Down air stall

The down air stall (sometimes referred to as WindWaking) is an exploit which allows a character with a stall-then-fall aerial to float in midair. It was introduced in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and returned in Super Smash Bros. 4. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the technique has been removed for all other characters who could previously perform it; only the Ice Climbers and Zero Suit Samus can still perform this technique, as of version 13.0.1.

Description

Although it was initially discovered with Toon Link in Brawl, hence the "WindWaking" nickname, the glitch is not exclusive to Toon Link. In fact, it may not be considered a glitch at all. It is an exploitation of the way that the physics engine works in the Smash Bros. titles since Brawl. If a character who has a stall-then-fall aerial (excluding characters with stall-then-fall aerials in Ultimate other than the aforementioned Ice Climbers and Zero Suit Samus) performs their down aerial at a certain height, they will lag and hover for a while.

How to perform

Using the down aerial repeatedly after being thrown or otherwise launched into the air will eventually cause the character to perform a small hop, then float in the air for a short time in the normal position for their down aerial.

Application

Since its movement can be controlled while the player is stalled (like Peach's float), it can be used as a recovery technique to glide back onstage (see the video below).