This game is pretty tough, however I found that if you mainly try to keep the ball in the air, that he retains his speed fairly easily. The trick I've found is if you watch the background, that you can accurately gauge when the ball is close enough to the ground that you'll Hell Raiser instead of Meteor smash (On the first level this is just below the rail platform), and if you hit the ball before it reaches the ground you'll add to your speed instead of halfing it.
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