Big boost pads are the most enticing things in Rocket League because they fill your boost meter to 100%. The only issue is that big boosts are always at the sides of the map, away from the play. If you can beat the urge to leave the play and grab a big boost, you will find success in your games.

The Experiment/Challenge

Over one week, do not intentionally grab big boost pads in all of your matches.

First Thoughts

Before we begin, you need to understand a couple of things. Not grabbing big boosts should be used as a training tool and may be difficult for the first couple of games. If you really commit to the entire process, you will end up learning and developing as a player. If you try this in ranked, you may derank a little bit, but you should end up equipped with all of the tools needed to push past an even higher rank than you started at.

Learning Pad Rotations

Cluttered throughout the Rocket League pitch are small little boost pads that each grant 12 boost. Theoretically, if you perfectly conserve your boost and you do not miss any small pads, it is possible to play without ever feeling like you are low enough boost to go grab big boost pads.

Realistically, maximizing every single ounce of boost and hitting every pad with precision is improbable. There are so many variables for each skill that it is not very easy to train, but if you can learn some of the boost paths and you can figure out situations to save boost, you will be one step closer to mastery.

While you try to play Rocket League without going for big boosts, occasionally drive in your rotations without ball cam on and try to understand some of the basic boost paths that take you around the pitch. Below, there is an image of the marked-out common boost paths. Anytime you are rotating to a new position, try to hop on one of those paths until you get to where you were going. I suggest trying this in 1v1, where it is clearer where you need to position.

Thanks to Reddit user u/RetroGamer2153 for this graphic - original post

During this learning process, you are bound to miss a couple of boost pads here and there. The more you miss, the more you will need to learn how to conserve boost because it will not be easy to recover without some boost. Start looking through your replays for when you end up running out of boost. You will often find that you run out of boost because you are wasting it in unnecessary times. Examples of this can be when you are already supersonic, when you are clearly beat to an aerial but you keep holding boost, when you are recovering from an aerial and boost forward instead of down to the ground, etc.

Learning pad rotations is easily the hardest part of this challenge, but I challenge you to accept the learning process and struggle through a couple of games. You will find yourself naturally rotating through boost more and leaving the play less. Don’t believe that pad rotations are important? Watch any professional player on YouTube and you will see them constantly picking up small pads in their games. To the pros, pad rotations are second nature.

Confidence

Confidence is one of the most important things in Rocket League. When you can get out of your own head and stop doubting yourself, you can enter a flow state easier, streamlining your gameplay. This confidence factor has even seen success in the RLCS in the form of what is called the “fun meta,” where teams start playing better when they are not fully stressed about winning or losing.

By trying this experiment of not grabbing big boost and ultimately grabbing less big boosts forever, you will gain confidence in your ability to play on lower amounts of boost. Oftentimes, people will leave the play to grab a big boost when they have 35 boost in their tank, which is plenty to make almost any play. When you force yourself to not leave the play, you will have to use every ounce of that 35 boost to succeed.

Over time, you will find that a little bit of boost can go a long way. When you can honestly tell yourself that 15 boost is enough to make any save, so much pressure is off of your chest when you are stuck on defense with 25 boost. Ideally, you want to have infinite boost, but learning to play on a half or third-filled tank will help your gameplay.

Positioning

Now that there is no pressure on you to leave the play in search of boost, there is nothing in your way of perfect positioning. Your goal under this system should be to maintain perfect positioning throughout your games, never making the wrong decision about where to go.

It is likely that you will get scored on as a result of two things: having no boost and being out of position. It is your job to look at your replays and identify the reason that you got scored on. Then, look back a couple of seconds to find how you could have prevented the goal: either better boost pick-ups or a different position. This trial-and-error method will quickly teach you how to optimize and improve your gameplay. Over time, you will develop better habits that will help your gameplay forever.

After

So you’ve done it. You have tried out not grabbing big boost for a week or so and are ready to transition back into normal play. Be careful! If you start playing exactly as you did before the experiment, you wasted your time. Now, you must find a hybrid between your past and experimental playstyles.

Hopefully, through trial-and-error learning, you have figured out some of your past positioning flaws. With your newfound confidence in playing under low amounts of boost, you can adhere to this positioning more often, helping out your team.

Also, you have experienced situations where you were put at a disadvantage because of your low boost levels. Now that you are not strictly following the no big boost rule, feel free to grab big boosts in situations where you absolutely need boost to succeed. Also, when you know that you have time in a play, go grab boost quickly to be best equipped for when you are needed.

Hopefully, you have a better read on when grabbing boost is an absolute necessity, and as a bonus, you learned better boost pad rotations!

Remember, this playstyle is an experiment: you may lose some MMR during the process, but the learning that will take place is invaluable. Good luck with your ranked matches!