Us Rocket League players always seem to hit a brick wall after a certain amount of time. By this, I mean that we reach a rank and seem to become stationary in our progression. There are countless possibilities as to what is stopping this advancement. However, there is one major aspect to the game that is often overlooked by the majority of players. This is purely one's possession of the ball and maintaining it.





What It Means to Maintain Possession of the Ball

In a nutshell, maintaining possession of the ball means to keep it close to you at all times, until you truly see an opportunity to make a move. This could be until you see a clear pass available to either side of you as you approach the opponents' net or it could be until you actually see a chance to shoot the ball and score. It is important, however, to make sure that this opportunity is clear and that there are no players from the opposite team that have an easy way to block the move entirely.

Below is a clip of a two versus two match where the opponent controlled the ball and passed the ball at the wrong time, as he did not acknowledge that I was ready to intercept the pass. This is a bad example of ball possession that is converted to a passing play.

Below is a clip of myself in the same two versus two match. I maintain possession of the ball by dribbling it and pass it to a nearby teammate when the time is right, as I noticed there was an opponent ready to attack if I was not to pass the ball.

This is an excellent way to tackle the enemy team, as control in Rocket League is crucial if you are wanting to climb the ranks.





Knowing When to Do So

Although possessing the ball is almost always a viable option, there are certain times that this would be more efficient than other times. Below is a list of times of which you will find it beneficial to possess the ball and times that you will not.

When to keep possession of the ball:

When there are no opponents very close, allowing you to dribble the ball up the field

When just making a save, as opposed to hitting the ball with force out to the other team

When performing tricks such as air dribbles. Possession is crucial in an air dribble, as the technique requires a great amount of skill to master

When not to keep possession of the ball:

When there is an open teammate to pass to nearby who has a better chance of scoring

When the opponents are surrounding you or perhaps even double or triple committing on a shot towards your net

When you notice that you are chasing the ball around the field and not allowing other teammates to hit it, which can become frustrating for everyone



Sticking to Rotations

Having a possessive mentality in Rocket League can sometimes be advantageous to your gameplay. However, over-utilising this mentality can result to frustrating gameplay from the eyes of your teammates, as touched on in the previous segment.

Re-capping your rotations in Rocket League, two players should preferably be up the field attacking whilst one remains closer to their own net, acting as the defender. Having two players up instead of simply one allows potential for passing plays between the two players. In terms of two versus two matches, however, one player should attack if there are two opponents on the other side, with their teammate close by but further back. If there is only one opponent, two players of the same team may feel confident to push forwards together allowing a more complex play to occur.

What does this have to do with maintaining possession? Well, over-possessive personalities are unfortunately common in the Rocket League community. These players are commonly referred to as 'Ball-Chasers'. This basically means that a player chases after the ball around the field, stopping their teammates from progressing and hitting the ball themselves, despite perhaps having a clearer opportunity to strike.





How to Know When You are Ball-Chasing

By this, I do not mean when your own team fill the quick chat up with sarcastic remarks directly aimed at you for your behavior. No, instead I mean the times in the game where you can see for yourself that maybe you are clinging onto that ball for slightly too long.

You may notice that you are chasing the ball when:

You do not retreat back to your own side of the field at any point and you notice a teammate sticking around your net as a defender for the majority of the game

You are double committing or perhaps even triple committing. By this, I mean when multiple players of your team, including yourself, go for the same shot at the same time, creating cluster and breaking rotations

The other team is scoring a lot due to it virtually becoming a one versus three scenario, as your other teammates can become angry as a result of your actions.





Conclusion

Possessing the ball is often a skill worth understanding fully. Not only this, but this is a skill that is often the answer to the question "Why aren't I going up in ranks?" or "Why am I seeing no improvement?". Remember to make sure that you are timing your possessions correctly and for the sake of the entire Rocket League community and to save yourself from frustrated teammates, do your very best not to ball-chase.

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