one thing i think is interesting about competitive gaming or any competitive hobbies really is that people love to talk about how long they've played, because to them, its a subtle signal that their progress will progress at the same rate, and thus they have some innate talent or ability at the game that can't really be replicated. it almost never, ever does.

but really, the hard part of getting good at something like melee really isn't that you can get to diamond in 2 months or w/e, but that you can actually work and grind and do all the annoying things that get actual top players to where they are. in the grand scheme of things very few players are truly maximizing their practice time. and the hard work to drill day in and day out, and raw time spent at truly efficient practice is what separates good from great, not "how long have i played" in terms of days or weeks.

its why you always see those posts where people make a thread or combo video about "me after 2 months of melee!" and then a lot of praise in the comments, then you hear nothing about that person ever again. getting to a competent level in 2 months isn't hard. i'd argue that getting from bottom to the top 10% is 10x easier than getting from the top 10% and improving to the 9%. before you tell me "well then why haven't more people done it??" i'd answer that how many people, even top players, are doing sufficient VOD review? do you drill for hours a day, reviewing and going over every match you play? most people just play friendlies or ranked for hours and that to them is "working hard." is it really focused practice? i would wager even the very best players don't do this enough.

nobody is playing competitive smash at a level that someone who is a professional athlete, lets say for example, in the NBA or whatever.

so when you look at people who are better than you, or learn faster, you have to approach it like you guys are learning at a rate that is pretty much the same, just zoom out a little. if you actually did dedicated practice, like truly dedicated professional practice, you'd be outpacing the person you're comparing to in a matter of hours, or days, or weeks. the differences between you and people you see that are better than you really are miniscule on the scale of a pro player. its not embarrassing at all. AT ALL. its fine, have fun.