How do you adjust your strategy against recreational players?

Recreational players often make unpredictable decisions and don’t follow standard strategy. Do you play more exploitative against them, or still stick to a balanced approach? What adjustments bring you the most profit in these games?

Against recreational players, I try to play more directly.
I noticed that trying to be too balanced doesn't work well, because the strategies don't follow conventional standards. That's why I focus more on value and avoid complicated bluffs.
If they pay a lot, I bet more with strong hands. If they play passively, I try to take more initiative.
To be honest, I'm still practically a recreational player, so I keep things simple and focus on making fewer mistakes.

Playing balance poker against unbalanced players is the last thing you want to do. Pay attention to what mistakes they are making and exploit them. If you don’t exploit their mistakes then you are making the mistakes.
If they over fold then bluff more. If they under fold then value bet more thinly, even 4th pair can make money if they never fold Ace or king high. If they over bluff then we should be over calling them. If they never bluff then fold more, especially when they suddenly become aggressive, this is pretty transparent to a big hand, just over fold and move on to the next hand.
New players often make those 4 mistakes so pay attention go after them! Good luck and have fun!

I adjust based on who I’m playing way more than anything else. If the table is loose and splashy I tighten up and just print by value betting hard. If they’re tight or scared money I start opening wider, stealing more blinds, and putting pressure in spots they don’t want to defend.

Stack depth is a big one too. Short stacks I simplify and play more push/fold, deeper stacks I mix in more 3-bets, floats, and postflop plays. Preflop ranges change a lot depending on effective stacks, that’s probably the biggest structural adjustment .

Against stronger players I avoid marginal spots and lean more polarized, either strong hands or bluffs, and keep decisions simple. Against weaker players I do the opposite and just exploit whatever they’re doing wrong instead of worrying about being balanced

In the end, no matter what strategy you use in poker, luck remains a strong factor in the short term and cannot be completely overcome.

I try to apply the GTO, adapting to each play, trying to identify the recreational player, always with the intention of isolating him.

I think that if I only play with him, I can try to exploit him more easily.

Aggressive when it makes sense, not always. I’m not aiming for balance—I’m aiming to exploit. I make more money by value betting, avoiding unnecessary bluffs, and taking advantage of simple, repeated mistakes.

i’m starting to realize is the adjustment should be about them, not me changing everything. if someone is super loose i should just wait for better hands and let them make mistakes instead of trying to keep up. I also struggle a lot after losing a few hands. my stack gets smaller and i start forcing plays instead of staying calm and sticking to a plan, which usually makes it worse

I agree with @dannystanks that playing balanced against unbalanced players is a missed opportunity
if they under-fold, thin value betting is much more profitable than GTO.

Sometimes the best exploit is simply increasing value sizing to 80-100% pot.
Have any of you found a specific "sizing tell" that recreational players almost always fall for?

You can tell when they're recreational; it's about letting them play and catching them with big hands. Of course, once in a while they'll catch you.

Trying to avoid them until get good hand. They will pay you often

I usually try to play only strong hands against these players; it's very difficult to bluff against them.