Tap

A tap, or tapping, is a term used in the Super Smash Bros. series. It refers to quickly tilting or tilting in a direction very hard on the control stick/d-pad in a certain direction, and it is used to either dash, jump, jump in mid-air, jump from a platform, and can be combined with the attack button to perform smash attacks.

Different ways to use tapping

There is a number of ways to use taps, as mentioned above. Note that for the Wii remote, the equivalent to tapping is double tap, as tapping normally would act as a tilt.

Dash

A player can dash by tapping the Control Stick/D-Pad left or right.

Jump

A player can jump by tapping upwards on the Control Stick/D-Pad. This also works with midair jumps. Unlike other taps, this one can be turned off at the controls section in Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, which some people prefer. Some characters, such as Yoshi, benefit from turning this option off. Note that the player can always tap jump out of water (Brawl only, excludes Hanenbow) and jump from the edge, even with the tap jump option off.

Platform drop

A player can fall through a soft platform by tapping the Control Stick/D-Pad downwards.

Smash attack

Smash attacks are attacks that can be performed by tapping the Control Stick/D-pad in a direction while simultaneously pressings the grab or attack button.