Want to learn some useful tips on how to use the wall in Rocket League? With the help of Dignitas pro player ApparentlyJack, we go over some ways to diversify your Rocket League skillset using the wall.
The walls in Rocket League can be your best friend or your greatest enemy. For every perfect backboard read, there’s a defensive clear that ends up as a center for the other team. For every incredible ceiling shot, there’s a moment where you miscalculate your jump and whiff. Taking the good with the bad is part of the game, but we’ve enlisted the help of Dignitas professional player Jack “ApparentlyJack” Benton in hopes to provide some tips on getting as much good out of the wall as possible.
It gives a different dynamic to the game. When you’re on the wall and everyone else is on the ground, you have so many different options because nobody can challenge you as quickly as you can make a play on the ball. It adds a completely different catalog of skills you can use in the game.
Handling your car on the wall feels a bit different than handling it on the ground. One crucial element that contributes to this is the curves on the wall. If you jump too early, the curve may eat your jump, which can cause you to get beat. Make sure you’re on a straight part of the wall when you jump so that this doesn’t happen. Aside from that, try not to overthink it too much, as you’re going to do a lot of the same things you would on the ground.
I remember when I was learning it, you kind of overthink it. Just kind of let go and imagine it’s the ground. Obviously, it’s a bit different because you’ve got gravity acting on your car, so it’s going to pull you down the wall if you stop. Make sure you’re boosting or holding down drive so you don’t slide off. But, aside from that, people just overthink it too much.
Now that we’ve talked about how your car handles on the wall, let’s take a look at the ball. Three things impact the way the ball is going to bounce off the wall: speed, approach angle, and location.
The speed element is rather simple. The faster the ball is heading towards the wall, the harder it’s going to bounce off of it. If the ball is heading towards the wall at a high speed, position your car a bit further away from where the impact is going to happen. This way, you’ll be able to meet the ball cleanly.
The angle is an important element as well. If the ball is heading straight-on towards the wall, it’s going to head straight back out. However, this won’t always be the case. For example, if the player is on the left side of the field and hits the ball towards the center of the backboard, it will bounce off to the right, and vice versa. Mastering these reads will take a lot of trial and error, but just keep in mind that the sharper the angle, the more the ball is going to bounce in the opposite direction.
Finally, there’s the location, primarily dealing with the ceiling. Again, it takes trial and error, but reading when the ball is going to cleanly hit off the wall or also touch the ceiling is very important, as this will drastically change the course of the ball. The ceiling will make the ball drop down a lot quicker, which makes it a deadly tool to utilize, but also one that can cause a lot of misreads.
One important thing to remember is that you don’t necessarily have to rush your wall reads.
Take your time more. I think we all try to go too fast to it. Especially in lower to mid ranks, people aren’t going to be getting up to the ball at 100 miles per hour, so take more time with it. It’ll get easier and you’ll be able to go for the ball faster. You’ll get more confident over time.
A great way to improve your reads is by simply going for every read. If you don’t want to sacrifice your MMR, hop in to casual and just go for every wall read. Sure, you’ll miss a lot, but in the long run, you’re going to improve your reads a lot just by simply repeating the process a bunch of times.
The wall can be used for so many different things, both from an individual and team perspective. One of the most useful individual offensive mechanics to use in Rocket League is the ceiling shot.
One of the best things to practice is ceiling shots. If you do it properly, you have all the time to take the shot, as you’ll have your flip forever. You can always shoot at any moment. I think having the ability to have the play completely in your hands is a very useful thing to have.
Getting consistent at ceiling shots is one of those things that can set you apart very quickly, especially in playlists like 1v1 and 2v2, where you’re going to have more time on the ball. As ApparentlyJack explained, all you have to do is drive from the wall on to the ceiling and allow yourself to fall off the ceiling, saving you your flip. The hardest part is the set up – hitting the ball low enough so that it doesn’t hit the ceiling, but not so low that you won’t have time to get to it. Like wall reads, repetition is what is going to help you the most here. Utilizing free play to master this set up is going to be a safe bet, and as you get faster, you can challenge yourself to do it online against defenders.
You also don’t have to make a play immediately upon getting the ball on the wall – you can use it to carry the ball down the field with relatively low resistance in a lot of cases.
Using it to go down the pitch with the ball is a good one. Realistically, if you’re driving along the wall with the ball, the defense can’t really challenge you because they’ll have to jump to get to you. Don’t just use the wall to go for crazy plays, but also as a way to set up more plays by pushing yourself into good positions.
Don’t be afraid to take your time and wait for the best option to present itself. Getting the ball into your opponent’s half is generally a good thing, and is a play in itself. Your teammates will be able to grab some boost and be ready for a center because you gave them the time to do so.
Speaking of centers, passing plays are also particularly lethal in Rocket League, and running passing plays from the wall can be very tricky to defend.
One very good play is when a person has space and the ball is coming to them, they can pass the ball to a teammate on the wall. If the ball gets to them quickly, the defense won’t have time to react. You can start a very quick counter-attack by getting a couple of fast touches. You can also use the wall to block touches from the opposing team’s defense. You can cut a lot of passing options off and keep possession.
ApparentlyJack gives two solid pieces of advice here, and both of them start by going on the wall when you’re off the ball. On offense, you can await a pass from your teammate while up on the wall as opposed to just always being in the midfield. Mixing up your approach is key, and opponents in lower to mid ranks won’t often expect you to be up there, allowing you a free touch more often than not. You can do a few different things from here, whether that be taking a hard shot on net, passing it back to your teammate, going for an air dribble, or just dribbling it to your opponent’s corner. And you’ll likely have time to do it before you’re contested.
ApparentlyJack also mentioned a way to use the wall on defense. This method comes down to simply being patient and waiting to see what your opponent does. They may think they have a free chance to boom the ball up the field from their end, but if you’re waiting on the wall, you’re going to beat everyone to the ball. Instead of them getting a booming clear, you’ll send it right back to their end, and a lot sooner than they expected. This can cause them to scramble back on defense, giving you a chance to capitalize on any potential sloppy positioning.
As you climb the ranks, players are going to use the backboard more and more. Learning how to properly defend it is very critical. A missed backboard read on defense is often going to lead to a really good chance for the offense, as the ball will bounce into a dangerous position.
The main reason why backboard defense is so good is because backboard offense is so useful. Learning how to read and defend your own backboard is a very vital skill. It also allows you to position perfectly on defense. In 3s, if you have one guy on the ground, one guy on the backboard and one guy challenging the ball, that’s a very strong structure to have because you’re covering every dangerous position.
When you rotate back on defense, you want to make sure you cover an area that isn’t covered, and oftentimes, this area is going to be the backboard in lower to mid ranks. As ApparentlyJack mentioned, covering every dangerous option is going to make you very tough to break down on defense. If the ball comes to you on the backboard, you’ll be able to either boom it down the field, or catch it and bring it around the wall. Both of these things will buy your teammates time to get boost and go down the field to make a play on offense.
Using the wall effectively will undoubtedly help you climb through the ranks in Rocket League. But, what’s the absolute best way to get better at it?
I always credit 1v1 and free play. 1v1 is so good because you get so much time on the ball compared to other game modes, which means you’re going to practice your mechanics more. Also, it sounds hard, but don’t take ranked too seriously. We all want to rank up, but I think we can benefit ourselves in the long run by not taking it too seriously. Yes, we’re going to mess up, but we’re going to improve faster from it. That progression helps you in time.
The biggest thing to take away is repetition, repetition, repetition. Figuring out how to use the wall is relatively simple in concept, but in practice, it takes a lot of time to master your reads and mechanics. But trial and error will take you to the top, and as ApparentlyJack said, don’t be afraid to mess up from time to time. It’s all part of the process.
Be sure to give ApparentlyJack a follow on YouTube and Twitch, and if you want to keep up with him personally, check him out on Instagram and Twitter. Thank you for reading, and good luck on the grind!
