Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

[bmj2k7]

what about brandon meriweather from the patriots, he hits way harder that patrick chung, most the big hits from the patriots secondary came from meriweather, chung doesnt even hit that hard and im a fan of him since he pleyed for oergon, how does meriwether not have an 90+ when hes the only db ive seen stop brandon jacobs cold when they both ran at each other in the super bowl of all games and jacobs has a awesome trucking so why no awesome hit power for him, when most lb's cant stop him head on but he did yethe dosent even have the higest hit power on his own team, and even darius butler hits harder than chung, chung cant even hit that hard compared to these guys so why does he have higher that then when he wasnt even that good as a rookie last year?

[Piccaso]

I think Madden ratings are a little off i was looking at TE's and Vernon Davis is the Third best TE now i looked at the ratings and he's 24th in catching, 43 in route running and, 36 in Catching in traffic, i thought that to be a little odd when a 68 overall rating TE has better route running than the 3 best TE in the game really doesnt makes sense when the guy had more TD's than any other TE, the guy had less catches but more yards than T. Gonzalez, and less catches than J. Witten but more td's, So why inst he the best on game? this is crazy

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

EA sports games ratings are always off......It is as though the guys that be on tv the most get inflated ratings, where as guys they rarely see play on tv get very low ratings. It is the same way in their NCAA football games. Big name schools, players are rated to cloud 99. Where as smaller conference schools get rock bottom ratings.

[MCNABB51BOI]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

I think Madden ratings are a little off i was looking at TE's and Vernon Davis is the Third best TE now i looked at the ratings and he's 24th in catching, 43 in route running and, 36 in Catching in traffic, i thought that to be a little odd when a 68 overall rating TE has better route running than the 3 best TE in the game really doesnt makes sense when the guy had more TD's than any other TE, the guy had less catches but more yards than T. Gonzalez, and less catches than J. Witten but more td's, So why inst he the best on game? this is crazy

just beacuse he had decent numbers doesnt mean he can run routes and catchs as good as a dallas clark or tony gonzo

this is a good read if the hit stick worked as advertised this year if a WR runs a post you time up the hit i have yet to see a ball jarred loose not 1 it doesnt work .

[teewee]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

Saints with no hit-stickers!? Ouch.. Where's Vilma at least? I sort of miss the easier hit stick tackles.. Me and my buddies would always cringe and/or go nuts when we connected or got handed a hit-stick smack down. I understand they are trying to make it more risk/reward but I also like to have fun. Defense just feels a little blah. Still loving the game though.

you can not have a affective hit stick without cheeser's doing it every play causing fumbles.

[GreenReign86]

Does Madden rate players' hit power reletive to their body size? For instance, do bigger bodied players on Madden naturally hit harder then smaller bodied players? That may explain why so many defensive lineman have lower hit power ratings. So what I'm trying to say is; does Madden actually incorporate the Force = Mass x Accerleration furmula? Just a thought.

[GreenReign86]

Saints with no hit-stickers!? Ouch.. Where's Vilma at least? I sort of miss the easier hit stick tackles.. Me and my buddies would always cringe and/or go nuts when we connected or got handed a hit-stick smack down. I understand they are trying to make it more risk/reward but I also like to have fun. Defense just feels a little blah. Still loving the game though.

I think that a slider for hit stick difficulty would probably appeal to the masses, and make everyone happy.

[LiquorLogic]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

I don't understand how Dlineman don't have the highest hit power. Bigger people hit harder than smaller people; I mean that's just good ole common sense.

Maybe it's because Dlineman usually aren't in position to deliver knock blows to WRs coming across the middle like LBs and Safeties.

[AntRWill]

Linebackers and safeties have the higher hit stick ratings because we get to see more of the big hits in the open field resulting in highlights as opposed to in the trenches with the big guys.

[mattsama18]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

I don't understand how Dlineman don't have the highest hit power. Bigger people hit harder than smaller people; I mean that's just good ole common sense.

Maybe it's because Dlineman usually aren't in position to deliver knock blows to WRs coming across the middle like LBs and Safeties.

Hit Power rating is based solely on how hard a player KNOWS how to hit. Linebackers and safeties should have a higher hit power rating because in order to get those shoulder-barging hit sticks requires excellent tackling technique as opposed to just grabbing someone. So in essence the hit power rating is more of a "skill" rating than a "strength" rating

[Dog]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

great read. i like how the hit stick is more of a risk reward this year. i just wish hitsticks would cause more injuries if there are not as common

[R9NALD9]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

I'll try and make this short

First of all, I found your post to be a great read. I just want to further elaborate on some of the issues you mention.

While EA sports has got the acceleration 'right' for quarterback vs. defensive linemen, as you write, they haven't got acceleration right.

Acceleration is how fast you reach top speed, which the game is not able to simulate. I mentioned this first when EA released the locomotion blog. Think of acceleration as a car race.

Car A is able to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5 seconds, but has a top speed of 60 mph. Car B accelerates from 0-60 mph in 8 seconds, but has a top speed of 120 mph.

If the cars start at the same time, Car A will accelerate away from Car B for the first 8 seconds, period. After 8 seconds Car B will start to close the gap and eventually take the lead, if the track is long enough.

Now try looking at the locomotion blog, or put Wes Welker next to Randy Moss in practice mode and run streaks and you will see that Madden 11 unfortunately doesn't get it right.

Secondly, you mention Newton's Second Law of Motion (Force = Mass x Acceleration), but if Madden doesn't get acceleration right, and does not have player mass (at least with the current physics engine), then there is no possibility of getting hit power right.

My theory behind the Hit Power rating is, that linebackers and defensive backs usually are in motion (mass x acceleration) when tackling, thus appearing to have more hit power. But defensive linemen would need less speed to obtain the same force due to their size and weight, and because they usually aren't at high speeds when tackling, they get a low Hit Power rating.

If EA Sports were to fix acceleration and incorporate mass into the game, tackling would be function of Newton's Third Law of Motion, Force versus Force, which is the essence of football.

In the above motion refers to the momentum of a player.

Very intelligent and correct post! I salute you buddy!

[ironhorse911]

i have never been able to corrrectly use the hit stick, every once in a while i get lucky. however, i am always trying to use it and i miss a lot of tackles because of it. and 2005 was a good year for Madden and Nfl 2k

[Old School SD Fan]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

It feels like hit stick was removed to me, I just miss tackles with it, and when I make contact it seems like a normal hit. Preferred it before.

[TNT713]

Re: Madden NFL 11: The How and Why's of Hit Sticking

I though the article was thought provoking, but I wasn't nearly as interested in the comparisons between Sports Science and the Hit Power for D-linemen.

I've long had a bad habit of hit sticking people. Madden 10 made it too easy to rock somebody's snot box, which is why it seems like it's missing.

I find that squaring up to a back is no longer the best angle to deliver the hit stick... I'm having MUCH MORE SUCCESS lining people up from a 45 degree angle. Generally as they are running out of field near the sideline, or as they are about to cut upfield on a sweep.

Anytime the back slows down to change direction, HIT STICK HIM.

Also, the leaning feature of the backs seems to combat the hit stick to a degree... I'd like to see the same lean effect added for defenders next year so that I can lean without going into the Hit Stick animation and lose 2-3 steps.

Later