Tennis (NES) notes from JaggerG

Controlling your shots:
- Being on the left side of the ball tends to aim to the left side of the court; right side aims right.
- The sooner you press "B" or "A"(or the later your racket connects in your animation), the more acute an angle you hit it; so left shots aim more left, etc.
- "B" lobs it high above the net, possibly over opponent's head, but mainly so you can get it over if you're behind (under) the middle line.
- Smashes/spikes happen if you press "A" as the ball's high enough as you strike it, but not too high to reach. Height can likely be determined by distance from the ball and its shade on the ground, so as the shade's passing the bottom of the net, if the ball is above the opponent's side's middle line, you need to step back to hit it.

Player vertical position or forehand vs. backhand probably make a difference for advanced play, but people seem to struggle to think of the basics in time to hit it back. It seems like it's a lot about quickly seeing geometry to get to the ball, to time the smashes, and deciding on early or late hits.

Serving:
You can mash to get it in play consistently, or time it so it's in range as it falls. The highest point you can hit it tends to hit faster, increasing your chance for an Ace, though it's probably frame- and/or pixel-perfect to manipulate it. The "correct" frame as it's rising appears to be approximately the amount of time BadBrakes takes to react after seeing the ball leave his character's hand, so make sure your reaction time is exactly as fast as his. Other factors such as motion after serving may be present.