Air footies?

[alexthepony]

Sometime I see people randomly jump for no reason. just do empty sh hops when pressuring. I don't really understand this or air Air footies in general. can someone please try to teach me this fundamental.

 

[Jumpo]

One of the big reasons to empty hop is to confuse the opponent so they aren't sure what your next move will be, maybe you will come down with an aerial, maybe you will land and grab them

 

[IsmaR]

The concept you're looking for is this:

http://www.ssbwiki.com/Mindgame#Tomahawk

It's not necessarily always useful, but some people just pick up the habit of always going for it just to see if it works.

 

[FamilyTeam]

I mix empty hopping with Dash Dancing as a mindgame. This way, it makes your movement erratic and unpredictable, which confuses your opponent and can make them do something dumb when attemption to approach you.

 

[MockRock]

It serves a few purposes, including making your aerials accessible at any moment, spacing, mindgames, and mixing your opponent up. Smash Bros is basically entirely about positioning, even more so than other fighting games, and jumping is just another tool.