Throughout the year you’ll have a bunch of tips being thrown at you, especially if you ask anyone ‘How can I get better at Rocket League? I’m [insert your rank]’.
The answers will vary and often people will say things like ‘Play more and use Freeplay,’ which, of course, is true.
What I wanted to do in this article was to offer five areas that are often underrated and each point stands on its own feet.
Without any further delay, here are five underrated tips for you to apply to your Rocket League play in 2021:
5. Prioritize Your Health
It is very important to maintain your health. After all, if you don’t have your health, you have nothing. So be sure to take proper care of yourself.
Car soccer should come secondary to everything else. If you are in school, make sure you do your homework or chores at home before you start playing. This means you won’t worry about anything else and you can focus on the game properly.
Also, make sure to not overplay. If you play for too long, you run the risk of getting burnout and at that point, you don’t want to even look at the game.
So make sure you aren’t spending all day playing. And don’t forget to make sure to get good sleep. Playing while drowsy is going to impede your reaction times.
4. Make a Training Routine
You can never go wrong with some practice.
The thing about Rocket League is that because it is such a mechanically intensive game, you have to basically play every single day in order to maintain your mechanical skill.
I recommend doing some level of practice for at least 30 min a day just to maintain that. This can be something as simple as hitting the ball around in Freeplay or even doing custom training packs.
Here is an example of what could be included in your training routine:
- Write a list of several mechanics or areas you’re wanting to work on.
- Jump into Freeplay and work on one of those mechanics for 10 minutes (i.e. power shots).
- Then, open up a training pack. Pick one which will help you work on that same mechanic for another 10-20 minutes.
- Repeat this process on a different mechanic each session to master the ones you’re weakest at.
You need to be playing a lot, especially at the lower ranks, in order to prevent yourself from going backward skill-wise. The higher you are, the longer the break you can get away with but even then eventually it will go away. So make sure to practice daily!
3. Apply the ‘Loss System’
Something I notice a lot in all levels of players is an issue with keeping a good mentality. You absolutely cannot afford to get upset during or after a match especially if you are in a tournament.
This idea of having a “proper mentality” is a real thing. If you go into matches expecting to lose, you will lose. You have to stay positive and if something bad happens in-game, shake it off and stay in the moment.
If you are on a losing streak, I recommend having a “life” system. Give yourself three lives. If you lose three in a row, take a break.
You might want to understand what is causing your losses and booking in a coaching session or learning how to review your own replays might be helpful. Hop into Freeplay, watch some videos, play another game. It isn’t worth tilt-queueing and throwing your rank.
2. Play in a League
If you are really wanting to take your game to the next level, this is the tip for you.
Playing in a tournament environment helps build a tolerance to high levels of stress and pressure. The more resistant you are, the more goals you will keep out of your net.
The one thing that causes a team to let a goal in is pressure. High stakes, fast gameplay, and hard opponents are the main causes of pressure. The more experience and exposure you get in environments like this will let you improve overall as a player.
Leagues such as Indy Gaming League (IGL) is a great place to start. Another good option is playing RL6Mans. All of these options let you get that tournament experience without any real consequences of losing the matches. This makes them great places for aspiring pro players.
I should mention that 6Mans isn’t technically a league. It is an alternate form of ranked essentially (similar to that of ESEA). You get assigned a rank based on your 3s rank, and from there, you solo queue and get random teammates just like ranked. The one change is that you have to go into voice chat with your teammates so you actually have proper communication.
Through both of these options, you will be able to meet players that are just as dedicated to improving as you are, and you can then team up and play actual tournaments together.
1. Rank Up in 1s
I know. I know. 1s is annoying and is a difficult mode. I get it. But you can’t deny that it doesn’t make you a better player. It essentially forces you to make sure you are doing everything right to avoid getting scored on.
The single biggest reason why you should be playing more 1s is that it will not only improve mechanical consistency but it will also help greatly with decision making.
Those decision-making principles are going to overlap massively with 2s and 3s. For example, think about ‘when to challange’ decision – it’s crucial you don’t hesitate and know whether to challenge or retreat back and defend.
Of course, you’ll need to take into consideration that there are teammates, but the mechanics of being able to get a solid 50/50 and being able to get the challenge in the first place will be the same principle as it is in other playlists.
In other articles, we’ve talked about how lower-ranked players might want to play less 2s and 3s exactly for this reason. This is something that, again, a lot of people tend to struggle with.
Bonus Tip: Hire a Coach
You can never go wrong with hiring a coach.
When you get a coach, we will be able to jumpstart your progression by showing you the proper way to improve. I have personally coached all levels of players and they have all been able to benefit from it.
I hope that you found these tips useful and I hope these tips help you rank up in 2021 and beyond.
If you’re wanting to get more personalised private coaching sessions then you can check out my coaching profile here and book a 1-on-1 session with me.
