Short hop

"SH" redirects here. For the Smash 4 player, see Smasher:SH.

Sheik's short hop (right) compared to her normal jump (left).

An example of where short hops are useful. Link dodges Meta Knight's forward smash by short hopping over him, then using a down aerial to punish.

A short hop, or low jump in Super Smash Bros. 4, is the act of inputting a jump command and letting go of the appropriate button or control stick during a character's jump squat. This will result in a jump height that is lower than that of a normal jump. This technique can be performed in all Super Smash Bros. games.

Mechanics

A short hop can be performed using any controller and configured control scheme, including button-jump and control-stick-jump methods, although exactly how it functions depends on the game. In the original Super Smash Bros., characters have a different full jump height depending on the input type; a jump using the C buttons has a different height from a jump using the control stick. A short hop in Smash 64 refers to an input from lightly tapping the C button to jump. Every character in Smash 64 has a 3 frame window to perform a short hop, regardless of the length of their jumpsquat. If the jump button is still held after the third frame of a character's jumpsquat, they will perform a full hop. The height of a short hop in Smash 64 also depends to the horizontal position of the control stick. If the player is holding the stick fully forwards or backwards for example, they will perform a lower short hop than if they do not hold the control stick at all.

Starting from Super Smash Bros Melee, the window to perform a short hop is now based on the length of a character's jumpsquat, with longer jumpsquats leading to more lenient timing to perform a short hop. In addition to this, the jumps buttons and the control stick have the exact same affect on jumping, so it is now possible to perform a short hop with the control stick. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the window to perform a short hop is one frame shorter than the length of the character's jumpsquat. Fox for example has a 3 frame jumpsquat, so the player must release the jump button before the 3rd frame of jumpsquat to achieve a short hop, giving the player a 2 frame window to jumpsquat. Bowser on the other hand has an 8 frame jumpsquat, so the player has a 7 frame window to short hop with Bowser. The horizontal position of the control stick also no longer affects the height of the short hop, with a short hop granting the player a consistent amount of height in all situations.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the window to short hop is still based on the length of a character's jumpsquat but the window is now active until the character is airborne, rather than until the last frame of the character's jumpsquat, making short hopping easier to perform overall. Bowser for example still has an 8 frame jumpsquat but the player now has an 8 frame window to short hop with Bowser rather than a 7 frame window due to this change. It is also now possible to buffer a jump starting from Brawl and when a jump is buffered, a short hop will occur as long as the player lets go of jump before the character becomes airborne from the jump. This naturally gives the player up to 10 frames more leniency to perform a short hop in some situations, making a buffered short hop very lenient.

Additionally, in Brawl's Subspace Emissary mode, every character's jumpsquat is 2 frames shorter, which naturally makes performing a short hop more difficult.

Short hop functionality remained identical in Super Smash Bros. 4 but in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the standardized 3-frame jumpsquat makes it more difficult to perform short hops with any character (with the exception of Kazuya who has a 7 frame jumpsquat, making it much easier to short hop with him than any other character). To compensate, players now have the ability to input both a jump and attack button at the same time to perform a short hop aerial (officially known as a "short hop attack" in English and 小ジャンプ攻撃 small jump attack in Japanese). Short hop aerials have a 0.85× damage modifier applied to them, which, in turn, also makes them deal slightly less knockback. Additionally, update 2.0.0 notably added the ability to perform a regular short hop without attacking by pressing two jump buttons simultaneously, further compensating for the 3-frame jumpsquat.

In competitive play

The short hop technique is an essential move in competitive play, allowing the user to perform aerial attacks close to the ground and connect with grounded opponents. This can allow for a wider variety of options from a grounded neutral position.

In Super Smash Bros., short hops can be used in conjunction with Z-cancels and double jump cancels to cause perfect shield pressure, shield breaks, or grab confirms.

In Melee, short hops are used as part of the SHFFL technique to aid in aerial approaches and pressure. Melee also features the ability to combine short hops with double jump cancels, but it is not nearly as powerful as it is in Super Smash Bros. Short hopping is also used during wavedashing.

In Brawl, Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, short hops can be combined with a reverse aerial rush for characters to approach with back aerials close to the ground. Short hops can also be combined with b-reverses and wavebounces for tricky and unusual momentum changes.

Outside of its applications in competitive play, short hopping can also be used for bat dropping in the Home-Run Contest.

Short hop heights

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Super Smash Bros. Melee

Rank	Character	Jump force	Jump height	Difference
1	Samus	1.7	21.05218939	65.041%
2	Sheik	2.14	18.02666667	57.627%
n/a	Male Wire Frame	1.8	17.11125	51.104%
3	Zelda	1.6	16.74337158	57.410%
n/a	Female Wire Frame	1.6	16.74337158	57.410%
4	Yoshi	1.8	16.53097984	51.079%
5	Peach	1.6	15.21	52.160%
6	Ganondorf	2.0	14.40086538	58.265%
7	Luigi	1.4	13.51152355	33.322%
8	Kirby	1.5	13.3225	55.487%
9	Captain Falcon	1.9	12.95086538	36.556%
10	Marth	1.5	12.49591912	38.222%
11-12	Pikachu	1.7	12.30011364	41.779%
11-12	Pichu	1.7	12.30011364	41.779%
13	Donkey Kong	1.6	12.0125	34.211%
14	Ness	1.5	11.76125	35.126%
15	Mewtwo	1.4	11.26146951	36.191%
16	Falco	1.9	9.688897059	20.435%
17-19	Mario	1.4	9.627664474	36.053%
17-19	Dr. Mario	1.4	9.627664474	36.053%
17-19	Mr. Game & Watch	1.4	9.627664474	36.053%
20-21	Link	1.5	9.491022727	34.928%
20-21	Young Link	1.5	9.491022727	31.737%
22	Roy	1.5	9.132671053	32.199%
23	Ice Climbers	1.4	9.1125	28.028%
24	Bowser	1.6	9.062403846	31.499%
25	Fox	2.1	8.565706522	31.003%
26	Jigglypuff	1.05	8.09628125	42.151%
n/a	Giga Bowser	1.6	4.35125	13.102%

Super Smash Bros. 4

Rank	Character	Full Hop	Short Hop
1	Greninja	46	22.114738
2	Zero Suit Samus	44.5	21.354742
3	Bayonetta	39	21.354742
4	Luigi	44	19.984556
5	Diddy Kong	41.208694	19.897078
6	Rosalina	40	19.370632
7	Sheik	39	18.752533
8	R.O.B.	38	18.378603
9	Lucario	37.619999	18.193617
10	Samus	37	18
11	Captain Falcon	37.306652	17.980684
12-13	Mario	36.331814	17.539339
12-13	Dr. Mario	36.331814	17.539339
14	Mii Gunner	32	17.539339
15	Mewtwo	31.110001	17.5
16	Yoshi	36.094189	17.434723
17	Falco	50.506073	17.34
18	Palutena	35.900002	17.303881
19	Donkey Kong	34	17.297209
20	Wii Fit Trainer	35.599998	17.179214
21	Pikachu	35.5	17.123371
22	Mii Brawler	35	17
23	Cloud	32.5	17
24	Sonic	35	16.887465
25	Shulk	34.799999	16.887465
26	Ness	34.476265	16.652296
27	Bowser Jr.	34.400002	16.592869
28	Pac-Man	34.099998	16.477137
29	Duck Hunt	34	16.477137
30	Fox	35	16.403395
31	Toon Link	33.799999	16.320242
32-33	Marth	33.660133	16.263107
32-33	Lucina	33.660133	16.263107
34	Olimar	33.5	16.191645
35	King Dedede	32.849998	16.019524
36	Robin	33.208813	16.018034
37	Corrin	33	16
38	Ike	29.9	16
39	Bowser	33	15.699792
40	Villager	32.5	15.689452
41	Charizard	32	15.42625
42	Zelda	31.552761	15.239396
43	Mii Swordfighter	28.299999	15
44	Ryu	26	15
45-46	Pit	31	14.955608
45-46	Dark Pit	31	14.955608
47	Wario	30.5	14.699989
48	Peach	30.025824	14.501237
49	Meta Knight	32	13.915902
50	Link	27.799999	13.380496
51	Mr. Game & Watch	27.511969	13.261467
52	Roy	30.969999	13
53	Lucas	29.41	13
54	Little Mac	26	12.526741
55	Ganondorf	25.488228	12.244264
56	Kirby	25.368114	12.241816
57	Mega Man	32.799999	11.492068
58	Jigglypuff	19.786329	11.260982

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Rank	Character	Full Hop	Short Hop
1	Greninja	46	22.11
2-3	Zero Suit Samus	44.5	21.35
2-3	Bayonetta	39	21.35
4	Luigi	44	19.98
5	Diddy Kong	41.21	19.9
6	Rosalina & Luma	40	19.37
7	Sheik	39	18.75
8	R.O.B.	38	18.38
9	Lucario	37.62	18.19
10-13	Samus	37	18
10-13	Dark Samus	37	18
10-13	Simon	30	18
10-13	Richter	30	18
14	Captain Falcon	37.31	17.98
15	Banjo & Kazooie	29.8	17.8
16-17	Mario	36.33	17.54
16-17	Inkling	33	17.54
18-19	Piranha Plant	37.4	17.5
18-19	Mewtwo	31.11	17.5
20	Pichu	36.75	17.43
21	Falco	50.51	17.34
22-23	Palutena	35.9	17.3
22-23	Donkey Kong	34	17.3
24	Sora	30	17.2
25	Wii Fit Trainer	35.6	17.18
26	Pikachu	35.5	17.12
27	Squirtle	35.35	17.03
28-29	Mii Brawler	35	17
28-29	Cloud	32.5	17
30	Sonic	35	16.89
31	Shulk	33.5	16.8
32	Ice Climbers	34.69	16.75
33	Ness	34.48	16.65
34	Bowser Jr.	34.4	16.59
35-36	Pac-Man	34.1	16.48
35-36	Duck Hunt	34	16.48
37	Fox	35	16.4
38	Toon Link	33.8	16.32
39-41	Marth	33.66	16.26
39-41	Lucina	33.66	16.26
39-41	Young Link	33.66	16.26
42	Olimar	33.5	16.19
43-44	Robin	33.21	16.02
43-44	King Dedede	32.85	16.02
45-47	Corrin	33	16
45-47	Min Min	30.7	16
45-47	Ike	29.9	16
48	Bowser	33	15.7
49-50	Isabelle	32.5	15.69
49-50	Villager	32.5	15.69
51	Mythra	33	15.6
52	Ivysaur	32.25	15.58
53	Hero	29	15.5
54	Charizard	32	15.43
55	Wolf	32.02	15.38
56	Zelda	31.55	15.24
57-58	Terry	27	15.2
57-58	Pyra	26.3	15.2
59-60	Ryu	26	15
59-60	Ken	26	15
61-62	Pit	31	14.96
61-62	Dark Pit	31	14.96
63	Wario	30.5	14.7
64	Mii Gunner	30.9	14.6
65-66	Peach	30.03	14.5
65-66	Daisy	30.03	14.5
67	Yoshi	36.09	14.43
68	Incineroar	31.6	14.4
69-70	Ridley	34	14.2
69-70	Joker	32.5	14.2
71	Byleth	26.5	14
72	Meta Knight	32	13.92
73	Snake	21.62	13.69
74	King K. Rool	33	13.5
75	Dr. Mario	30.8805	13.414592
76	Link	27.8	13.38
77	Mr. Game & Watch	27.51	13.26
78-80	Roy	30.97	13
78-80	Chrom	30.97	13
78-80	Lucas	29.41	13
81	Little Mac	26	12.53
82	Mii Swordfighter	28.3	12.3
83-84	Ganondorf	25.49	12.24
83-84	Kirby	25.37	12.24
85	Kazuya	18	12
86	Mega Man	32.8	11.49
87	Jigglypuff	19.79	11.26
88-89	Sephiroth	30.5	10
88-89	Steve	16.5	10