Whenever you suffer a powerful enough attack, you can be sent flying. You’re not entirely helpless during these moments. The moment you hit the ground, if you press the L Button, you will execute a quick recovery. This is an important technique that grants you a brief period of invincibility, and also gets you get back on your feet, giving you a chance to either get out of harm’s way, or to mount a counterattack. This quick recovery can even be done off a wall, giving you a chance to shoot back at your opponent.
If you fail the quick recovery, you’ll be vulnerable on the ground for a short period of time, but you’re still not completely helpless. You can do a rolling recovery from your prone position by tapping the L Button and flicking the Circle Pad in the direction you want to go. This also gives you a brief window of invincibility.