Alright, so I finally got my hands on NCAA 25, like many of you probably did. First thing I wanted to really get down? The stiff arm. It always looks so cool, you know? Just shoving a defender to the ground like ‘get outta my way’. But man, it wasn’t as easy as just hitting a button when I first tried.
My first few games, I was just flailing. I’d try to stiff arm and my running back would either do nothing, or it’d be way too early or way too late, and I’d get tackled anyway. It felt kinda clunky, honestly. I knew I had to actually sit down and figure this thing out properly if I wanted my run game to have any teeth.
Hitting the Practice Field
So, I jumped into the practice mode. Best place to figure stuff out without the pressure of a real game, right? I picked my team and just started running drills, specifically focusing on plays where I knew I’d have a one-on-one chance on the outside.
Here’s kinda what I did:
- Finding the Button: First, just confirming which button it actually was. Seems simple, but sometimes muscle memory from old games messes you up. Got that sorted pretty quick.
- Timing is Everything: This was the tricky part. I spent a good while just running the same outside zone play over and over. I realized you can’t just spam the stiff arm button the second a defender gets close. You gotta wait for that sweet spot, right when they commit to the tackle and are just within arm’s reach. Too soon, you whiff. Too late, you’re already wrapped up.
- Feeling the Angle: I also noticed the angle matters. Trying to stiff arm a guy directly in front of you often doesn’t work as well as catching someone coming in from the side. It makes sense, you get more leverage that way.
- Player Matters: Tried it with my big power back versus my smaller, quicker guy. The power back definitely had more success knocking guys down. The speed guy could still use it to create a bit of space, but it wasn’t as devastating. So, gotta know your personnel.
Getting the Hang of It
After maybe 30 minutes just drilling this, it started to click. I could feel the timing better. I started anticipating when the defender would lunge and hitting the stiff arm right then. That feeling when you land it perfectly and the defender just eats dirt? Chef’s kiss. It wasn’t 100% successful, game still has its randomness which is fine, but my success rate went way, way up.
Then I took it into actual games against the CPU. It made a noticeable difference. Breaking that first tackle on the edge often sprung me for bigger gains. Sometimes it just bought me enough space to get out of bounds instead of losing yards. It’s not just about pancakes; sometimes it’s just about surviving the tackle attempt.
So yeah, that’s my little journey with the stiff arm so far. It took some deliberate practice, wasn’t just automatic. But now it feels like a proper tool in my arsenal rather than just a random button press I hope works out. Definitely worth spending time in the lab on that one if you’re struggling with it too.
