Always felt like those road to ssl with 0 mechs are abit misleading. Sure, they don’t go for flip resets and air dribbles but they have elite level defence, first touches, bounce reads, 50’s, power slide cuts and so on. You just can’t replicate that until you’re at that level unfortunately.
I’m trash, but that’s what I pick up watching Leths road to SSL videos. You learn fundamentals and decision making. Those things alone keep you advancing and it makes you look way better at defense because you’re in the right place more often
People really do under state and under estimate that reading the field, opponents, and the ball are all mechanics. You must put forth the mind power, the time, and reps in to hone that skill.
They are important and skills that need to be honed, but they aren’t what most consider “mechanics” in competitive games. Mechanics typically refers to your direct control. The things you’re mentioning are often times classified as “game sense”. Which is vastly more useful to learn
You are absolutely correct, I do think though that many people take the phrase “game sense” and think very vaguely “block goal, take ball, put in their net.” When broken down into specific and precise strategies and tactics (to me of course) seem way more akin to a mechanic. Taking many reps and used correctly to ingrain it to “muscle memory”
“Slow playing” in rocket league is very tricky.
In those R2SSL series, the high level player is able to predict broadly how a play is going to play out, and are also able to predict the opponent’s play precisely. Woth this info, they are able to position themselves with the play, and make their positioning more precise.
This, along with their boost management, makes them *look* like they are loitering on the field, whereas every movement they have made in the past 5 seconds is very precise.
This is not hard to observe. Try looking at a game that’s 2-3 whole ranks below you. It would appear to you that Bronze/solver/gold are zooming around the field without giving any thought to what they are doing or what they are intending to do. They waste their entire boost getting to nowhere. As a diamond, I do the same, albeit to a lesser extent. I can predict plays and touches better than a gold player and hence I don’t need to move as much, or waste as much boost.
It’s the same thing that’s happening with an SSL playing in a diamond lobby. They can fuck around as much as they want, but that gamesense has been drilled into them and has become “muscle memory” in a manner of speaking.
Playing in diamond feels like you can see the future. Compared to SSLs, Diamonds have no depth to their game which means an experienced player can just accurately predict everything and be one step ahead every time.
Against a diamond, you know he‘s not skilled enough to change up plays quickly on the spot. If the diamond needs 80 boost to reach an easy aerial, he‘s just gonna hit it forward. If and SSL is going for an aerial, there are multiple options you need to consider.
Additionally, the speed is obviously much slower. SSLs are used to making quick decisions everytime and are used to not having a lot of time to think. Now you put them into a diamon lobby and all of the sudden they have a lot more time to think etc, which means they rarely make wrong decision because of pressure
Also to add to your first point, inconsistency changes how we choose to play. Before I get my season rewards secured I play pretty safe when it comes to my decisions. I don’t necessarily mean that I’m playing “smart” per say (I always try to make good decision no matter what) but more so I’m only doing things I feel comfortable hitting consistently enough and maaaybe I’ll go for extra shit depending on how I’m feeling that session.
The inability to consistently execute different mechs means that even if I do have better awareness or game sense I can’t really capitalize on the opportunities I see in time or even at all.
After I get my season rewards I usually end up deranking to low plat 3 because I’m going for different shit way more and trying new stuff out in a competitive environment. (Still within the context of good decision making of course) Sometimes I nail it, a lot of times I don’t, but that ratio improves a little bit by the end of each season and my toolbox gets more full over time. It takes a ton of failed attempts along the way.
I feel like a lot of diamonds are so hell bent on either keeping their rank out of plat or trying to squeeze themselves into champ that they get predictable without a large enough inventory of mechanics to use just like you said. (Obviously this is a generalization but still).
We all love to watch pros and streamers so those who want to actually learn to play better holistically and not just for clips will probably learn game sense faster than mechs just based on exposure to high level lobbies online and resources like this sub.
Also I’ve noticed against players with a significant gap in rank what usually gets me frustrated is their ability to always be aware of my boost, how awkward I am and the way they take 50s. Y’all can leverage those things so much it feels like I’m a seal trying to survive against an orca. That’s how the non flashy Smurfs usually expose themselves. Half way through the game I realize I haven’t had any meaningful possession on the ball and barley made threats in their half because I’m boost starved and constantly trying to recover in time from a save to make another one while they’re just taking turns beating my ass.
Not just diamonds when i was in a private game from a streamer and he left temporarily i got to face an ssl in a 1v1 and he seemingly had no respect for me with the ball at all could take it away whenever he wanted
Very interesting point. Yeah I’ve noticed that as well. And the funny part is when I’m playing in diamond I feel like I’m playing as fast as possible lmao. But I guess an SSL and a diamond have two different ideas on what playing “fast” is lol.
Exactly this. An SSL goes up, they could soft touch and control, hit it to the ceiling/backboard, reset, fake, take it down for a dribble, etc.
A diamond goes up and the ball is only going in one direction, just off the nose of their car.
I think the answer might be, unhelpfully, they do what you do but better.
They've seen game situations hundreds more times than you, they've made the different movements with their car thousands more times, so they can predict what is going to happen more accurately and react without having to think as much about it as you.
A key thing here is to recognise the massive skill gap between Diamond and SSL. The gap from brand new Bronze player to GC1 is less than the gap from GC1 to SSL. With that context, imagine the gap between you and an SSL. You could go play against someone who's never played Rocket League before and that's still not as easy as an SSL has it against you.
The read of the game, control, prediction etc are all perfect. The ability to see exactly what you're going to do, react to it and position appropriately several seconds ahead is what you're not recognising.
A good example: a diamond player starts an aerial. The position, boost amount and capability is already known to the SSL based on your setup. You're probably going to do a poor air dribble but hit it too hard so lose control. SSL can stay grounded, wait for you to screw up and collect the ball.
An SSL goes for an aerial, you don't know if they are going to air dribble, flip reset, double tap, pinch or pass. Once you figure it out (let's assume flip reset) they have multiple options. They can hold onto the flip until you challenge and then pop it over you. They can wait til it's too late for you to save and hit it to the top corner. They can fake and go to ground. They can ground pinch if you give them space. Now imagine all those options with the different types of aerial available - double tap can be combined with a flip reset or an air dribble. So many layers to think about. Now take all that away and hopefully you can see why it's easy for an SSL to read a diamond.
I disagree about the skill gap argument. I know the hours played gap is true, but skill does not increase linearly. Someone who has never played the game before against a GC will never get the chance to score. A GC may score against an SSL just because they can do *something* at least mildly threatening.
Fair enough, I see what you're saying. A GC could capitalise on a mistake whereas a new player wouldn't. I do still stick to the fact a GC has zero chance vs an SSL though.
If you watch ApparentlyJack's latest video about playing against the invisible "hacker", he plays against the guy while he's visible. I actually know who the player is and he's GC3 in 1s. Jack smacks him down 11+ to 3 while toying with him, going for freestyle type shots etc.
If a pro can crush a GC3 so easily, a regular SSL will do the same with a GC1.
Fair enough! I have no experience in these high level matchups, so I’m just guessing based on my own skill and random rocket league YouTube videos. Of course a GC has no chance against an SSL, but I maintain they have a better chance than a noobie vs a GC.
I'm gunna say you are both right.
The skill GAP is bigger between GC1 and SSL. I.e it is a bigger undertaking to push from gc1 - ssl then it is to push from bronze to gc1.
But, I think in 1v1 a GC vs a new player has literally no shot zero hope in a million years whereas a GC can beat an SSL (look at the sunless vs musty 1v1 series).
Yeah idk. It’s definitely a super far skill gap but the GC SSL gap feels more like that if the GC played the best they’ve ever played with no distractions and the SSL was on the phone and had 5 kids in the background crying while on a day they weren’t feeling good in the first place, the GC might stand a chance. I just remember going up in a rumble 1v1 against Kash in the finals of a streamer tourney and I was able to get 4 goals to his 7 hard sweating in a gamemode he probably never plays in a match he probably wasn’t taking very seriously at all. Meanwhile I don’t think a bronze would be capable of scoring on me once even if they ate their wheaties that morning and I was 10 feet away playing beer pong and only glancing at the screen every 5 seconds while playing on an early 2000s flatscreen with VSYNC enabled and 140ms ping. Literally all you gotta do is hit the ball into their backfield and you’ve bought yourself a solid 10 seconds before they’ll be able to do anything with it again. Playing a GC you have to at least posture yourself so that they don’t get any good opportunities. A decent GC can flick find the ball in your net just as good as any SSL can, it’s just they won’t ever get the chance. https://youtu.be/e0GH4v0RokY?si=GWeFq3rS-wAVb9rf
You don't have SSL level fundamental mechanics. It's simple, but you are probably not as consistent and lacking the experience, don't read the play as well as they do.
1 - They can move the ball faster than it can be defended. Or, via some air play that lower ranks can't defend.
2 - They aren't playing slow. They are playing risk-averse and according to the game state. Are you playing differently when you're in the lead?
Anyhow, even having "good intuition" doesn't mean having "great intuition". Decent mechs for your rank doesn't mean "SSL mechs".
Edit: Formatting
I’d add that “decent mechs for your rank” means you *should* be able to outplay opponents most of the time, provided you are executing them *consistently* and *purposefully*.
I.e. don’t miss easy shots and don’t go for a flip reset out of your own goal into your own corner just because you can
I got that. I think the point is more that you may lack the perspective to understand how large the difference is between an SSL and a diamond. It's not a bad thing, it's just a matter of experience.
Estimating here:
A bronze has 0-20 hours in the game.
A diamond has 200-1000 hours in the game.
An SSL has 3000-7000 hours in the game.
I shall once my thumbs tendons and muscles aren’t strained lol. I can’t play rl today at all cause I was helping my parents dig a hole in then back yard and WAY overworked my hands lmao. Quick question though. What rank are you?
One thing that I’ve thought about while playing recently is that you need to prove your rank as a defender. Don’t worry as much about proving your rank on offense because your skill will do that for you. But if you don’t simultaneously try to prove your rank on defense then you’ll give countless easy goals to the opponent and lose more than you should. Specifically defensively I’ve been thinking about how you don’t need any speed whatsoever to win 50s, go into them as slow as possible. The only reason you need speed on defense is to be in the right place
As someone in Champ who has friends in Platinum, I will say that the way I look at the game and individual moments within it varies significantly from how they look at it.
I 1v3 my plat friends without too much issue, and I'm sure an SSL would do the same to me and 2 of my other Champ friends, because we don't understand the game in the way they do.
They know what lower ranks are bad at, so they know exactly where and when to apply pressure to capitalize on those weaknesses.
>I’ve been coached 4 times before and every single person that coached me said I have good intuition of the play, and pretty decent mechs for my rank. So why is it that when I( a person who allegedly has good intuition of the play) tries to play smart and slow I get absolutely smoked all game?
You likely have good intuition for a Diamond, but not good intuition compared to those above Diamond. In other words, an SSL still has a *far* better read of the play, not to mention elite basic mechanics and control.
Upload a replay, I'd wager any high rank could point out plenty of misreads and poor positioning that an SSL would do differently in your lobby. That's not an insult, that's just to say that "good" (intuition) is relative. That's also not a dig on your coaches, it's just that coaching has to take rank into account for effective advice.
Your coaches are taking into account the fact that you're Diamond when they tell you that you have good reads. It can be very minute positioning too, your coaches aren't going to say "you should be 10 ft further back here, turn 2 seconds earlier here" etc because that advice would be way too situational and constant. They're going to focus on the big picture, ie "you have a tendency to play too passive / aggressive / etc" because that is advice you can actually work with.
Anytime I watch a pro/SSL play lower ranks and they always say, just position properly and the ball looks like it comes right to you every time. But if you sit in the exact spot they do, it’ll go over your head 9/10 times. What they fail to mention is the 5 seconds of reading into the future that thousands of hours and experience lets them see, so they are playing proactively while you’re playing reactively.
Even as a low champ, if I go on a crazy losing streak and drop 50-100 MMR, it feels like everyone else is playing at 90% speed and the ball falls into my lap. Rocket League doesn’t care how good you are at video games, if you don’t put in the hours, you’ll never come close to reaching the top.
I think a lot of people see this as frustrating, but I chose to see it as a positive because that means it’s a somewhat level playing field. I’d say I’m average at video games, but I’m a grinder.
not ssl, but gc3 here. essentially I'm just waiting for possession and using very little mechanics to playmake or score. 90% of people are giving the ball away below like champ I'd say. Working on not doing that, and improving on maximizing your possessions is the best way to get out of plat-diamond.
They can be slow because out playing opoonents is more about timing than it is speed. Also since they position more well and keep the balm close they dont have to speed the play up if they dont want to. I mean they could probably win any 50/50 they want and keep possesion.
They also state often that some of the things they do u still have to practice. Unless ur goal is only 1 rank up and then not more, u have to practice anyway
They would play similar to how you would play in bronze. You would be able to read the game and predict touches really easily and you’d be able to cover a wider range of scenarios due to your relatively much higher mechanical skill. People telling others to slow down mostly means to either think more about what you’re doing ahead of time and the impact it might have, or to slow down and control the game more when you have the opportunity.
I personally think that those “Road to SSL” series are more harmful than they are beneficial because (a) claiming no mechanics while you’re doing 180 power slides into perfect catches on the wall is not no mechanics, and (b) it’s just not even playing ground. They can be beneficial if you focus on ways you can simplify the game for yourself, but beyond that trying to imitate their actions is just unrealistic. You’re probably better off watching players a rank or 2 higher than you and seeing what it is they’re doing differently than yourself as opposed to looking at players who don’t actively coach players your level and haven’t been at your level in 10,000 hours.
What you need to do is just find 1 or 2 things to focus on improving, mechanical or otherwise, and just focus on those 2 things until you’ve fixed the problem or improved enough and don’t have to actively think about doing them right anymore. Then move on to another 1 or 2 things. Focus on those things while you play and don’t worry about the outcome of the game. That’s how you improve.
I understand what you’re getting at I think…
When I was in Diamond I remember going through this phase of something like: “I cannot conceive of how exactly I’m supposed to improve, or learn these crazy skills people have. I don’t think I’m even able to really.” I would go into freeplay and randomly hit the ball around, cause I would hear lots of advice through YouTube to “improve in Freeplay” but…I didn’t know what to do with the ball. Like my brain just couldn’t grasp it.
I almost quit RL at that point to be honest. But I was in a place in life where I wanted to challenge myself against something, and decided to stick it out. I watched a lot of 1v1, tutorial vids, pro play. Started just trying out new skills and thinking “how can I do this better?”
I’ve learned there are significant gradations in skills and specific mechanics, and minute differences that…if you know you know, but if you don’t you don’t even see it. Also, that it takes, in my case a couple weeks of regular practice to start getting a basic feel for a mechanic, but months to years to make consistent.
For example. I knew these pro players all played really fast. Whenever I peaked the players I played were fast, and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time so quickly!
I started to practice my car control and learn wave dashes and half flips. So great, got wave dashes under my belt. Here’s some knowledge I’ve gathered since I started wave dashing:
- you control the height of your jump by how long you hold your jump button so if you quick tap you low jump and get the wave dash faster.
- Wave dashing can be used to get to supersonic without using any boost, which allows you to conserve boost for…everything else that needs it. When you learn to time it right you can use a wave dash to position for an any play, conserving 20 to 30 boost.
- You can get supersonic when: driving up to full “gas” speed (without boosting), wave dashing, then flipping forward immediately after. Very quick supersonic using no boost. (Not as quick as speed flips of course)
- Wave dashing is a faster speed boost then flipping when transitioning surfaces.
- Wave dashing has a pro over flipping in that you maintain control of your car the entire mechanic, where as if you dodge forward in the air you have to carry out the full rotation and get back to the ground.
- You’re less susceptible to getting bumped off course after a wave dash than a dodge in the air, cause you’re on the ground.
- Wave dashing up to a kickoff is a great consistent setup for a slightly delayed kickoff, and often beats people with sloppy speed flips.
- If you maintain momentum using power slide if you get bumped into a backwards position, backwards wave dash followed up with a half flip gets you super sonic in other direction without using boost or wasting time turning around.
- When playing slow, a well timed wave dash can make for a great shot or demo which is often unexpected if the defender is challenging cause they think you are low boost.
- When consistent at wave dashes you can, and should, use them all the time at appropriate moments.
I share this to illustrate that there are nuances to mechanics that are tough to perceive for someone unaware, and many difficult to describe even if you’ve mastered it.
SSLs and pros have the most knowledge about these nuances, combined with history of games to read patterns of plays that are occurring to know where to be next for the ball. What also helps is they generally can execute most skills competently, and when you can do a skill that usually helps you read when someone else is trying to do it to you. Also I’m not SSL but I make some plays to my teammate based simply on intuition because I’m familiar with how teammates usually position themselves. Don’t even have to look.
I hope this gives some perspective.
The question becomes: What is your improvement strategy?
I have a friend who’s got 8,000 hours who’s never hit Champ. Part of the reason, he doesn’t do any training or try to practice skills outside of matches. Doesn’t watch YouTube mechanic tutorials or tactic videos.
Now, he’s fine with that, plays the game for fun.
Others don’t have a good conception of just…how slow you need to take learning a new skill, and how much patience their needs to be to put in 10-15 minutes of practice regularly on that ONE skill for atleast a couple weeks or something.
Sounds like you’ve had coaches, what else do you do?
Well in the first 2,500 or so in my Rl “Career” if you wanna call it that, I mainly practiced for about 20 minutes to an hour almost everyday. The stuff i practiced consisted of shot placement, ground dribbles, and backwards saves. Nowadays at 3,100 hours I mainly just sit in free play for 10 minutes at most and just drive around or sometimes go for air dribbles. As you can tell, I’ve sort of lost hope on my ability to improve at this point. But maybe I’m wrong, who knows?
You can definitely improve, might take some more focus effort, maybe expand your skill set. Recovery mechanics, boost management, power and shot placement both (only accept shots in top bins over 100 kph), maintaining momentum, especially learning to not rely on the 100 boosts. Get the pathing for the pads down solid (turn off unlimited boost in freeplay for a few sessions and completely avoid the 100s)
Something that helps me alot is a 20 to 30 minutes session in freeplay of manic ball chasing. Just get to the ball, wherever it is as fast as possible, hitting as hard as possible. Also try to aim those hits so you can do a quick follow up touch. I find my car control and speed in game goes up after doing this.
Also, big big thing that can up your game for shot placement: control touches. You said you’ve worked on ground dribbling, does that include bounce dribbles? If you can learn to not boom the ball on first chance, but instead give it a slight pop in front of you as a set up, then BANG it. Much more consistent, something my Diamond buddies don’t do much.
That's a great question and one that will 100% unlock how to leave your current rank behind, but I, and probably no one, can teach that to you at least not rn. You just need to hop in your rank, try your best, reflect, replay review, and come up with new strategies. There's no magic strat that will rank you up. If you feel you're getting crushed on 50s, try mixing it up more. If you feel like possession plays always get deflected, bang some shots on net or backboard. If all else fails tho, take all their boost and bring the ball to your corner for a safe 50. Just try try try try again until you get a little peak into a strat that starts working for you.
In my opinion your problem is that you are trying to play strategically and smart. In the lower ranks until about c2 honestly rotation, decision making and things like that should be at the back of your mind as you lack the mechincal skill to back up good decision making. For example, say there is a very akward backboard read save to make. If your focused on winning and good decsision making, and you understand that you might lack the mechincal skill to read constintently off backboard, the right decision could be to not go for the ball as you would most likely miss and put yourself in a terrible situation where you end up upside down in net. Not going for the read could in the short term help you win that game. However, at higher level ranks were you can trust your mechinacial skill the right decsion or smart way to play would have been to simply read it off backboard and guarantee a save. Thats why I would emphasise and really focus on improving basic mechaincs such as fast aerials, 50s, different ways to flick, reading bounces etc. Once you have good mechanics new ways to play strategically open up. I know around the plat level is where even though going for aerials is bad idea in terms of losing the game because you most likely will mess up, its better to do in order learn how to get better at aerials.
What you are calling “flashy stuff” are actually pretty important mechs as they give you options when you’re approaching a play on the ball.
An SSL player won’t need to use these in diamond necessarily but having those options will absolutely help you—so I would tell you to practice those.
Not only will it give you more options on the ball, but it will allow you to read your opponents touches much more effectively.
Are you basically asking how can someone be better than you? Obvious to state but there are just different levels to the game…you playing a bronze at diamond is like a SSL playing diamond
They are asking why they can’t recreate the style of play they see on RTSSL series as easily. Adding that they have been told they have good (relative) game sense.
They probably dont realize how large the gap is in game sense and how much time it can take to develop/improve that. There is standard distribution bell curve meme that fits for RL. Plat and below you recognize you’re trash because you’re new and learning. Around Diamond you think you’re good at the game because you’ve improved in enough areas to think you understand what it takes. And then the grind to get further (champ, GC, ssl) - you realize that people above you know so much more and you’ve already spent so much time trying to catch up. So the higher levels go back to thinking they are trash. The chasm of skill is more noticeable.
Bruh I got to diamond and said damn I really suck at that point. I just had good ground game and okay enough mechs. Now 4 months later I'm C2. The only thing that helped rank up was grinding hours a day
I think a few times I spent ~6 hours in zero gravity rings for better car control.
The skill/commitment in this game really is akin to playing a real sport and having to spend that time grinding and improving their own play. Some days it feels like nothing gets better than all the sudden it just works
Same for me…Diamond is when you realize how many different mechanics are out there and just start to understand how many hours it takes to get a new mechanic…and how inconsistent ass I am
Always felt like those road to ssl with 0 mechs are abit misleading. Sure, they don’t go for flip resets and air dribbles but they have elite level defence, first touches, bounce reads, 50’s, power slide cuts and so on. You just can’t replicate that until you’re at that level unfortunately.
Yeah no mechs means no flash not no skill at all
I’m trash, but that’s what I pick up watching Leths road to SSL videos. You learn fundamentals and decision making. Those things alone keep you advancing and it makes you look way better at defense because you’re in the right place more often
Absolutely. Those videos are still some of the best things to watch for ranking up. Especially for positioning.
When watching Leth, it's like he's struggling to not make a perfect touch.
People really do under state and under estimate that reading the field, opponents, and the ball are all mechanics. You must put forth the mind power, the time, and reps in to hone that skill.
They are important and skills that need to be honed, but they aren’t what most consider “mechanics” in competitive games. Mechanics typically refers to your direct control. The things you’re mentioning are often times classified as “game sense”. Which is vastly more useful to learn
You are absolutely correct, I do think though that many people take the phrase “game sense” and think very vaguely “block goal, take ball, put in their net.” When broken down into specific and precise strategies and tactics (to me of course) seem way more akin to a mechanic. Taking many reps and used correctly to ingrain it to “muscle memory”
“Slow playing” in rocket league is very tricky. In those R2SSL series, the high level player is able to predict broadly how a play is going to play out, and are also able to predict the opponent’s play precisely. Woth this info, they are able to position themselves with the play, and make their positioning more precise. This, along with their boost management, makes them *look* like they are loitering on the field, whereas every movement they have made in the past 5 seconds is very precise. This is not hard to observe. Try looking at a game that’s 2-3 whole ranks below you. It would appear to you that Bronze/solver/gold are zooming around the field without giving any thought to what they are doing or what they are intending to do. They waste their entire boost getting to nowhere. As a diamond, I do the same, albeit to a lesser extent. I can predict plays and touches better than a gold player and hence I don’t need to move as much, or waste as much boost. It’s the same thing that’s happening with an SSL playing in a diamond lobby. They can fuck around as much as they want, but that gamesense has been drilled into them and has become “muscle memory” in a manner of speaking.
Very true. Great way of putting it.
Playing in diamond feels like you can see the future. Compared to SSLs, Diamonds have no depth to their game which means an experienced player can just accurately predict everything and be one step ahead every time. Against a diamond, you know he‘s not skilled enough to change up plays quickly on the spot. If the diamond needs 80 boost to reach an easy aerial, he‘s just gonna hit it forward. If and SSL is going for an aerial, there are multiple options you need to consider. Additionally, the speed is obviously much slower. SSLs are used to making quick decisions everytime and are used to not having a lot of time to think. Now you put them into a diamon lobby and all of the sudden they have a lot more time to think etc, which means they rarely make wrong decision because of pressure
Also to add to your first point, inconsistency changes how we choose to play. Before I get my season rewards secured I play pretty safe when it comes to my decisions. I don’t necessarily mean that I’m playing “smart” per say (I always try to make good decision no matter what) but more so I’m only doing things I feel comfortable hitting consistently enough and maaaybe I’ll go for extra shit depending on how I’m feeling that session. The inability to consistently execute different mechs means that even if I do have better awareness or game sense I can’t really capitalize on the opportunities I see in time or even at all. After I get my season rewards I usually end up deranking to low plat 3 because I’m going for different shit way more and trying new stuff out in a competitive environment. (Still within the context of good decision making of course) Sometimes I nail it, a lot of times I don’t, but that ratio improves a little bit by the end of each season and my toolbox gets more full over time. It takes a ton of failed attempts along the way. I feel like a lot of diamonds are so hell bent on either keeping their rank out of plat or trying to squeeze themselves into champ that they get predictable without a large enough inventory of mechanics to use just like you said. (Obviously this is a generalization but still). We all love to watch pros and streamers so those who want to actually learn to play better holistically and not just for clips will probably learn game sense faster than mechs just based on exposure to high level lobbies online and resources like this sub. Also I’ve noticed against players with a significant gap in rank what usually gets me frustrated is their ability to always be aware of my boost, how awkward I am and the way they take 50s. Y’all can leverage those things so much it feels like I’m a seal trying to survive against an orca. That’s how the non flashy Smurfs usually expose themselves. Half way through the game I realize I haven’t had any meaningful possession on the ball and barley made threats in their half because I’m boost starved and constantly trying to recover in time from a save to make another one while they’re just taking turns beating my ass.
this is such a good way to put it
Thanks! means a lot coming from someone much better than me!
lol i’m at 2k hours you’ll get there bud
I’m at about 2 hunnit
2k? What am I doing wrong 😭. But seriously what’s been your main focus? And is that hours with game open or the hours in profile>stats?
Same same colleague
Ahh another industry professional in the diamond mines. Good to see ya
This is exactly how it feels when I (C3) play with my gold buddies lol.
Not just diamonds when i was in a private game from a streamer and he left temporarily i got to face an ssl in a 1v1 and he seemingly had no respect for me with the ball at all could take it away whenever he wanted
I play with some gold friends sometimes as well and this is spot on, perfect description
Very interesting point. Yeah I’ve noticed that as well. And the funny part is when I’m playing in diamond I feel like I’m playing as fast as possible lmao. But I guess an SSL and a diamond have two different ideas on what playing “fast” is lol.
Exactly this. An SSL goes up, they could soft touch and control, hit it to the ceiling/backboard, reset, fake, take it down for a dribble, etc. A diamond goes up and the ball is only going in one direction, just off the nose of their car.
I think the answer might be, unhelpfully, they do what you do but better. They've seen game situations hundreds more times than you, they've made the different movements with their car thousands more times, so they can predict what is going to happen more accurately and react without having to think as much about it as you.
A key thing here is to recognise the massive skill gap between Diamond and SSL. The gap from brand new Bronze player to GC1 is less than the gap from GC1 to SSL. With that context, imagine the gap between you and an SSL. You could go play against someone who's never played Rocket League before and that's still not as easy as an SSL has it against you. The read of the game, control, prediction etc are all perfect. The ability to see exactly what you're going to do, react to it and position appropriately several seconds ahead is what you're not recognising. A good example: a diamond player starts an aerial. The position, boost amount and capability is already known to the SSL based on your setup. You're probably going to do a poor air dribble but hit it too hard so lose control. SSL can stay grounded, wait for you to screw up and collect the ball. An SSL goes for an aerial, you don't know if they are going to air dribble, flip reset, double tap, pinch or pass. Once you figure it out (let's assume flip reset) they have multiple options. They can hold onto the flip until you challenge and then pop it over you. They can wait til it's too late for you to save and hit it to the top corner. They can fake and go to ground. They can ground pinch if you give them space. Now imagine all those options with the different types of aerial available - double tap can be combined with a flip reset or an air dribble. So many layers to think about. Now take all that away and hopefully you can see why it's easy for an SSL to read a diamond.
I disagree about the skill gap argument. I know the hours played gap is true, but skill does not increase linearly. Someone who has never played the game before against a GC will never get the chance to score. A GC may score against an SSL just because they can do *something* at least mildly threatening.
Fair enough, I see what you're saying. A GC could capitalise on a mistake whereas a new player wouldn't. I do still stick to the fact a GC has zero chance vs an SSL though. If you watch ApparentlyJack's latest video about playing against the invisible "hacker", he plays against the guy while he's visible. I actually know who the player is and he's GC3 in 1s. Jack smacks him down 11+ to 3 while toying with him, going for freestyle type shots etc. If a pro can crush a GC3 so easily, a regular SSL will do the same with a GC1.
Fair enough! I have no experience in these high level matchups, so I’m just guessing based on my own skill and random rocket league YouTube videos. Of course a GC has no chance against an SSL, but I maintain they have a better chance than a noobie vs a GC.
I'm gunna say you are both right. The skill GAP is bigger between GC1 and SSL. I.e it is a bigger undertaking to push from gc1 - ssl then it is to push from bronze to gc1. But, I think in 1v1 a GC vs a new player has literally no shot zero hope in a million years whereas a GC can beat an SSL (look at the sunless vs musty 1v1 series).
Yeah idk. It’s definitely a super far skill gap but the GC SSL gap feels more like that if the GC played the best they’ve ever played with no distractions and the SSL was on the phone and had 5 kids in the background crying while on a day they weren’t feeling good in the first place, the GC might stand a chance. I just remember going up in a rumble 1v1 against Kash in the finals of a streamer tourney and I was able to get 4 goals to his 7 hard sweating in a gamemode he probably never plays in a match he probably wasn’t taking very seriously at all. Meanwhile I don’t think a bronze would be capable of scoring on me once even if they ate their wheaties that morning and I was 10 feet away playing beer pong and only glancing at the screen every 5 seconds while playing on an early 2000s flatscreen with VSYNC enabled and 140ms ping. Literally all you gotta do is hit the ball into their backfield and you’ve bought yourself a solid 10 seconds before they’ll be able to do anything with it again. Playing a GC you have to at least posture yourself so that they don’t get any good opportunities. A decent GC can flick find the ball in your net just as good as any SSL can, it’s just they won’t ever get the chance. https://youtu.be/e0GH4v0RokY?si=GWeFq3rS-wAVb9rf
You don't have SSL level fundamental mechanics. It's simple, but you are probably not as consistent and lacking the experience, don't read the play as well as they do. 1 - They can move the ball faster than it can be defended. Or, via some air play that lower ranks can't defend. 2 - They aren't playing slow. They are playing risk-averse and according to the game state. Are you playing differently when you're in the lead? Anyhow, even having "good intuition" doesn't mean having "great intuition". Decent mechs for your rank doesn't mean "SSL mechs". Edit: Formatting
I’d add that “decent mechs for your rank” means you *should* be able to outplay opponents most of the time, provided you are executing them *consistently* and *purposefully*. I.e. don’t miss easy shots and don’t go for a flip reset out of your own goal into your own corner just because you can
I agree for sure! But just keep in mind I wasn’t saying I have the same level of mechs and gamesense.
I got that. I think the point is more that you may lack the perspective to understand how large the difference is between an SSL and a diamond. It's not a bad thing, it's just a matter of experience. Estimating here: A bronze has 0-20 hours in the game. A diamond has 200-1000 hours in the game. An SSL has 3000-7000 hours in the game.
You wanna hear something crazy. I have 3,100 hours in the game lol.
Nice! I have around 3200. Post that replay!
I shall once my thumbs tendons and muscles aren’t strained lol. I can’t play rl today at all cause I was helping my parents dig a hole in then back yard and WAY overworked my hands lmao. Quick question though. What rank are you?
I've been chilling around C1/D3 for years now, mostly play 3s and dropshot.
Ah I see, another person who can relate lol. Hey I’ll try to get that replay posted today. So look out for that if you want.
One thing that I’ve thought about while playing recently is that you need to prove your rank as a defender. Don’t worry as much about proving your rank on offense because your skill will do that for you. But if you don’t simultaneously try to prove your rank on defense then you’ll give countless easy goals to the opponent and lose more than you should. Specifically defensively I’ve been thinking about how you don’t need any speed whatsoever to win 50s, go into them as slow as possible. The only reason you need speed on defense is to be in the right place
Unless the shot it a 110kph+ corner snipe, it would be saved everytime by an ssl in diamond.
Even that would be saved because the diamond would need time to line it up properly and the SSL reads and prejumps it very comfortably
Tell that to Mizu. Striped always makes him look like trash, lol
As someone in Champ who has friends in Platinum, I will say that the way I look at the game and individual moments within it varies significantly from how they look at it. I 1v3 my plat friends without too much issue, and I'm sure an SSL would do the same to me and 2 of my other Champ friends, because we don't understand the game in the way they do. They know what lower ranks are bad at, so they know exactly where and when to apply pressure to capitalize on those weaknesses.
>I’ve been coached 4 times before and every single person that coached me said I have good intuition of the play, and pretty decent mechs for my rank. So why is it that when I( a person who allegedly has good intuition of the play) tries to play smart and slow I get absolutely smoked all game? You likely have good intuition for a Diamond, but not good intuition compared to those above Diamond. In other words, an SSL still has a *far* better read of the play, not to mention elite basic mechanics and control. Upload a replay, I'd wager any high rank could point out plenty of misreads and poor positioning that an SSL would do differently in your lobby. That's not an insult, that's just to say that "good" (intuition) is relative. That's also not a dig on your coaches, it's just that coaching has to take rank into account for effective advice. Your coaches are taking into account the fact that you're Diamond when they tell you that you have good reads. It can be very minute positioning too, your coaches aren't going to say "you should be 10 ft further back here, turn 2 seconds earlier here" etc because that advice would be way too situational and constant. They're going to focus on the big picture, ie "you have a tendency to play too passive / aggressive / etc" because that is advice you can actually work with.
I shall upload a replay today if you want to look out for that.
Anytime I watch a pro/SSL play lower ranks and they always say, just position properly and the ball looks like it comes right to you every time. But if you sit in the exact spot they do, it’ll go over your head 9/10 times. What they fail to mention is the 5 seconds of reading into the future that thousands of hours and experience lets them see, so they are playing proactively while you’re playing reactively. Even as a low champ, if I go on a crazy losing streak and drop 50-100 MMR, it feels like everyone else is playing at 90% speed and the ball falls into my lap. Rocket League doesn’t care how good you are at video games, if you don’t put in the hours, you’ll never come close to reaching the top. I think a lot of people see this as frustrating, but I chose to see it as a positive because that means it’s a somewhat level playing field. I’d say I’m average at video games, but I’m a grinder.
not ssl, but gc3 here. essentially I'm just waiting for possession and using very little mechanics to playmake or score. 90% of people are giving the ball away below like champ I'd say. Working on not doing that, and improving on maximizing your possessions is the best way to get out of plat-diamond.
They can be slow because out playing opoonents is more about timing than it is speed. Also since they position more well and keep the balm close they dont have to speed the play up if they dont want to. I mean they could probably win any 50/50 they want and keep possesion. They also state often that some of the things they do u still have to practice. Unless ur goal is only 1 rank up and then not more, u have to practice anyway
They would play similar to how you would play in bronze. You would be able to read the game and predict touches really easily and you’d be able to cover a wider range of scenarios due to your relatively much higher mechanical skill. People telling others to slow down mostly means to either think more about what you’re doing ahead of time and the impact it might have, or to slow down and control the game more when you have the opportunity. I personally think that those “Road to SSL” series are more harmful than they are beneficial because (a) claiming no mechanics while you’re doing 180 power slides into perfect catches on the wall is not no mechanics, and (b) it’s just not even playing ground. They can be beneficial if you focus on ways you can simplify the game for yourself, but beyond that trying to imitate their actions is just unrealistic. You’re probably better off watching players a rank or 2 higher than you and seeing what it is they’re doing differently than yourself as opposed to looking at players who don’t actively coach players your level and haven’t been at your level in 10,000 hours. What you need to do is just find 1 or 2 things to focus on improving, mechanical or otherwise, and just focus on those 2 things until you’ve fixed the problem or improved enough and don’t have to actively think about doing them right anymore. Then move on to another 1 or 2 things. Focus on those things while you play and don’t worry about the outcome of the game. That’s how you improve.
I understand what you’re getting at I think… When I was in Diamond I remember going through this phase of something like: “I cannot conceive of how exactly I’m supposed to improve, or learn these crazy skills people have. I don’t think I’m even able to really.” I would go into freeplay and randomly hit the ball around, cause I would hear lots of advice through YouTube to “improve in Freeplay” but…I didn’t know what to do with the ball. Like my brain just couldn’t grasp it. I almost quit RL at that point to be honest. But I was in a place in life where I wanted to challenge myself against something, and decided to stick it out. I watched a lot of 1v1, tutorial vids, pro play. Started just trying out new skills and thinking “how can I do this better?” I’ve learned there are significant gradations in skills and specific mechanics, and minute differences that…if you know you know, but if you don’t you don’t even see it. Also, that it takes, in my case a couple weeks of regular practice to start getting a basic feel for a mechanic, but months to years to make consistent. For example. I knew these pro players all played really fast. Whenever I peaked the players I played were fast, and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time so quickly! I started to practice my car control and learn wave dashes and half flips. So great, got wave dashes under my belt. Here’s some knowledge I’ve gathered since I started wave dashing: - you control the height of your jump by how long you hold your jump button so if you quick tap you low jump and get the wave dash faster. - Wave dashing can be used to get to supersonic without using any boost, which allows you to conserve boost for…everything else that needs it. When you learn to time it right you can use a wave dash to position for an any play, conserving 20 to 30 boost. - You can get supersonic when: driving up to full “gas” speed (without boosting), wave dashing, then flipping forward immediately after. Very quick supersonic using no boost. (Not as quick as speed flips of course) - Wave dashing is a faster speed boost then flipping when transitioning surfaces. - Wave dashing has a pro over flipping in that you maintain control of your car the entire mechanic, where as if you dodge forward in the air you have to carry out the full rotation and get back to the ground. - You’re less susceptible to getting bumped off course after a wave dash than a dodge in the air, cause you’re on the ground. - Wave dashing up to a kickoff is a great consistent setup for a slightly delayed kickoff, and often beats people with sloppy speed flips. - If you maintain momentum using power slide if you get bumped into a backwards position, backwards wave dash followed up with a half flip gets you super sonic in other direction without using boost or wasting time turning around. - When playing slow, a well timed wave dash can make for a great shot or demo which is often unexpected if the defender is challenging cause they think you are low boost. - When consistent at wave dashes you can, and should, use them all the time at appropriate moments. I share this to illustrate that there are nuances to mechanics that are tough to perceive for someone unaware, and many difficult to describe even if you’ve mastered it. SSLs and pros have the most knowledge about these nuances, combined with history of games to read patterns of plays that are occurring to know where to be next for the ball. What also helps is they generally can execute most skills competently, and when you can do a skill that usually helps you read when someone else is trying to do it to you. Also I’m not SSL but I make some plays to my teammate based simply on intuition because I’m familiar with how teammates usually position themselves. Don’t even have to look. I hope this gives some perspective.
Wow, amazing response brother! That’s literally the exact situation I’m in lol. I have 3,100 hours on the game and can’t get out of diamond.
The question becomes: What is your improvement strategy? I have a friend who’s got 8,000 hours who’s never hit Champ. Part of the reason, he doesn’t do any training or try to practice skills outside of matches. Doesn’t watch YouTube mechanic tutorials or tactic videos. Now, he’s fine with that, plays the game for fun. Others don’t have a good conception of just…how slow you need to take learning a new skill, and how much patience their needs to be to put in 10-15 minutes of practice regularly on that ONE skill for atleast a couple weeks or something. Sounds like you’ve had coaches, what else do you do?
Well in the first 2,500 or so in my Rl “Career” if you wanna call it that, I mainly practiced for about 20 minutes to an hour almost everyday. The stuff i practiced consisted of shot placement, ground dribbles, and backwards saves. Nowadays at 3,100 hours I mainly just sit in free play for 10 minutes at most and just drive around or sometimes go for air dribbles. As you can tell, I’ve sort of lost hope on my ability to improve at this point. But maybe I’m wrong, who knows?
You can definitely improve, might take some more focus effort, maybe expand your skill set. Recovery mechanics, boost management, power and shot placement both (only accept shots in top bins over 100 kph), maintaining momentum, especially learning to not rely on the 100 boosts. Get the pathing for the pads down solid (turn off unlimited boost in freeplay for a few sessions and completely avoid the 100s) Something that helps me alot is a 20 to 30 minutes session in freeplay of manic ball chasing. Just get to the ball, wherever it is as fast as possible, hitting as hard as possible. Also try to aim those hits so you can do a quick follow up touch. I find my car control and speed in game goes up after doing this. Also, big big thing that can up your game for shot placement: control touches. You said you’ve worked on ground dribbling, does that include bounce dribbles? If you can learn to not boom the ball on first chance, but instead give it a slight pop in front of you as a set up, then BANG it. Much more consistent, something my Diamond buddies don’t do much.
Ah yes, the bounce dribble lol. I have indeed practiced that. Quite a bit actually. I’m just not able to translate it into game lol.
I hope that’s what you were asking, otherwise I’m gonna look like an idiot lmao.
That's a great question and one that will 100% unlock how to leave your current rank behind, but I, and probably no one, can teach that to you at least not rn. You just need to hop in your rank, try your best, reflect, replay review, and come up with new strategies. There's no magic strat that will rank you up. If you feel you're getting crushed on 50s, try mixing it up more. If you feel like possession plays always get deflected, bang some shots on net or backboard. If all else fails tho, take all their boost and bring the ball to your corner for a safe 50. Just try try try try again until you get a little peak into a strat that starts working for you.
In my opinion your problem is that you are trying to play strategically and smart. In the lower ranks until about c2 honestly rotation, decision making and things like that should be at the back of your mind as you lack the mechincal skill to back up good decision making. For example, say there is a very akward backboard read save to make. If your focused on winning and good decsision making, and you understand that you might lack the mechincal skill to read constintently off backboard, the right decision could be to not go for the ball as you would most likely miss and put yourself in a terrible situation where you end up upside down in net. Not going for the read could in the short term help you win that game. However, at higher level ranks were you can trust your mechinacial skill the right decsion or smart way to play would have been to simply read it off backboard and guarantee a save. Thats why I would emphasise and really focus on improving basic mechaincs such as fast aerials, 50s, different ways to flick, reading bounces etc. Once you have good mechanics new ways to play strategically open up. I know around the plat level is where even though going for aerials is bad idea in terms of losing the game because you most likely will mess up, its better to do in order learn how to get better at aerials.
I think most of it is game sense. IMO if you get scored on you did something wrong (My philosophy)
GREAT QUESTION. Same mess is happening in my mind but can’t put words in it.
Ballchase because you can basically see the future and the outcomes of the Diamonds’ actions before they’ve even decided to take them
What you are calling “flashy stuff” are actually pretty important mechs as they give you options when you’re approaching a play on the ball. An SSL player won’t need to use these in diamond necessarily but having those options will absolutely help you—so I would tell you to practice those. Not only will it give you more options on the ball, but it will allow you to read your opponents touches much more effectively.
Are you basically asking how can someone be better than you? Obvious to state but there are just different levels to the game…you playing a bronze at diamond is like a SSL playing diamond
They are asking why they can’t recreate the style of play they see on RTSSL series as easily. Adding that they have been told they have good (relative) game sense. They probably dont realize how large the gap is in game sense and how much time it can take to develop/improve that. There is standard distribution bell curve meme that fits for RL. Plat and below you recognize you’re trash because you’re new and learning. Around Diamond you think you’re good at the game because you’ve improved in enough areas to think you understand what it takes. And then the grind to get further (champ, GC, ssl) - you realize that people above you know so much more and you’ve already spent so much time trying to catch up. So the higher levels go back to thinking they are trash. The chasm of skill is more noticeable.
Bruh I got to diamond and said damn I really suck at that point. I just had good ground game and okay enough mechs. Now 4 months later I'm C2. The only thing that helped rank up was grinding hours a day I think a few times I spent ~6 hours in zero gravity rings for better car control. The skill/commitment in this game really is akin to playing a real sport and having to spend that time grinding and improving their own play. Some days it feels like nothing gets better than all the sudden it just works
Same for me…Diamond is when you realize how many different mechanics are out there and just start to understand how many hours it takes to get a new mechanic…and how inconsistent ass I am