Training packs are a good, and often underutilized, tool in Rocket League. Not only do they provide a nice break from the online grind, they can also help you out in a wide variety of scenarios. It’s important to remember that Rocket League is situational, so you aren’t guaranteed to see everything you see in a training pack in a game, but they can help you make good contact with the ball in a variety of situations.

Warming Up

Hitting the ball in Free Play is a great way to warm up, and you should absolutely still do it. However, if you want to add a training pack to your warm-up, The Ultimate Warm-Up (FA24-B2B7-2E8E-193B) is a really good one.

The biggest draw for this training pack is the variety. It has all kinds of setups for you to practice, whether that be air dribbles, aerial shots, or ground shots. And the beauty of not only this pack, but all training packs, is you can score in different ways. You don’t have to do the same thing with the same shot every time. Maybe you can take a regular shot on net sometimes, or maybe you can go for a double tap. Mixing it up will only make you more lethal in any given situation when you’re back to playing online.

Aerials

One of the most important things to practice is aerials. Free Play is a great tool for this too, but with training packs, you can experiment with potential in-game scenarios. Again, this isn’t some sort of cheat code – as Rocket League is situational. But at the very least, this will get you better at not only making contact with the ball in the air, but consistently placing it where you want it to go.

Two good training packs to use for this are Aerial Shots – Pass (C7E0-9E0B-B739-A899) and Aerial Shots – Pass 2 (8B11-F7CF-A64C-229C). These two packs will set you up with a ton of different passing plays that you need to use an aerial to score. This will help with that consistency – learning how to hit the ball in the place you want it to go. You also have that freedom to set up more advanced shots, such as flip resets or double taps. Try to get up to the ball as fast as you can and angle it into the net. That way, you will improve your speed and beat defenders to the ball in-game. Aerial Shots – Pass 2 is the more advanced of the two packs, so if you have a firm grasp on the first pack, try out the second one!

There is also Aerial Shots – Redirects (8D93-C997-0ACD-8416). This one is a bit different from the Pass training packs because of the type of shots it throws at you. This one requires very precise hits on the ball to direct it into the net – making it a relatively advanced pack for a large portion of players. The ball will be flying at high speeds and it’s your job to redirect the path of the ball towards the net while utilizing your aerial mechanics. This one will really help with your precision and consistently making contact with the ball.

Some Other Packs

Now that your aerial game is warmed up, let’s talk a little bit about defense. The first thing that comes to mind when practicing is working on those offensive mechanics. But let’s not forget about how crucial it is to make saves.

In most of your online games, you’ll be forced to stop an opposing shot from going into your net. Again, Free Play is great when it comes to getting yourself ready to play, but it’s not the best when it comes to practicing defense. That’s where the training pack Saves (2E23-ABD5-20C6-DBD4) comes in. This will give you nearly 50 shots to save, and of course, they vary in difficulty. Some will be super straightforward; others will require the use of a half-flip to make it in time. One thing that I recommend doing when practicing saves is hitting the ball with a purpose. Sometimes, when you’re in a game, you just have to hit the ball wherever you can to avoid it going into the net. But a lot of times, you have the power to not only save it, but put the ball in a good position. If you hit it back out to the middle of the pitch, it’s likely that your opponents will be able to take another shot on net. The side wall is your best bet, especially if you can hit it in such a way that it doesn’t bounce directly back to the midfield. This training pack is really great when it comes to consistently nailing down that placement.

Another good set of packs would be Ground Shots (6EB1-79B2-33B8-681C) and Ground Shots 2 (1B69-2B20-19E0-CFEF). If you’re tired of seeing so many of your shots bounce off the crossbar or the posts, these are the packs for you. You are thrown so many different scenarios in which you need to put the ball in the net from the ground. This will help your accuracy improve significantly and become more consistent. Practice not only getting the ball in the net, but also picking a corner of the net you want the ball to go to and hit it there. You will become a much more dangerous player if you have that level of control with your shot placement. Similarly to Aerial Shots, pack number 2 is going to be a bit more advanced than the first one, so keep that in mind!

Conclusion

While the Steam Workshop may have a bit more to offer, don’t sleep entirely on training packs, especially if you’re on Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch. We here at Dignitas hope that these packs can help you out in-game, and at the absolute least, provide a fun alternative to the typical ranked grind that will make you just a little better at the game.