Is there a good way to cheese skill shot?

I have been doing Grand Prix and I haven't completed anything above level 2 because of this one thing. I get perfects for most match-ups from levels 3-6, do party mode and this is the only one I struggle with consistently. I just cannot do this one specific thing to save my life.

Note: I already know:

• Hitting consecutive targets with individual punches
• Horizontal multi-hit gloves are good
• Pre-punching as the targets come up

The bot usually triples or quads my score, I got wrecked once and ended up with 40-4800...(on level 3) I really hate Skill Shot...