Break the Rally Pattern
Advanced Tips & Tricks for Mario Tennis Aces
Applicable: Standard and Simple modes
Conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to gain control of a rally is to send your opponent back and forth across the court, making it harder for them to return, but sometimes you just can’t get them out of rhythm; this is particularly true of rangy characters that don’t have to chase shots, and those who are able to maintain the first C by remaining centered after a volley.
Tennis is just as much a mental game as it is a physical one, and one way of surprising your opponent is by occasionally aiming a shot directly at the side of the court they are still on. If you catch them off-guard by breaking the left-right-left-right rally pattern, you can sometimes get them to reach and put up a lame duck. Make sure that you’re only using fast shots like the topspin or the flat for this, because the point is to surprise them, not to feed them an opening. If you are aiming slices or drop shots anywhere near the opponent, you are basically inviting them to crush you.
Once you’ve managed a couple of these, you can get into the opponent’s head and make them second guess where you’re planning on targeting next. With this advantage, you can begin adding more wrinkles into your style and keep them on the back foot.
