When playing your common online match of three versus three, or even a two versus two, one important aspect of your gameplay is rotational ability. 'Rotating' in Rocket League means to efficiently place yourself in the field dependent on where the other players in your team are.

Above is a diagram explaining an effective rotation for the orange team.

1. This first player should have possession of the ball. From this position, the player has the choice of taking the ball up the wall for an air dribble, ceiling shot, or a pass to the centre of the field.

2. This player should be observing what the first player is doing and where they are taking the ball, all while staying at a comfortable distance and not too close to miss a passing opportunity. If the first player was to hit the ball to the centre of the field, this second player should be central and ready to capitalise on the pass.

3. This player, while the other two are up the field, should remain back for the time being. This is so that if players one and two fail to maintain possession of the ball and the blue team advances to the orange side, the third player can defend any potential shots on the net to waste time while players one and two return to the orange side.

It is important to not only observe where your teammates are on the field, but also the opposing team. Knowing where the enemy players are positioned means you can work your plays around their positioning. For example, if you are in the first player's position with possession over the ball and the enemy team is completely misplaced, you may want to take a shot on the net as opposed to passing to the second player.

Otherwise, if you are in the third player's position and notice that the enemy team is scrambled, you may want to push up further into the field to add extra pressure onto the other team.

Returning back to your position is also important. After player one loses possession over the ball, they will want to return back to the third position after collecting boost and this continues in a 'conveyer-belt' fashion. This is why it is called a rotation.

What are Half-Rotations?

Bearing this in mind, then, you may be asking what a half-rotation actually is. This is basically where a player breaks traditional rotational patterns to add more pressure onto the enemy team if they see an opportunity to do so. Returning to the diagram above, then, the first player may lose possession of the ball or run out of boost and grab the centre boost. If player two manages to get possession of the ball, player one may wish to remain up the field to take the position of player two. This is represented in the diagram below to illustrate this.

The third player should always be aware of a player half-rotating. This can be done through communication. Otherwise, the third player may assume the team is rotating fully as usual and push up the field, meaning the team could become scrambled and confused, leading to potential agitation.

Below is a good example of an effective half-rotation. Here, I had gone for a shot and missed the ball. This meant I had lost control of the ball and went for boost. Instead of returning to the third player's position to defend a potential rebound shot from the enemy team, I turned back onto the ball and took another shot which went into the net.

Performing half-rotations can throw the opposing team off, as it did here. It is often unexpected to break rotation especially as you climb the ranks. Rotational ability becomes much more common the higher the rank of your games are. If you are around Platinum or below, you may find that rotations are not implemented as often. If this is the case, simply paying as much attention as possible to your teammate's positioning is what will make you an overall better player.

Otherwise, if you are at Diamond rank or above, you will see more patterns in rotations and by breaking the patterns by half-rotating, you will want to be confident in your move to avoid your teammates becoming frustrated.

The Goods and Bads of Half-Rotating

The positives of half-rotating include:

You can throw the opposing team off, as it is quite unexpected.
The speed of your gameplay will increase, as you are becoming more active. With speed and accuracy comes more skill.
You are paying more attention to the players around you.

The negatives of half-rotating include:

Your teammates may become confused or frustrated that you are not sticking to traditional rotations.
You need to be confident in your half-rotation. Otherwise, you may seem as though you are ball-chasing.

Rocket League, generally, is a surprisingly thoughtful game, in which you will need to heavily think about what you and your teammates are doing at all times. Understanding this and forming strategies around this knowledge is what will help you climb the ranks.

Also remembering to communicate with your teammates is often a crucial part of the game. If voice chat is not accesible for you, the game has a handy quick-chat feature so you can inform your teammates on when you are going to push forward on the play. So get out there and consider half-rotations. Otherwise, remember to rotate fluently and you will see a gradual improvement.