Tapping
Tapping is a technique that involves pressing keys for very short amounts of time (usually 1 Tick).
It covers short distances, which is useful to set the player at an optimal position for a jump.
The most commonly used taps are the Shift tap, the Walk tap, and the Air Shift tap. The sprint tap is mostly unused, but it can be useful and is not harder than the other common taps.
- Shift tap : While sneaking (aka shifting), press the forward key for 1 tick.
- Walk tap : Press the forward key for 1 tick.
- Sprint tap : While sprinting, press the forward key for 1 tick.
- Air shift tap : Jump while shifting, and press the forward key for 1 tick while mid-air.
Applications
- A backwalled 1bm 4b requires 1-3 taps from the back to be possible with only running momentum.
- An easy setup for 3bc 1bm backward momentum is to Walk tap then Shift tap from the front.
- A good strat for 3bm jumps is to perform 2 Shift taps from the back, and run for 2 ticks before jumping.
Analysis of common taps
When the forward key is released, the player will continue moving for a short time, then stop due to Momentum Threshold: their X and Z speed will decrease until their absolute value is smaller than 0.005, at which point they are set to 0 and the player will finally stop moving in that direction.
Differences between 1.8 and 1.9+
In 1.9+, the momentum threshold has been lowered to 0.003 (down from 0.005). This makes all common taps longer by 1 tick, except the air shift tap which is extended by a whole 6 ticks.
Therefore, tap strats are radically different in 1.9+.
Nomenclature
There isn't really any existing way to describe a tap strat, as most strats are simple enough to write in full. Players will often say, for example, "1 shift tap, 1 air tap backwards". For more complicated strats, we can use the following nomenclature.
First of all, let's abbreviate the 4 different taps we will be using : S=Sprint tap, W=Walk tap, s=Shift tap, a=Air shift tap.
Then we can use the following syntax : [Forwards taps]-[Backwards taps].
For example, "1 walk tap backwards, 1 shift tap, 2 air shift tap" would become "s2a-W" (s for shift tap, 2a for 2 air shift taps, W for 1 walk tap).
The order in which the taps are done does not matter, as long as you don't do them in a too quick succession.