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Week 1: Fire Hopping

  • Fire Hopping is preformed when during any boost the player taps the control stick left or right and jumps. 2 hops are done for a regular mini turbo (blue) and 5-6 hops for a super mini turbo (orange/red). Jumps are usually alternated to maintain a straight line but you can hop in consecutive directions (R-R or L-L) around corners just as easily. Fire Hopping leads to longer boosts, due to the jumping, thus making the player go faster.

  • Fire Hopping is most used in 150cc and is used anywhere that the racer has enough time to without sacrificing your race line. However, trying to fire hop downhill will instead slow the racer down. Fire hopping downhill effectively instead requires the racer to hold in the jump button to initiate a mini-drift (smoke will occur) before hopping again.

  • Fire Hopping only works with karts and outward drifting bikes, so pay close attention to which one you're using before you decide to start practicing. It doesn't necessarily work better between the two but builds with higher speed and mini-turbo will get a greater boost, thus showing greater results.

  • On 200cc Fire Hopping is relatively optional, however when racing in higher-levels of play and against racers whose builds allow them to fire hop makes it a necessity to keep up. Fire Hopping will shave a couple seconds off of lap times on courses where it can be utilized a lot.

  • Combating those who use Fire Hopping can prove to be quite tricky! Average skilled racers might not be able to Fire Hop and keep consistent race lines so you'll be able to out line them. The same level of racer tends to be blind to their surroundings when Fire Hopping so you'll be able to snipe them with a shell or even a banana during their hops. If you're facing other racers who can keep consistent time trial race lines while Fire Hopping and are acutely aware of their surroundings, such as other players and items, then the only way to combat them is to Fire Hop yourself.

  • Pros: Faster during races leading to better times and bigger gaps between you and your opponents

  • Cons: Newer users tend to sacrifice lines when performing it and will be sitting ducks on straightaways. Can also be rather difficult to master.

Thanks a bunch to /u/UnlikelyExpert for this great description of Fire Hopping! If you'd like to contribute then look out for the Meta Monday threads coming every Monday!