Ground pound

A ground pound is a move that can be performed by pressing the ZL or ZR button while in midair. It causes Mario to quickly accelerate downward toward the ground, and can be used to trigger certain elements in the game, such as buttons.

Properties

Pressing X or Y while in midair during a ground pound will cause Mario to dive. If X or Y is pressed after a ground pound connects with the ground, Mario will roll if a crouch button (ZL or ZR) is held, and perform a downthrow if it is not. However, if X or Y is pressed too soon after the ground pound lands, Mario will perform a downthrow regardless of whether or not a crouch button is held.

A ground pound cannot be performed during a dive or a long jump, or immediately after bonking (although in the case of a long jump, a cap throw can be performed to reset Mario back to the normal falling state and make a ground pound possible again). A regular ground pound also cannot be performed during a spin jump, since a spinpound will be performed instead.

Ground pounding will stall Mario in the air for a brief moment. Because of this, it is often preferable to use spinpounds instead while speedrunning, since unlike ground pounds, they will cause Mario to descend immediately.