Like every sport, learning and mastering the fundamentals is key. Don’t have them and you aren’t getting very far. It can be a tough, unforgiving road up to the top of the leaderboards. Take it from me, at the beginning of my Rocket League Journey, I was a perennial Silver player who never seemed like I could reach any higher. It’s nice to say that I have improved, and you can too! This article will teach you skills in order to properly improve your game and make it up the higher ranks.

Improve at Dribbling

Rocket League has a plethora of ways to score goals. You can shoot from the goal, sneak behind the goal to set up a pick-up, or wall dive on the edge of the goal, just to name a few.

One way to improve your scoring rate and overall game is to improve your dribbling skills.

Dribbling is important because it will help you get the ball in the back of the net more often. The problem here is the number of mistakes you make. Dribbling means a lot of step-over movements and trying to trick your opponent. These movements can sometimes be quick, but other times your opponent can easily out-think you.

You are going to face these types of situations a lot. Luckily, dribbling is a relatively easy skill to learn, as long as you know how to maximize it. Here are some videos to get a better view of how to improve dribbling.

Improve Your Aerial Game

As the name implies, the aerial game is all about attacking your opponents by using the aerial abilities of your car. The aerial game is all about how you move the car into the air to hit the ball in the goal. Before you begin, make sure you master the art of air dribbling and air passing. The air dribbling and air passing are two of the most fundamental moves in Rocket League. Air dribbling will allow you to have complete control of the ball while in the air. This technique is used to perform aerial passing, aerial shots, aerial flicks, etc. Air passing is used to pass the ball to an oncoming teammate or to pass the ball to yourself for a shot at the goal. It’s easy to get sucked into playing Rocket League but you’ll quickly find out that many strategies require you to be on your toes.

Improve Your Ground Game

Ground speed is your vehicle's brake and throttle. Good ground control allows you to time your moves properly, accelerating or decelerating. The more you can control your acceleration, deceleration, direction change, and the distance between yourself and your opponent, the better off you will be.

This will help you climb the ladder and improve your game by leaps and bounds. Boost is an essential skill for this. The higher you climb in the Rocket League rankings, the more you need to use boost effectively. It's that simple.

Whether it's to get out of a sticky situation and kill your opponent or to get past an opponent who is blocking your path, you need to be a master of the boost. Watch this link to get started.

Improve Your Positioning When Defending

Technique is not always best, it’s vital to have a real understanding of the opponent’s movements and making sure you have an idea of how your opponents will set up to destroy your goal.

For example, if your opponent has a long shot, you need to know that they will move in and make you defend against the shot. You need to use your awareness and positioning to know where their player is going and how they are going to aim the shot. If they use a cross the ball then move in and get a block on the ball.

Simple, but to execute you need to think about the angle of the shot, how far the player will move in and how to block the shot. By thinking about these issues you will become a better player and allow you to develop some tricks.

Improve Your Accuracy in the Goal Box

Jumping high enough for the ball to pass through your goal box is an important skill in Rocket League. The higher your jump, the more precise your shot.

Accuracy is inversely proportional to the height of your jump. You should try to jump as high as you can and the further the ball has to travel before it reaches you, the better your accuracy will be. This requires coordination and precision.

If you’re struggling to land a ball in the goal, you might be too low in the air, which can put your shot behind the goal. Try holding your shot as long as possible before letting it go, and try to get the ball to go further in the goal. This will require you to be super athletic and to control the ball carefully.

Improve Your Mental Game

This might be one of the most important skills you need for Ranked Matches. Hand-eye coordination is a huge factor in a game like Rocket League. You need to be sound with yourself and your teammates.

One thing you should do is observe your surroundings. The sooner you learn the rules, the more opportunities you'll have to master them. Don't be quick to turn things around at your opponent- you'll almost always lose. You have to be patient and wait for the right moment to act. The game can be stressful, especially when you're constantly playing with aggressive teammates. So what can you do? You can focus on where you want to go and what's going on around you- such as your teammate rushing towards you or the goalie trying to stop the ball from going into the goal. The more aware you are, the easier it is to see opportunities and capitalize on them.

Also if you are serious about playing, develop a routine. It helps you be on top of your game. You need to know your role as well. In Rocket League, you're the only person who can occupy an entire goal-scoring lane. The thing is, it's difficult for you to compete with other players when your skills aren't up to par. However, if you know where to position yourself to be the best player possible, then you'll be able to contribute more than you normally would. You should always try and align yourself to be the best possible, so you always have the best chance to score.

Conclusion

The road ahead will not be easy to boost through, but in the end with these tips and tricks you may find yourself better than you were before! Apply these through the practice fields and learn to become a better player! Have patience and you will one day reap what you sowed! If you want to know more about what skills you should practice based on your rank, take a look at this link for more info!