Common TASing techniques

When starting a TAS, you usually start with Mario spawning, standing still.

If you are facing close to the correct direction, you usually start with a 1-frame punch, jump for 6 frames, then dive recover as you touch the ground. You can also 1-frame punch, walk another frame, then long jump once or twice. If you are facing the wrong direction, 1-frame punching won't be as good for turning around as the instant turn Mario can do when standing still, although this gives slightly less starting speed.

When jumping before a dive recover, you can jump more or less depending on where you jumped and where you'll land.

After a dive recover, on flat ground, you could jumpdive, recover, jumpkick repeatedly. For even longer distances, ZB kick is actually more optimal.