THE TIP-OFF

By Jack Pfeiffer

Although you can't "win" Wii Sports, you can come out ahead of your opponents if you heed these 5 simple tips:

1. Practice. When you aren't gaming with friends, kick into practice mode. The mini-games loaded on this system will help you master valuable techniques that you can use later to take down your opponents.
2. Practice more. You know that saying "practice makes perfect." Well, it holds true. Simply knowing the techniques won't benefit you unless you can recall the best of them when it matters—in competition. Do some solitary gaming.
3. Change it up. Pro baseball players don’t use the same pitch over and over. Take a hint from them and change your pitches too. This doesn't prohibit using the same pitch twice; just not in a series. And never three times in a row. That’s too predictable.
4. Master the Super Serve. If you time your serve right in tennis, you can blow right by your opponent. Same with this game.
5. Strike with a curve ball—when bowling. If you've ever stumbled upon televised pro bowling, you may have noticed that real pros seem to make the deceptively heavy bowling balls curve to hit the surprisingly sturdy pins. Thankfully, Wii Sports has made it a little easier to curve your ball in the game than in real life. If you can manage a curve ball without getting a gutter ball, you'll score a strike nearly every time.