After 20 or so rounds of the Mars arena, I feel like I must be missing something. I’m generally finishing bottom 3. I’m not a great player or super high reflex, but it seems like I am doing something wrong. When an opponent bumps me, I seem to go cartwheeling across the map, completely out of control for several seconds and end up eliminated in a pool or cliff. But when I bump them, they hardly seem to travel any distance, and it is often me who sails over the edge. Yes, I know about the force field power-up that locks you and puts the little white shell for a few secs. Likewise when I have the red power-up that pushes people harder, everyone seems able to deal with it easily and drive away unscathed from the edge. But when an opponent has it on, I just get plowed across the field and off the cliff. If I shoot someone, I seem to cop a massive recoil that puts me in a pit, but when I shoot them they shrug it off.

What am I missing?