Throughout your time in Rocket League, you may have picked up a plethora of habits; though some are critical to your success as a player, others may be holding you back, even unknowingly. In this article, we will discuss five common habits that are detrimental to ranking up, and how to control them.
Habits are a natural part of any game, especially Rocket League. As you put time and effort into the game, and start progressing through the ranks, you may find things that work, and subconsciously begin implementing them into your playstyle. This is how we all improve in most facets of life; however, Rocket League is a different game at different levels of play, and what may have once worked in your Gold lobbies may not suffice in Champion, or may even prove to lead to losses. Understanding why these habits form is critical, so players are able to adapt to new scenarios without limiting themselves.
There are a few habits that players tend to form that may prove to limit them later on in their Rocket League journey, and I want to address some of them for your awareness and so that you may try and avoid them, improving your gameplay in the process.
Flips are a crucial part of Rocket League, and they are used more and more at the higher ranks, utilized in various ways to supplement offensive and defensive plays. They’re incredibly useful, allowing you to gain speed without boost and extend plays just a little further, but there is a time and a place. A habit that many develop is to flip very often, conserving boost and gaining speed.
Though this is ostensibly great, as you’ll be at a full tank and at high speed, there are disadvantages of flipping that are far more dangerous. You need to make sure to know when and when not to flip, as making a habit out of inopportune flipping is bound to be disastrous.
The key issue with flipping too much is that a flip commits your car to one direction; by doing this, you cannot adapt to any change of pace or direction, which can prove to be very problematic. For example, if you were to flip towards an opponent with the ball and they immediately passed the ball, you would be out of position as a result, and not able to contribute to your team. This can leave your teammates in dangerous positions, and this is not something that you’d want to occur.
The main instances in which you’d want to flip are when the ball is predictable, as in you know it will go in one direction without a possibility for a sudden change. If a ball is slowly rolling without another player close by, or it’s being cleared from one side, a flip can be safer, as you can conserve boost while still being in a position to act on the ball; however, in situations where the ball is being passed between players or rapidly shifting, it proves wiser not to flip without reason, instead using boost to make sure you have sound positioning.
At first glance, especially to less-experienced players, touching the ball may never seem like a bad thing, unless you are actively being a detriment to your team. Any touch that gets the ball closer to its goal should be good, right? At the lower ranks, touching the ball is seemingly the most important aspect of the game; in a situation where players haven’t mastered clearing the ball, let alone formulating aerial and passing plays, simply going for the ball can yield great success. Lobbing the ball in the general direction of the net was something that did work for me in the nascent stages of my Rocket League career, and I was able to get a respectable rank.
However, at the higher ranks, the effectiveness of such a strategy falls off, and even makes things easier for your opponent. One main problem is clearing the ball much too powerfully; though clearing the ball can allay your opponent’s offensive pressure, it relieves your team of any chance to create an offensive play, by placing possession back in your opponent’s hands. At the lower ranks, such a habit may develop as opponents would be far less likely to utilize their possession to the fullest, but giving your opponents space for aerial and physical plays can be fatal, and it would be much wiser to attempt to start an attack of your own. This isn’t definitive, however, as a clear may prove to be far more effective if your opponents have pushed too far or if your defense is on the verge of crumbling.
Another pitfall of this habit is that players may not be aware of an opportunity their teammates have. Many players attempt to advance the ball on their own just because they are closer, and this may close off crucial opportunities for teammates to create a more lethal play. However, in many situations, it is better to allow teammates to work with the ball, such as if they have a better angle or a superior setup for aerial plays and the like. If you are in a situation that doesn’t have a clear advantageous play, it may be much better to allow your teammate to have a shot, as their opportunities may be far better than yours! A linear playstyle of touching and advancing the ball with no purpose isn’t sustainable but making contact with intent is a surefire way to increase your prowess on the ball.
Defense is a critical element of Rocket League, and yet it too, in excess, can be a hindrance. It’s perfectly acceptable to take a solid third man position, trying to fill in the gaps so that your team doesn’t concede unnecessary goals, and that can take you pretty far. However, the fluid nature of the game means that you have to spend time attacking and defending, and a focus on only one aspect can damage your growth as a player. Though defending may work at the lower ranks, as a solid defense can be nearly impenetrable without the tools of harder mechanics, the best defense in the higher ranks proves to be a strong offense
Playing too defensively doesn’t only include sitting in your own half of the field. A lack of aggression can also be a problem, as in immediately abandoning plays once they start in order to fill in gaps. Sure, you may not get scored on in the moment, but leaving the play will also prevent your own team from advancing. Disruption of the opponent is something that is sometimes undervalued and can be an excellent contribution that you can make before rotating back; taking a large boost pad or bumping an opponent can massively increase your chances of scoring, while still allowing you to rotate back in a timely manner to prevent concession.
Defense is important but developing a habit of staying in that role isn’t helping anybody. Rotations are key, making sure that defense is always addressed while still allowing devastating offensive assaults. This graphic can help you identify when to stay in the play and where to go next in your rotations in 3v3, helping you consciously prevent yourself from playing too offensively or defensively (I recommend this video by Sunlesskhan for 2v2):
Image courtesy of Reddit user u/lmfao__schwarz in this post.
Aerial plays are the most alluring part of Rocket League to many players; the beauty of flip resets and air dribbles is incomparable to the more mundane aspects of the game, though they may not be as important. One hallmark of development in this area of the game is the usage of air roll, which demonstrates increased aerial control and helps with more advanced aerial maneuvers. Many players may see constant air rolling at the high levels and seek to imitate it, but many are unaware that it is actually suboptimal when done excessively! I personally have fallen in the trap of constantly air rolling, but there are disadvantages that come with that which are problematic long-term.
Firstly, let’s look at why air rolling helps in the first place, before the detriments of using it too much. Air rolling, firstly, allows for much greater control of your car in the air and for recovery. You can position your car towards the ball for a solid touch, underneath for a flip reset, use your corner for a powerful clear, and more! Air rolling grants a level of versatility that cannot be achieved simply with turning, and mastering it means that you can make these adjustments almost instantly. Another element that is a great asset is adding a level of unpredictability to your plays. If you air roll, your opponent may not know whether you intend to go high or low, for a shot or an air dribble, etc. This uncertainty introduced is massive leverage against your opponent, and these advantages are indispensable.
Now, the negatives, and why air rolling too much is a problem. There are two clear areas where you may begin to suffer on account of unnecessary air roll, being control and speed. Aerial control is already difficult; aiming shots correctly and juggling the ball are tasks that not all players can do. Without a powerful level of control, air rolling will make these even more difficult, as you may not be able to accurately control touches to achieve what you want. Of course, control will increase with time, but in situations like aerial challenges, it is far better to stick to using air roll for small adjustments, for a more predictable outcome around which your team can play.
Speed is the most important factor that is affected by this habit, and it has to do with where your boost is facing. Air rolling may result in your boost facing slightly to the side, which increases your boost consumption to make it to the ball and makes it take longer to actually reach it. Those split-seconds can be the difference between beating your opponent to the ball and taking an unfavorable challenge, a risk which should be avoided. Players such as current world champion Evan "M0nkey M00n" Rogez of Team BDS have mastered aerials, without overcomplicating them, to beat opponents in the air and achieve success in the highest level of Rocket League.
By minimally using air roll, M0nkey M00n is able to efficiently redirect the ball into the top corner, securing his team the title. Though air roll is beneficial, it works best when used only if it’s necessary, allowing for a combination of speed and unpredictability that cannot be ignored.
This last habit isn’t directly related to gameplay itself, but rather mentality. Mentality is a significant part of Rocket League, and it can have a huge impact on improvement and ranking up, as well as overall enjoyment. As we all know, winning is the main objective for most people in Rocket League; ranking up and getting better at the game give players a sense of gratification that can’t quite be replicated. This bad habit, of queuing while tilted, may be the most insidious by far, as it can both decrease your enjoyment as well as lower your rank.
When you’re on a losing streak, you may feel a tendency to keep going, feeling that you should regain your lost MMR before you stop. However, this is a fallacy, and it will only serve to drag you deeper. When you’re tilted, as you may be after a series of losses in ranked, you tend to play far worse, making rash decisions, and overall not being the optimal player and teammate. Tilt-queuing, though seemingly rational in the moment, can make situations worse, and it’s far better to avoid this possibility entirely. By establishing limits on when to stop playing ranked, e.g. after a certain amount of losses or an MMR threshold, you make sure that you’ll stop playing before things can get worse. Though you may want to stay on and try to gain your precious rank back, it’s always better to take a break and return, allowing you to cool off and play more calmly and collected, and maybe even exceed where you were before!
All in all, there are quite a few tendencies that players tend to develop that can restrict their development. Identifying these, as we have done here, is one way to improve and break free of bad habits; there are far more that you may have which were not enumerated here, and it’s up to you to find those tendencies and excise them from your gameplay, through analysis of your own gameplay. Good luck with breaking your bad habits in Rocket League and climbing up the ranked ladder!
