Winning feels great. When it comes to Nintendo Switch Sports, it’s even more important because winning unlocks the ranked mode and new cosmetic items. If you want to play with the big dogs, you need to know the best tactics for winning every sport.
This Nintendo Switch Sports guide will provide you with the knowledge to win at everything from bowling to volleyball and everything in between.
Bowling Tips
Consistency is Key — Bowling is the most popular sport in the package and that also makes it the toughest sport to win. Many have been playing some form of Wii Bowling for years, which means you’ll need to get a spare in most frames. You’ll get a lot more spares shooting the ball straight down the lane instead of trying fancier shots like spinning, so stick to that to increase your odds.
Placement — Part of getting consistent shots is knowing where to place the ball. Each lane has markers that you should use to line up your shot each time. In addition to that, it’s important to not throw the ball head on. Aim slightly off-center so the ball pushes central pins towards other pins on the edges. This is about where I usually place my ball for consistent results.
Throw Softly — It’s a natural temptation to throw the ball as hard as you can. The harder you throw the ball, the more forceful it is. However, that’s less help than you would think. Throwing the ball softly means the ball spends more time around the pins, knocking them into each other.
Badminton Tips
Wobbly Shots — The easiest way to make sure your shot can’t be returned is to make your opponent hit a wobbly shot. You’ll know when this happens by the blue wobbly line behind the shuttlecock. When this happens, you can hit a super smash by using an overhead swing on a wobbly shot.
Smash Train — The most success I’ve had in making opponents hit wobbly shots is by repeatedly hitting normal smash shots at them. Hitting a smash shot is done by using an overhead swing on the shuttlecock when it starts to turn downwards.
Stopping a Smash Train — If your opponent starts to repeatedly hit smash shots toward you, it’s possible to stop that by hitting a drop shot. Holding ZR when returning a shot changes it to a drop shot. This type of return is very hard to hit a normal smash shot on, which will give you the chance to start your own smash train.
Soccer Tips
Don’t Use All Your Stamina — Getting places in a hurry is important in soccer, but you need to pick the moments you use your stamina bar. It fills back up very slowly. Once it’s gone, you’ll be at a big disadvantage when chasing the ball. If the ball is close to your goal, or you need to get to a scoring opportunity, burn what you have in the stamina bar. If you’re just trying to reposition downfield, save it for a scoring opportunity.
Hang Back — Avoid getting into large groups. It only takes one person to kick the ball. You and a teammate being together at the ball means that one less teammate isn’t where the ball is going to be. It’s better for one of the players to be downfield to further advance the ball or move into a defending position.
Spam Kick — This isn’t an eloquent tip, but it works. Kick priority goes to the last person to kick the ball. If your opponent kicks the ball then you kick it, the ball will go toward where you hit it. The best way to make sure you kicked it last is to kick a lot.
Chambara Tips
Recognize Patterns — Chambara is a fighting game. Knowing what your opponent wants to do is important in any fighting game. The best way to know what they want to do is by knowing what they’ve done. Noticing that your opponent attacks from one direction or if they prefer to block from a certain angle will help you know what you should do to counter that.
Don’t Fall Into Patterns — The other side of the coin is to not do the same thing too often yourself. Try not to attack with overhead strikes too many times in a row. You’ll only end up getting blocked. Change things up and feint attacks from one side to the other to confuse opponents.
Tennis Tips
Don’t Forget You Control Two Characters — Tennis is a 2-on-2 only sport. While still playable solo, this means that you have two characters to keep track of. In a number of matches, I would forget about my front-of-the-net character and only play with my back-court character. This means I was only playing with half of my capabilities, which put me at a disadvantage.
Placement is Key — Like in badminton, you can make your opponent hit a wobbly shot in tennis. The most success I had in forcing a wobbly shot in tennis was by hitting the ball to the opposite side of the court as my opponent (if they’re on the left, hit right). Try to make your opponent run around, and you’ll eventually get a chance to smash the ball when they hit a wobbly shot.
Don’t Chase Every Ball — It is very easy to hit a ball out of bounds in Switch Sports tennis. It’s also very easy to want to chase a ball hit out of bounds. You’ll potentially give up free points if you hit a ball back in play that was out of bounds. Try to assess where the ball will land before swinging the racket.
Volleyball Tips
It’s All About Timing — The Nintendo Switch Sports version of Volleyball is focused on building a combo of perfect hits across the Bump, Set, and Spike portions of play. You’ll know when you get three perfect hits: a “Nice!” image will appear after performing an action. Focusing on learning these timings is key. In my experience, the timing is a lot later than I expected it to be, so try pausing just a bit beyond what you think is the right timing if you’re having trouble.
Know When to Block — When your opponents are about to spike the ball, it’s possible to block their shot by jumping — swinging the Joy-Con up — as they’re hitting the ball. The most successful blocks came when I jumped just after my opponent jumped up to spike the ball.
Aiming Your Spike — You can aim your spike in volleyball. Sending your spike to the left or right is done by swinging your Joy-Con in the direction you want the ball to go as you swing the Joy-Con downwards. It’s similar in form to hitting the tennis ball opposite of your opponent and making them work for it.
Those are all the tips and tricks that helped me win more matches in Nintendo Switch Sports, and hopefully, they’ll help you win more, too! If you have any strategies, leave them in the comments below! Keep an eye on our Nintendo Switch Sports tips page for any future guides or articles.
