The good, the bad, and the ball chasing. Ball chasing gets a bad rap. For a good reason, though. To be clear, ball chasing isn’t just turn-your-brain-off gameplay; there’s nuance to it. And it requires super-quick decision-making, high-level game sense, and very clean mechanical control. As the point of ball chasing isn’t solely to disrupt plays and cause panic but to create solo play opportunities for you and your teammates. In today’s video, I’m reviewing a Champion player who’s been playing the game on and off for nine years. Surprisingly, they were quite confident and aggressive, and I say this because most players who’ve been in the game for a long time play very slow, calculated, and methodical. But this player was fast! Too fast, though. Not only through their car speed, but they were playing extremely close to their teammate, disrupting their solo plays, overcommitting, and altogether overplaying nearly every single opportunity, which then reduced their overall impact in the game. I had to address it, not because I’m a simple, boring, mean, old car ball coach, but because it hit overkill territory. I used to compete at a very high level in this game. I played in Rank BPLUS 6Mans and grinded in the RLCS and other tournaments for money. And then afterwards, I coached in the top 16 RLCS for several years. I’m only saying this to provide a bit of context, as I coach an extremely aggressive, cut-heavy, solo-play-heavy, demo-focused game of Rocket League. But if the shoe doesn’t fit, or it’s not necessary in the current rank of play, then I always encourage players to remember their fundamentals. I wanted the player being reviewed to space out from their teammate and give them time to solo play. I provided an easy reference point for this, which was the defensive goal line and offensive midfield line. I also wanted them to follow a simple 1-2 cadence as a 1st man to play the ball and then rotate out to play another play as a 2nd man, whether that was a solo play or a fake challenge into shadow defense. No cuts, no turns on the ball was the motto. Essentially restricting their plays on the ball to one play, one shot, one mechanic, and one control play, and then recovering as quickly as possible to position for another play. My objective was to reduce the number of times they played the ball so their teammate could get in the play while they spent more brain power positioning properly to play something of higher quality. It’s a less-is-more strategy aimed at reducing mistakes and establishing a solid base for them to build on. Over time, I’d want to lean more into their aggressive, cut-heavy playstyle, but for now, I want to “cut it out” because it just looks like ball chasing. See what I did there? Always remember, though, good ball chasing is good, and bad ball chasing is bad. There’s nuance to it. Have a great day, car ballers.
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Timestamps:
Getting Into the Game – 0:00
Spacing and Positioning – 2:25
1-2 Cadence, Play Then Leave, No Cuts – 6:16
If You Don’t Have Boost, Then Leave the Play – 10:42
Wrapping up the Review – 14:35
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If anyone's interested, here's a 21-min video discussing cut rotation game sense, aka good ball chasing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExSXNQ_vlBk
There needs to be more clarification on leaving the ball when you have no boost because that initial play in this video would’ve been just as bad if not worse than shooting it terribly like that from my experience. Opting to do a 50 was the correct play there IMO.
High key need a short for the no boost section to send to bro. 👀
"If your teammate has a hundred boost behind you (or infront of you) while you have zero (and you cant make any play) give the ball to him. A 50/50 would count as a play."
It's shocking to me the level of thought (lack thereof) that people put into the game as they play it. Like thats an understanding you gain in gold/plat, not champ/gc.
Only positive of playing this aggressive is that he will make waaay more mistakes than the average player so learning what is wrong could happen faster.
So many words and polite phrasing to say slack on the ball chasing and do basic rotations lol. Pretty incredible this guy is Champ I with that game sense. I was waiting for the insane mechanics but only saw some wave dashes. Oh well. Good news for me I guess I don't need to get that much better to get out of Diamond. 😀
Awesome video. The added emphasis I'm inclined to give is this:
(1) A strong first touch is game changing. When the touch, momentum, and boost amount, give nice opportunities for scoring opportunities, it's absolutely fine to solo play. (2) Meanwhile, the less space a player gives the ball when their options are awkward, the worse their vision, and options for strong touches become.
In other words:
Often players fall into the trap of thinking max hits on the ball equals great pressure and thus great play; however the reality is the more bad touches on the ball a player has, the more likely they are to be minimizing their own teams time to recover and handing the opponents strong opportunities to counter.
Albeit, I'm a plat, but I bet at least 1 thing I say here is an objective truth:
There is a certain moment in this game that I like to call a/the "Hero play." This is a play that clutches a goal (Or sometimes a save) to tie or win a tough game, or to break a 4 minute stalemate. These plays are often sudden, require a great deal of game sense, and a smidge of mechanics (But sometimes these plays can be quite mechanical, compared to the level of the lobby).
I theorize that the reason we see so much ballchasing, bad rotations, and poor positioning is because everyone is looking to make a hero play at all times in the game. Everyone wants to get that perfect air dribble, or that top left 65+mph shot, or that peak Kuxir pinch. Hero plays are not something that can be practiced or learned. They can not be sought out. They come from a capitalization of opportunity and proper application of mechanics when it is safe to do so.
When you are actively seeking to make a hero play, you become a detriment to your team. You are only looking for opportunities where YOU can make a play on the ball, therefore not recognizing when your teammates (And more importantly your opponents) can make a better more valuable play than you can. Everyone wants to be Dark(?) or Zen or Nass. Those players play like that because their teammates give them the space too. But what we often don't recognize is how little space they give their teammates. even then, their teammates still give them the space to work and cover their weaknesses while they do. If you are looking to get a hero play right after your teammate touches the ball, you might as well forfeit.
There is definitely a rotation in 2v2. I can only speak for plats that know what they're doing, but its less like soccer, and more like tennis. Imagine you split the field in 3 rows and 2 columns. There's up field, middle, then downfield , then left field and right field. When your teammate is making a play on the ball, your goal should be to go ANYWHERE but the zone they're in. If they're on the left, then the ball can either go into a wall or into an open field. If you're right behind your teammate instead of covering that open field, you might as well forfeit. If the ball is down field, near the opponents net, you should be in mid field ready for a pass, or up field in case of a counter attack. If you are downfield without the ball you might as well forfeit.
Now, here's where I go back to the tennis point. When your teammate is making a play only 2 things ever happen: They win a challenge and continue their play, or they lose a challenge and lose the ball. Nothing different will ever happen. As the teammate WITHOUT the ball, your only job is to make sure that if that challenge is LOST, you can recover the ball and make time for your teammate to recover from the challenge and get back into the play as second man. When playing tennis, you don't stand directly behind your teammate and just watch them hit the ball, then bum rush beside them when the ball comes back. You wait till the ball comes to where you can reach and they can not. And if you are the one with the ball and lose the challenge, this is important, so read this a few times if you don't get it: LEAVE THE DAMN PLAY. You aren't helping your team if you keep trying to make up for your own mistakes. Thats what a "Team" is for. If you lose a challenge then turn around, you just leave your teammate driving in circles, waiting for you to realize that you're out of boost and making the play less scorable.
But I'm just a plat.
You were very polite … the player did not deserve it … they played like an arrogant ball chasing idiot and ought to be told as much