sometimes that means slowing down so a blocker can catch up to help you, sometimes you can do a quick juke move to get some space. the play doesnt end once you complete a pass keep reading the defence and think of a way to beat your man before the balls even got to you.

After youve spent time in practice and familiarised youself with the controls head over to exhibition game and play on the easiest difficulty. This is to help you with how to use what youve learned practically, youll soon be destroying this level and when you do jump straight to all madden or all pro. if your thinking why you should jump to the hardest levels its because theres too much BS the computer lets you get away with on lower difficulty levels. if you play one online match you'll realise that real players will murder you if you ever brought that to a game. play at least one game a day on this level, it doesnt matter if you lose by 50-0 the point is so you familiarise yourself with what the Cpu does and why it does this. This will seriously help improve your defence/offence and help you cut out on mistakes.

Learn terminology, as ive said ive only played this game for a week but what really helped was that i started reading up on football to recognise the player roles and terminology. Unfortunately with no real tutorial your expected to just know american football which makes it almost impossible for a beginner to understand and play. it will help your game when you know a players position because youll also know what hes expected to do.

[PGaither84]

I have thought about making a Madden for beginners tutorial many times.

[Ueauvan]

as im english, ive never played the game and that always helps. ive watched since the 80s when it first was on tv here. i wouldnt however say you are automatically lost. i first played montana's game on the pc and got hooked.

my 2 cents/pennies/groats/pfennigs

- if you have played rugby, you will find run defence and running the ball easier
- unfortunately you face the wrong way on defence which makes it harder
- knowing the rules helps, sadly im getting to the point when im calling before the refs do in the game, not on technique but fumbling in last 2 mins and fumbler isnt the one to recover etc. the sad obscure rules, i know the basics of holding as olineman but cant call it unless its obvious
- some qbs are really hard to contain, especially peyton. to be honest the 2 qbs i always hated were alex and peyton, because in earlier versions of the game they would call aubibles or in alex's case throw the play out of the window and scramble. i started heavy playing as a superstar to try and figure what was what. rb was easy, but i much prefer mlb.
- there are various shell coverages. 0 is pure man coverage ie 1 defender per eligible receiver (5 max) and the spare on the qb if you rush 5 (blitz). if you send more than 4 defenders in blitz its a blitz, 4 blitzers in a 3-4 is not a blitz.
- cover 1 is man coverage with usually a safety deep over the middle
- cover 2 is 2 deep zone, sometimes with zone or man cover underneath, other times blitz. or a combination of those elements.
- cover 3 is usually 2 cbs and a s in deep zone. however that makes holes underneath
- there are variations of defensive formations created by certain coaches/teams. tampa 2 is a 4-3 cover 2 base with the mlb dropping in deep zone in the middle, the Bears version of the 46 is different than the normal with large emphasis on stopping the run.
- you could be really bad at madden not because you dont know the game, or recognise coverages but because you are useless with a controller like me. you can either get better or in my case realise your weakness and work round it via plays/roster and strategy.
for example i cant throw very well except short west coast stuff. therefore i use tes/hbs and slot recievers a lot and short patterns.
i run and try and control the clock. i like wierd formations where its obvious im going to run and yet they still cant stop me getting 4 yards, because i outnumber the defenders with blockers (fbs/tes) at the point of the scrimmage i want to go through

no qb can throw if he is on his back. i like blitzing its my rugby nature, i like "boshing" ie ie hitting the ball carrier upside his head. i like scaring qbs and with dpp this year its lovely as there is a qb memory as such

taking a knee whilst "distasteful" from a english sport point of view is valid, use it dont risk a fumble, even on the goal line with 20 seconds to go and your 1 pt behind and you have a timeout.

yes kickers look funny kicking and punters are insane. oline/dline guys look fat but some are quite athletic even at 300 lbs. yes our colonials friends dont use stones and pounds!

dont try and play the game a certain way if your personnel doesnt have the skills to use it. dont draft to fit a "prototype" you have in your mind, figure out what is best value at that pick and could you use them in some way.

subbing players at certain postions for certain formations is useful.

lbers are the most flexible postion to change quickly before a snap. with 2 flicks you can blitz/hook zone etc. for example in 3-3-5 there is a lovely 3 man under play, then you can put the 3 lbers in hook very quickly and keep the 2 dbs in man on their x/z receivers

x is usually their #2 receiver and is on the left side (in i-pro formation)
y is the te
z is the right (#1 receiver) and usually the best ie Larry F

if there is a 3rd wr its called the slot

the ones ive forgotten are which of x/y is flanker or split end or ...

lbers have funny names. in the 4-3 and for some reason ive always preferred the 3-4, the strong side (where te lines up) is the sam, the mlb is the mike and weak side is the will

any of the above i could have got wrong and probably have.

but as a englishman i enjoy your colonial game ( i hate soccer btw) and i support the 9ers. my favourite player is Pat Willis who my other half nicknamed Mean from his madden photo from 08? now he looks more like eddie murphy. shes likes Urlacher, its the marine look and blue eyes probably.

[kaymagic91]

To Ueauvan

That was very insightful and there are alot of tips there that i will use to improve my game, im british(London) too and a football fan who never played rugby so words like tampa 2 4-3 coverage, hook zone, ipro formation are what iniatially scared me off thats why i say it very important to learn the terminology to stand a chance. But again thanks for that i too am a beginner and will definitely use your advice

[Ueauvan]

Kay

some things are harder than others. there are plays with "prevent" in their name, usually quarter normal/3 deep. that means every db (7 in quarter) drops back into deep deep zone to prevent a hail mary, last minute throw into endzone. last time i saw one in a game that mattered for me was Jerry Glanville's Falcons(?) vs the 9ers in the playoffs eons ago. prevent defence according to John M himself prevents you winning.

normally you have 4 dbs, 2 cornerbacks (speedy guys who supposedly should be able to man cover, jump and harrass wide receivers), a strong safety (plays coverage but closer to line and usually hits hard) and the free safety, what i term the cerebral db. examples of those are ed reed and my hero ronnie lott. some cbs as they lose a step when they get older become very good safeties.

5 dbs is nickel, 6 is dime, 7 is quarter, 8 half and 9 is dollar iirc

if youre playing 9dbs the offense know youre playing versus the pass but then again probably even my mother knows that they will be passing!

screen passes work again heavy blitzing teams except they never usually work in madden for me

draw plays are faking a pass, delaying the handoff and actually being a run. i tend to use with 3wr 1 te or 4 wr sets (formations)

play action (pa) is faking the run and then passing, the safeties and lbers bite on the run, move closer to the line and lose coverage of the receivers. sometimes pa works in madden sometimes it doesnt.

a basic hint, assuming as qb you see 2 defenders deepish indicating cover 2, you see 3 defenders opposite your 3 wrs. if you want to know if they are in man or zone coverage send one of the wrs in motion, if that defenders follows them it usually means man coverage.

now i could be getting this wrong but if you see man what you are looking for is a receiver who has beaten their defender on their route and until they are deep with the safeties you have a chance of making the throw, psychic lbers being ignored for a min.

if they are in cover 2 then you throw to places where zones are ie middle deep or sideline 10 yards away from the line ie seams or gaps in coverages.

[mjhyankees]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

I have thought about making a Madden for beginners tutorial many times.

You should...i bet you've got alot of insights to offer and some guy somewhere will really appreciate it...go for it!

[mjhyankees]

Nice idea here guy......I forget that people from other places are intrigued about american football but not having grown up with it, you can get lost very easily. Many women in the US don't watch football because they just have no clue whats going on. Basketball, Hockey and Baseball...not to take away from these, but the game play is more obvious. They have their subtleties but you know that the guy has to get the ball in the basket, or in the net, or hit or catch the ball.

Football is so layered.....good luck.

[TNT713]

I remember when I was a beginner at Madden competing against my college buddies 20 years ago... No exaggeration, I lost every game for two years. Even with a familiarity with football, there will still be a steep learning curve - but be encouraged!!! Now I win about 60% of my games against the world.

To start, I recommend that beginners learn what all the positions main roles are so they can best duplicate those roles on the field. Reason being, even if you know all the controls in Madden, they won't be effective without also knowing what your player is supposed to be doing. Here's a book I recommend to familiarize you with each position's role and what's expected:

1) Madden Manual - This is the most overlooked piece of literature for Madden. Most people never read the manual. While the manual isn't very detailed, it will teach you how to perform the basic moves. You'll only need to learn what and why you're pressing the buttons.

2) "Play Football the NFL Way" by Tom Bass - this book, published in 1990 (68 years after the NFL began) was the first position-by-position technique manual every recognized by the NFL. This will elaborate on which moves you should perform in various situations so you only need to learn the buttons.

3) Watch the NFL - The more you expose yourself to football, the more quickly you will absorb the information. You'll watch the details most fans miss more closely and will be better able to apply what you see to your Madden game.

Without recommending books my John Madden, I'll relay a tip I picked up from him when I read "One Knee Equals Two Feet." John Madden says that most people watch football by watching the ball - which he says is wrong. He recommends watching the guards. If they back up, it's a pass. If they run forward it's a run. If they move to the left, the ball is going left. If they move right, the ball is going right.

Once you are good at watching the guards, expand and your vision until you can see all 22 players. It will be difficult on most TV broadcasts because they won't actually show all 22 players at once, but it's still a good goal that will help tremendously when playing Madden where you can see all 22.

From these skills, several others will become apparent based on how you play specifically. For instance, if you pass alot knowing the buttons, what they do, how they work, and the ability to 'see' the field will push you toward the measures you'll need to improve your passing game...

If you have any specific questions about what it takes to get better, ask. It's my personal mission to help anyone that wants to get better at Madden do so as quickly and effectively as possible.

Hope this helps,

Later