Passing can be a great way to set yourself apart from the competition. In this guide, Dignitas pro player Joreuz helps go over the best strategies to make you a better passer.
Though sometimes overlooked, passing is one of the most important keys to success in Rocket League. In lower ranks, where passing plays are less common, you will separate yourself from the pack pretty quickly if you are able to execute them well. With the help of Dignitas pro player Joris “Joreuz” Robben, let’s go over some passing strategies to help you rank up.
There are a lot of things that go into a good passing play, but the most critical among them is awareness. Primarily, you need to be aware of where your teammate is positioned and where the defenders are positioned.
I think the most important element should be awareness. You have to know where your teammates are.
To put it simply, if you do not have this information, you won’t be capable of putting together an effective passing play. If your teammate is not in the play and you try to center the ball, you are going to give the ball straight to the opposition, which could result in a quick counter-attack. This will, of course, put your teammate in a tough spot on defense.
You also need to know where the defenders are. Is there someone in the midfield who can intercept a potential pass? Is someone defending the backboard? Is someone rushing to challenge you? Scanning the field will give you the answer to these critical questions and will give you a leg up when it comes to determining what to set up on offense.
When you have a teammate that you can communicate with, it makes passing plays a lot easier. Communicating intent is super helpful when setting up a play. However, in solo queue, this is a luxury you may not have. All is not lost in these situations though, and with the right level of awareness and positioning, you can still set up a play.
First of all, you have to know where your teammate is. Just try to see where he’s going and try to put it in his path. Try to be in your teammate’s vision if you want to receive a pass from him so he knows, if he’s going to pass, where he’s going to put it.
Being a good teammate is the key to solo queue, and Joreuz is giving some great advice on how to do just that. Again, scan the field. If you can see that your teammate is in an offensive position and they’re open, put the ball in their path. If your teammate is on the ball and has the opportunity to pass, put yourself in a position where they can see you. Your teammate won’t always make the pass, but if you’re not in their sight, they can’t effectively get you the ball.
The other important thing to be aware of is your teammate’s momentum. If they’re driving towards the net, you want to make sure you put the ball in a spot where they can use their momentum to get power on the hit.
If you put the ball where they’re going to be, the only thing they have to do is drive into the ball. If you put it right where they are, they have to slow down and won’t have any momentum. So, they can’t really hit the ball with power
You may be familiar with the term “leading the receiver.” This is what you want to do in Rocket League. Put the ball where you think your teammate is going to naturally meet it, not where they currently are on the field. This will make life a whole lot easier for your teammate, and they’ll be able to get a much more effective touch on the ball.
Knowing when to pass the ball is just as important as knowing how to pass the ball. Reading the defense is super important here, as their positioning is going to tell you what kind of pass you’re going to be able to make. You don’t want to put the ball in a spot that’s going to be easy to defend, or even worse, easy to spring a counter-attack out of.
I’d say if you see there’s absolutely no one in the spot where your teammate is, then you should go for a pass. If you see that your teammate is covered, just go for a solo play.
As Joreuz said, going for a solo play is a perfectly fine tactic if the defense has all of the passing options covered. In fact, it’s exactly what you should do. Will you get some “Wow!” spams in quick chat if you don’t score on the play? Quite possibly. But at least you’ll know in your head that you made the right call. Remember, it’s always better to make your opponents use boost to make a save than to try and force a pass that isn’t there. Especially when it can result in a dangerous opportunity for the other team.
There are also a couple of different ways to pass the ball. Centers and infield passes may be the first thing a lot of people think of, but don’t be afraid to utilize the backboard as well.
If you see that the midfield is covered, that most of the time means no one is on the backboard. Instead of passing infield, you can hit the backboard and then your teammate can follow it up instead of driving towards you for the pass. They can try to read the backboard and they’ve got a free goal.
If no one is covering the backboard, that is an open place to put the ball. Defenses often have a hard time reading backboard hits from the ground, so if your teammate is positioned well, they’ll have an extremely good chance of scoring on the play.
There’s no doubt that passing plays are a great way to score goals, but they can also help you to get out a defensive bind. If your boost is running low and the opposition is continuing to pepper you with shots, it’s a great idea to look for a teammate to help get the ball away.
The best way to pass on defense is passing across the field because a lot of the opposition is mostly like to pressure one of either of the two corners or the goal. So if the ball is in the left corner, you can bang it to the right corner, where there should be a lot of space. Your teammate can just receive the ball there and get the full right side of the field to dribble.
Clearing the ball to your teammate instead of back to the other team is always going to be your best bet. As Joreuz mentioned, they may have tons of open space to control the ball and take it down to the other end. If they can’t do that, they still may be able to get a solid clear, which will give you the opportunity to grab some pads and pressure the other team.
Passing to get out of a jam on defense is great, but what happens when the other team is stringing together some dangerous passes? It can be very daunting trying to defend a good passing play, but it certainly can be done.
Firstly, you need to cover the goal, but if the goal is already covered, just try to put yourself in the opponent’s shoes. What would you do if you tried to go for a pass in that situation? Try to line yourself up for the pass so you can drive yourself in to the direction of the ball.
Joreuz makes an excellent point when he says to make sure the goal is covered. If you’re the last person back and you try to lunge at a pass, you’re taking a huge risk because the net is going to be wide open. However, if a teammate has rotated back and covered the net, you want to go in for a challenge. This is a pretty smart decision all the way around. The best case scenario is that you’re able to read where the pass is going, intercept it, and score on their net. The worst case scenario is that you force them to have to make a quick decision, which will increase the likelihood of a mistake. The last thing you want to do is give them time to set up a perfect pass, which could result in a very tough shot to save.
Obviously, the best way to practice passing is with other players. If you have some willing friends, go ahead and set up a private match for you guys to hit the ball around. You can practice things like leading the receiver and positioning, as well as communication. Quick, effective verbal callouts will take things to a new level. However, you can still practice passing by yourself.
If you have a team, try to pass it around in a practice match without any defenders. If you’re solo, just imagine a teammate in your head and, in free play, try to pass it in to the direction they’re heading.
Instead of going in to free play and shooting on net, maybe try picking out an individual boost pad and hitting the ball towards it. Doing this will help you become extremely accurate with your placement, and by the time you head in to online play, you’ll be placing passes right on the nose of your teammate’s car.
Passing is such a useful tool in Rocket League and it can help you out a ton when it comes to climbing the ranks. Hopefully this guide gave you some useful insight on how to utilize passing plays on both offense and defense. If you’d like to check out some more content from Joreuz, be sure to follow along with his Twitch and YouTube. In addition, you can keep up with him personally over on Twitter. Good luck on the grind!
