Rocket League is unique in that skill progression is built solely off of an actual honest-to-goodness natural progression of skills. You can't get a better gun, level up your charisma, or change to a character with different strengths. All you can do is actively put time into practice. Of course, players have any number of in-game options to help with this. Many high ranked players have spent almost 100% of their playtime actually in games and achieved their rank by only improving their skill in-game.

Most of us use other tools such as Free Play or custom training packs to focus on specific mechanics to build those skills with repetition in an environment without opponents, but there are other resources and content that have been organized/created by the Rocket League community that can also help you improve. We've compiled a short list of these resources.

Coaching Discord

While you’ll need a PC to access the Discord itself, it is friendly for players on all platforms. If you play on consoles you may have a harder time finding a coach to party with you, but you can always post in the replay review channel regardless of platform. However, in my experience few replays in that channel ever actually get reviewed. So a better approach is to reach out to a coach who has recently posted in the coaching availability channel and request a replay review. This way, you don’t have to worry about platform or region compatibility.

Coaches aren’t being paid for their time. It’s strictly voluntary, so be courteous. Additionally, the Discord has a system for rating coaches so make sure you participate in that to give them some props. The benefits don't end there though. The community is super active and often host events such as tournaments or professional player interviews.

REDDIT - Friday Team Builder Thread

Rocket League is a blast to play alone, but friends make everything better. If you don’t have a friend who plays the game on the same platform as you, Reddit has the answer. A team building/friend finder thread is posted every Friday on the Rocket League subreddit. Just comment with your rank, platform, region, and a few pertinent details about what you’re looking for or your playstyle if you feel so inclined.

Don’t stop there though. Look through the comments and see if someone else who could fit what you’re looking for has already posted. Once you have a team, you can start discussing strategies for rotations, face-offs, and more. Once you can coordinate with a steady team and talk about strategies, the game gets even deeper.





BakkesMod

Custom training and Free Play will always have a place in Rocket League training. They offer a great way to build the first steps of muscle memory for new mechanics. But sometimes you need a little extra, and BakkesMod is great for that.

One of the most definitive examples of BakkesMod's training superiority is that it has an option to limit boost in custom training packs, which is currently only available in Free Play for the default game. With that one option, you can now train for face-offs with the same 33 boost that you start with in live games. Providing the best face-off training available is just the tip of the iceberg.

Here’s a small list of other training elements BakkesMod provides that can’t be found anywhere else:

Command to throw the ball at the backboard at any time to train backboard reads

Command to throw the ball at the wall at any time to train off-wall aerials

Inverse gravity training

Inserting trajectory variance into custom training

Bump recovery training

Slow motion training

Command to throw the ball in a passing trajectory based on your car’s position and speed

ETC…

As outlined with those points, BakkesMod is an incredibly versatile tool and can help you take starter muscle memory and build it into something that can be translated to a much wider variety of in game scenarios. It offers training elements that cannot be replicated any other way, and it contains options for enhancing custom training to give a whole new dimension to your favorite packs. We also want to note that BakkesMod is unfortunately exclusive to PC. Go to http://bakkesmod.com/ to download the mod. Open the program before playing and navigate to Free Play. Once there, you can pull up the BakkesMod menu under the F2 key.





Steam Workshop

The Workshop is where amateur designers build additional content for games that are housed in the Steam—so this is PC exclusive again—platform. For Rocket League specifically, there are a number of very helpful Workshops that can help you improve. While you should absolutely visit the Workshop, poke around and try out anything that looks interesting, we’ve listed a few essentials below:

Dribbling Challege 1.2

Dribbling Challenge #2

Both of these were developed by Steam user “French Fries” to help you improve your dribbling skills, which is an essential skill for climbing the ranks. While you can also learn this skill in Free Play or custom training, these guides were custom built with increasingly difficult levels to get you warmed up and then challenge you to improve. While the second Dribbling Challenge is definitely a more refined product, we do recommend starting with the first challenge for players who are new to dribbling. Below is a video of Mariano "SquishyMuffinz" Arruda performing the Dribbling Challenge #2.

Obstacle Course 1

Obstacle Course #2 v1.1

These were also developed by steam user “French Fries,” but focus more on aerial control. While these skills can also be honed in game, the Workshops are designed to test your ability to maintain air control for as long as possible through a series of intricate levels. Each will require you to reposition and change your trajectory multiple times to test and improve your aerial mobility. One of the best parts of these Workshops is that once you’ve completed them, you can still go back and complete them backwards for an even harder test!

To download any Workshop, pull up your steam overlay while in-game (shift-tab by default). Following that, select the “View Community Hub” option near the bottom. Once that page has loaded click on the “Workshop” link at the top of the screen. Now you can browse and subscribe to any that interest you. You’ll find them in game under “Extras” in the main menu.





YouTube

YouTube houses countless hours of Rocket League content, but a lot of it is usless. Even more of YouTube’s content is professionals recording themselves playing. While watching high level play with an eye for tactics and mechanics can be helpful, sometimes it’s easiest to have it spelled out to you in tutorials. We've here to help you find the best content to help you improve. Below is a list of a few high quality series that you can find on YouTube to help you improve in both mechanics and positioning:

SunlessKhan – Why You Suck at Rocket League

This series discussies common decision-making errors that players make, discusses why they’re bad and how to avoid them. You’ll need to watch these with a mind that is open to criticizing your own playstyle.

Gregan – Tabletop Tactics

Mike "Gregan" Ellis—the manager of Renault Vitality—Offers in depth analysis series discussing rotations. The series has several videos covering how to position and respond as a team to just about every aspect and situation in the game.

Gibbs – Replay Analysis

Randy "Gibbs" Gibbons does a replay analysis for subscribers who donate $20 in one month. He titles each clearly by what rank they cover, so you can sort by your rank or the next rank up to see analysis with professional criticism of common mistakes and decision-making errors at each level.

Kevpert – Car Control

This series of car control videos starts relatively basic but becomes increasingly more difficult, each taking at least tens of hours to master before moving to the next. The excercises in these videos should definitely be present in your regimen for improving.

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