The rank 'Silver' in Rocket League is one of the most populated ranks in the entire game. This means that most of the players in the game are this rank or similar, such as Gold or Platinum. Many of these players seem to struggle to make personal improvements so that they can make the jump into the next rank and even higher.

So what exactly can players do in order to do this? Well, every player is unique and an exact example cannot be extracted from every single players' gameplay. Instead, a few general improvements for Silver players can be listed.

Avoiding Ballchasing

Ballchasing is something the vast majority of players in the lower few ranks have a tendency to do. This is because for new players, hitting the ball in a fast-paced environment where there are five other players on the field is exciting and just being able to touch the ball with your car is the primary focus for most bronze players and silver players.

This, predictably, comes to cause some trouble. For example, all players ballchasing in a three-versus-three match results in double and sometimes even triple commits. This means two or three players of the same team go for the ball at the same time.

This completely dirupts rotation, positioning, and confuses your teammates as it takes them out of the play entirely. If you are in a Silver lobby, then, and all the players seem to be chasing the ball and double-committing to do so, the strongest decision you can make is to play more defensive and go for the ball as soon as you see an opening.

Instead of boosting towards the ball constantly, take a bit of a breather and observe the situation. Ask yourself:

'Where is the ball going to go?'
'If I go for the ball now, will I get beat by the other team?'
'Is there somebody else on my team going for the ball right now?'

It is a lot to take in, but the payoff as opposed to hitting the ball for the sake of hitting the ball will be greatly recognisable. This is a huge factor that a lot of players in the Silver rank should open their eyes to in order to confirm improved gameplay and rank.

Thinking About Teammates

On a similar wavelength to the ballchasing point, being smart is a crucial factor to level up. Regarding teammates, you should always be aware of where they are on the field. This is so you can make fast-paced decisions for choosing whether to take the ball for yourself or pass to a teammate.

If there is a player on your team to the right as you go to hit the ball, you may wish to go for a pass to them. Passing is much more unpredictable that simply hitting the ball towards the enemy goal. Passing between all three members of your team is very useful, if done well, and this is why passing plays are often so successful in scoring.

So assuming the player is to your right, and you want to pass to them, is there anything you should consider before doing so? To put it simply, yes. A few examples are:

Are there any enemy players surrounding this teammate?
How far away are they?
Will they reach the ball before an opposing player does?
Is the goal open, meaning you can just go for a solid shot and score?

If there are opposing players around your teammate, you might want to consider taking matters into your own hands instead. But it is good that you have considered the possibility of passing to a nearby teammate. This is a positive aspect of improving your gameplay, especially as a player of the Silver rank is not likely to be very passive, so, mentality-wise, you are already ranks ahead.

Below is a clip of a successful and very useful passing play from a teammate to me in a two versus two match. He noticed that I had no enemy players surrounding me, and one of them were approaching him. Therefore, he may not have had a clear shot, and instead passed to me, resulting in a goal for us.

Do Not Pass to an Enemy

Of course, that point sounds very obvious. But this is extremely common in-game, and is not done purposefully but accidentally. This often occurs when a player wants to make a clear so that the ball leaves their half of the field and enters the other half.

As tempting as it is to relieve the pressure of the opposite team by hitting the ball very hard across the field, the main issue here is that you are passing possession of the ball over to the other team. That is, if there is no teammate further up the field who you may be passing to. In this case, a long clear is fine as you can pass the ball to them.

If there is no teammate far up the field, though, it is probably a better idea to catch the ball and hold onto possession over it. Once you catch the ball, you could either:

Dribble the ball up the field, so that you are with the ball and are advancing up the field, applying more pressure.
Hit the ball to a nearby teammate
Run the ball up the wall and hit the ball from there

As long as you are not passing possession over to the other team regularly, then you are more likely to be the team that applies the most pressure in offense. Also, it reduces the chance of your teammates becoming frustrated at you. No "Wow!"s for you.

Being Smart Overall

As demonstrated through the example questions you should be asking yourself, there is a lot more to take in than you might first imagine as you delve into the world of Rocket League. Players in these low ranks, primarily in Silver, should focus more on being a smart player instead of a ballchaser. Predict where the opposing team will take the ball and where the ball will go after a hit. Does it look like they are going for a pass or an individual play? When you get the ball, should you pass or maintain possession? If you decide to pass, are there other players there to interrupt? If you want to maintain possession, how will you go about doing so?

In every situation in Rocket League, there are multiple outcomes to choose from. In such an extremely fast-paced game, this can be overwhelming at first, but practice certainly makes perfect here. Custom training packs or freeplay are not the way to get yourself to Gold, Platinum or even higher from Silver. Instead, as basic as it might sound, simply play more matches.

Being in a realistic environment with other cars who are controlled by people like yourself if the best way to improve at reducing ballchasing, considering nearby teammates, reducing passing to the opposing team, and demonstrating how smart of a player you are.

These factors will ensure your advancement from Silver to those higher ranks. Again, pin-pointing specific areas of improvement for every Silver player is impossible, but it is guaranteed that there are areas, here, for Silver players to improve on.