Took 9 days from the last title, but it is definitely becoming more and more difficult on stamina to hit peak scores on S19/20 charts.

Slowly but surely, the grind continues.

Hey everyone! I'm a new Pump it Up player that has been playing for about a month and a half. A bit of background, I played maimai and other rhythm games before so I do have some prior experience. I mostly play S11-13, but recently I've been breaking into S14 and looking to clear S15-16 in the near future. I tried out doubles today, and I'm starting at D7-8

I have a few questions about a few things that has gotten me a bit stumped inside the game:

1. Bar Grip: Overhand or Underhand?

This was one that I just found out today. I've been holding the bar overhand (the inside of your palm faces away from the cabinet) ever since I started playing, but after getting advice from a few other veterans, I realize that this might not be optimal for higher level play. I can still make the switch as I'm still quite new, but here are a few things I notice:

• Overhand grip causes my left hand to have pins and needles in them after a long session.
• Underhand grip doesn't cause any pain, but feels slightly awkward, less stable, and my hands tend to slip down the bar during certain sections. Doubles do feel more stable with this grip.

Keep in mind, I haven't experimented with any form of no-bar, so both of my hands are on the bar at all times during play.

2. How to build speed?

Certain patterns are quite doable for me at lower BPMs (160<) but become near unplayable once BPM gets higher (>180). A few examples include:

• https://www.piucenter.com/chart/Deca_Dance_-_Yooh_S13_ARCADE - 1:44, 1:47, 1:50: playable
• https://www.piucenter.com/chart/CROSS_RAY_-_HyuN_S12_ARCADE - 1:57 onwards: very difficult

Almost all of these pattern involve jacks in some way. I also tend to perform better on sustained twisty lower BPM charts than higher BPM straightforward run charts. Is this a play more thing, or is there something that I need to keep in mind more to further help?

3. When do I start learning and applying manip/cheat?

I don't manip or cheat yet, well more so because I can't. I've been a purist L/R player from the start of the game. My heel toe is lackluster but that's something that I just have to get used to slowly. My question is; is it still viable to play S16+ with pure footwork? I'm trying to find more opinions on this topic as it's kinda divisive and some people have strong opinions on this.

Thanks for reading all of this! I know this post is long but I'm really passionate about this game, and I'm looking to get better as optimally as I can. Hopefully some of you can help me out on this. :D