A Guide to Dribbling in Rocket League with ApparentlyJack
With the help of Dignitas professional Rocket League player ApparentlyJack, we go over some dribbling tips and how you can utilize them in your game.
When it comes to the Rocket League fundamentals, dribbling is definitely one of the most important. Mastering some dribbling techniques early on will really help you to beat your opponents and create space. Dignitas professional player Jack “ApparentlyJack” Benton is with us today to help you not only learn some things about how to dribble, but how to use it to get the better of your opposition in those lower to middle ranks.
“When I was going through those ranks, what helped me set myself apart was dribbling. It just allows you to create so much space and gives you a level of control that no one else on the pitch really has. It’s definitely an extremely valuable skill to learn.” – ApparentlyJack
The Bounce Dribble
Bounce dribbling is a super useful and versatile skill to learn. To do this, you need to position your car slightly to the side of the ball and then pop the ball up in the air with a light hit. As the ball is coming back down to the ground, try to touch it again at the moment it hits. Keeping the hits nice and light is the key here, this way the ball stays close to your car, giving you control of the play.
Bounce dribbling can be very useful because it’s so adaptable, which means that you can do so many things from it. When you’re bounce dribbling, you have time to react to your opponent, which means you can shoot at any time, you can catch the ball to go for a flick, or you can adapt it into a 50/50.
As ApparentlyJack mentions, bounce dribbling is something that you can make into an unpredictable nightmare for the defender because you have a wide variety of options. Look at the positioning of the defender and base your next move off of that. If they rush you and you have enough space, take a quick touch away from them. If they’re in net and hesitating, you can take a power shot into the upper corner, which will either result in a goal or a difficult save that will waste boost. You could even go for a fake, and if you pull it off, that will take the opponent totally out of the play.
Bounce dribbling is something you should definitely look to add to your toolbelt if you haven’t already.
Setting Up Flicks
As ApparentlyJack said above, one of your options is to catch the ball on your car and go for a flick. But, before you can do that, you have to learn how to keep the ball on top of your car without it falling off. I think we’ve all been there – you’re trying to set up a dribble, but the ball rolls off your car and you end up just driving behind it. Fortunately, ApparentlyJack has some advice to help you avoid that.
It’s all about control at the end of the day. Turn off ball cam – it’s definitely the way to go in my opinion. And, keep your eyes on the white circle underneath the ball because it shows you where the ball is, and you have a better perception when you’re looking at the circle. You can match it to your car and see where you are in relation to it.
Once you’ve mastered that, you can start working on different ways to beat your opponents. Make sure you don’t limit yourself and put the ball directly on the top center of your car, because this will only cut your options, which makes you slightly more predictable.
You want the ball to be on top of your car, but you don’t want it to be too far back. So, slightly on top of your car but in front and I’d say more to the side, because it gives you a better angle of approach, rather than having it directly in the center of your car. When you’ve got it on the side of your car, you can do so many different angles and even just leave it off for a 50/50 or for a shot.
The main takeaway here is that you want the ball in a spot that will give you the most options. You want to make yourself difficult to read for your opponents, so the more things you can do with the ball, the better. You also want to make sure you mix it up. Don’t just go for the same exact flick every time, because this will make you predictable and easy to read. Keep the ball in a position that is dangerous and make yourself unpredictable.
Passing Plays
While dribbling is a super efficient way to give yourself space to put a shot on net, it can also be used to set up your teammates. In fact, a lot of times, this is actually the best solution. Rocket League is a very situational game, so your experiences will vary, but odds are that you will often be able to take defenders out of the play with a well-placed dribble, and that can free up your teammate.
A lot of players tend to think the only option is to go for the net, but a lot of the time, outplaying an opponent and hitting the ball to the side gives you more space, and then the entire midfield is open for your teammate. Keeping the ball close by taking it to the side of the pitch instead of always going forward will give you more space and you can set up a passing play with that.
Defenders are often going to rush in on you and dive in for the ball. If you’re the one in control of the ball, though, you can anticipate this and hit it away from them. It doesn’t have to be a super big touch either, you can lightly hit it to the side. They will be sent flying out of the play, and you’ll have control of the ball. In 1v1 situations, this will give you a free net. In 2v2, you’re very likely to end up in a 2v1 situation with the ball, which is a nightmare to defend. This is where you can pass the ball infield to your teammate, and if they’re there, they should be able to get a free shot on goal. If the defender makes the save, it’ll likely have been a really difficult one, which could set you up to score on the rebound.
Using dribbling to take someone out of the play is so useful, and taking that space unselfishly will really go a long way.
The Air Dribble
We have talked a lot about the ground game up to this point, but learning how to dribble in the air can also set you apart from the competition. It takes a lot of time to get the muscle memory down, but it can be incredibly useful once you do.
Air dribbles are extremely good because they’re very hard to defend. You can dictate where the ball is going and you dictate what you’re going to do with it at the end of the air dribble. To do an air dribble, it takes a lot of repetition. You’re not going to learn it from just reading this or hearing anyone say it, but the biggest tip for air dribbling is not to overcomplicate it. A lot of players love to do these spins in the air and they end up just losing control of their car. So, just keep it nice and simple. A lot of the time, doing no spins is better than doing spins. Also, try and jump at the same time as you’re hitting the ball. Try not to hit the ball and then jump after it. If you jump with the ball, you’ll instantly gain control of it.
As you learn this mechanic, you’ll also start to learn all of the things you can do with it. At the lower to middle ranks, players often have a tough time reading hits off the backboard, especially when they’re in net. So, if you can get to a point where you’re consistently hitting the ball off the backboard to yourself and following it up with a shot on goal, you’re going to end up scoring quite a lot. As you get more advanced, you can also start adding a flip reset to mix, which is going to make you impossible to predict.
Even without these highly advanced mechanics though, a simple air dribble will take you a long way. If you get to a point where you have total control over the ball in the air, you’re going to be able to put it basically wherever you want.
Dribbling on Defense
Dribbling is often thought of as an offensive mechanic, but it can also be used to help you get out of a tough defensive situation.
Dribbling on defense can be quite risky, however, dribbling gives you time to react to your opponents. You can bait your opponents in. You don’t really have to do much, especially in the corners on defense, and your opponents will just drive up to you. If you just position yourself well behind the ball, you can get a really good 50/50, which will then give you loads of space to dribble. Also, a lot of the time at lower ranks, teams will make one attack and then leave the ball to go get boost. This gives you loads of room in defense to dribble. You can do a fast dribble or you can take it slow and go up the wall for an air dribble. Defensive dribbling can definitely be useful sometimes.
If your opponents are getting a lot of pressure on your net, there’s a good chance that they will get very aggressive to try and put a goal on the board. However, as ApparentlyJack explained, you can very much use this against them. Again, you don’t have to hit the ball hard, just a light touch around your opponent will do the trick. This will also buy time for your teammate to collect boost so that they can contribute to an attack or make a better play on defense.
Another thing that ApparentlyJack mentioned is the tendency for attacking players to leave in favor of going to collect boost. When this happens, you absolutely want to dribble. Don’t just boom the ball up the field and hope your opponents whiff – take your time on the ball if the opponents give you the space to. This will ultimately result in a much more effective attack.
Conclusion
When it comes to dribbling, there are a massive amount of things you can do. All of these things vary greatly in degree of difficulty, so you will be able to start with the easier stuff and slowly build on that foundation. So, how can you practice?
The best way is just repetition. The way I learned personally, which I do recommend, is to go in free play and put the ball on top of your car. Drive around the pitch for as long as possible without it falling off. It’s really simple, but it gets the base dribbling mechanics down. Once you’ve got that down, you can start going for a few flicks. If you don’t have the basics down, once you try and do the fancy stuff it’s not going to work. You need to work from the ground up. I recommend using free play and using the whole pitch to your advantage. Start really basic and work your way up through that.
As always, free play is your best friend. So hop in there, start practicing your dribbles, and watch it manifest into much improved gameplay!
Be sure to give ApparentlyJack a follow on Twitter to see what he’s up to, and also check out his Twitch and YouTube to see his content.
