| 100% | BACKSPIN | 8 | Makes a ball move rearward when it hits the ground |
| 40% | VOLLEY | 6 | Tennis shot where a player hits the ball before it can bounce off the ground |
| 39% | SCLAFF | 6 | Scrape the ground with a golf club before hitting the ball |
| 39% | SNOW | 4 | It hits the ground silently |
| 39% | SCRAPE | 6 | The noise a chair makes when moved along the floor |
| 38% | TEE | 3 | Where a golfer places the ball before hitting it |
| 38% | SOMETHING | 9 | A hit by The Beatles, it's "in the way she moves" |
| 37% | AGROUND | 7 | When a ship hits the bottom or shore it runs __ |
| 37% | VIRGA | 5 | Rain that evaporated before it hits the ground |
| 36% | VOLLEYS | 7 | Plays the ball before it hits ground |
| 36% | RULE | 4 | "No hits below the belt" or "always dribble the ball when moving," e.g. |
| 36% | AMORE | 5 | It makes you "dance down the street with a cloud at your feet," in a 1953 hit |
| 35% | SPLAT | 5 | Cartoon sound made when something squishy hits the ground |
| 35% | BOUNCE | 6 | Upward movement as a tennis ball hits the ground |
| 35% | BAT | 3 | It hits the ball in the sport of cricket |
| 35% | BACKSPIN | 8 | Make a ball turn the opposite way, in tennis |
| 35% | DIGS | 4 | Makes a hole in the ground |
| 35% | DUG | 3 | Made a hole in the ground |
| 35% | DIG | 3 | Make a hole in the ground |
| 35% | DIGGING | 7 | Making a hole in the ground |
| 34% | ALIT | 4 | Made it to the ground |
| 34% | JUSTTHETWOOFUS | 14 | 1981 hit with the lyric "We can make it if we try" ... or a possible title for this puzzle |
| 33% | GETHERE | 7 | Oleta Adams hit with the lyrics “You can make it in a big balloon / But you better make it soon” |
| 33% | ORE | 3 | Gold or silver, when it's in the ground |
| 33% | CATCH | 5 | "Grab it before it hits the ground!" |
| 33% | RETURN | 6 | Hit the ball back after a serve in tennis |
| 33% | XXXX | 4 | Like a ball that hits the batter |
| 33% | BUNT | 4 | Hit a short ground ball |
| 33% | SPADE | 5 | It makes the earth move |
| 33% | BADMINTON | 9 | Sport played with a shuttlecock where players hit it back and forth in an attempt to make the other side miss |