Rocket League Mechanics by Rank

‍1. Bronze

At the Bronze level, players are beginners primarily concerned with learning the game's fundamental controls and how it works.

Basic Car Movement: Learning basic car movement is very important at Bronze. Usually, the players learn how to navigate by moving driving forward, backward, and turning the car in a (semi) controlled manner. They should also learn to control the camera and focus on the ball.

Hitting the ball: The biggest challenge at this rank is hitting the ball. Players should drive straight into the ball and try to practice hitting it continuously. Reading the movement of the ball and the timing of when it will bounce takes practice.

Landing on Four Wheels: Aerial play is rare in Bronze, but players will try to fly anyway. Players should practice landing on four wheels as much as possible in free play.

Boost Management: Players should learn how to pick up boost pads and use the boost in a way that doesn’t leave their boost meter completely empty when they’re on the go.

Play On Jumps: Learning how and when to use single and double jumps is also crucial.

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2. Silver

At Silver, the basic skills should improve, and you should already be able to do some aerial play. Consistency is important, but this is also the time to test more advanced mechanics.

Basic Air Rolling: Air rolling is essential for steering your car while in the air. Begin by practicing relatively simple air rolls, in which the car's angle towards the ball changes when approaching the ball in mid-air.

Diagonal Flips and Dodge Control: Do diagonal flips to move across the field faster. With reasonable dodge control, you will be able to hit the ball accurately in situations when everything is going fast.

Kickoff Strategies: Practice timing and positioning during kickoffs. The team that wins the kickoff often has the momentum of the game on their side from the beginning.

Ground Shots and Power Shots: Ground shots and power shots are important at Silver rank, so learning them is essential.

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3. Gold

At Gold, you should have a good understanding of the basic mechanics described previously. It’s time to learn a bit of advanced mechanics and develop excellent field awareness.

1-Touch Wall Hits and Wall Shots: Work on hitting the ball off the wall and hitting shots out of those positions. Wall play is important, as it opens up many other angles for passing and shooting.

50/50 Basics: Learning the art of winning the ball from an opponent. Understanding how to win these challenges could make all the difference in turning a match around in your favor.

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Demo Awareness: Demos can create match-winning opportunities, so learning to demo or avoid a demo is crucial for Gold rank.

Basic Powershots and Aerial Basics: Shots hit with maximum power can easily catch your enemies off-guard. Combining this with aerial skills, you can challenge your opponents more consistently.

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4. Platinum

By Platinum, the game will start to get fast, and players must be used to the fundamentals. At this point, though, it's vital to begin honing those fundamentals and focusing on precision and control.

Dribbling and Ball Control: Start to practice dribbling, which requires you to maintain the ball near your car while moving across the field. This allows for more controlled plays and better decision-making.

Boost Management and Small Pad Collection: Proper boost management is very important. Learn how to pick up small boost pads while remaining in play.

Faster Aerials and Directional Air Roll: Emphasize reaching the ball faster using directional air rolls for the right shot on goals.

Wavedash Basics: Wavedashing can get handy when you’re out of boost, so having it in your arsenal in Platinum rank can catch your opponents off-guard.

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5. Diamond

Diamond is where players really start to shine with more advanced mechanics and skills. Consistency becomes important, so now's the time to pick up more challenging mechanics.

Advanced Aerials and Air Dribbles: Continue improving the aerial by focusing on air dribbles, which means carrying the ball in the air by contacting the ball several successive times.

Backboard Defense and Double Taps: Learn how to protect the aerial play by hitting the ball off your backboard. On offense, double taps mean hitting it on the backboard of your opponent’s net and scoring when it bounces back down.

Flicking: If you find yourself in a 1v1 situation, flicks are your best bet. Flicking is a mechanic where you carry the ball on your car’s hood or roof and flip in order to create some sort of a shot. Learning it can help you break through your opponent’s defense.

Speedflips and Recoveries: Speedflips are advanced flips used to gain the most speed quickly. This combines with fast recoveries to stay in the play, even after committing to a challenge.

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6. Champion

The game is much quicker at Champion rank, and mistakes are punished more. Being precise, making good plays, and using advanced skills become important.

Flip Resets and Double Taps: A flip reset helps you regain your flip after contacting all four wheels of your car with the ball while still in the air. It also opens the door to other advanced mechanics, which you can learn later. Double taps at this rank should be consistent and accurate because the defense also gets stronger.  

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Ground-to-Air Dribbles and Redirects: Ground-to-air dribbles involve taking the already bouncing ball and turning it into an air dribble. A redirect means a change of direction where the pass or shot is headed to you while it is in the air. Perfectly executing a redirect can catch your opponents off guard and can turn into easy goals.

Wall Pinches and Passing Plays: Wall Pinches are very powerful shots that occur when a player pinches the ball into the wall. With the defense getting stronger at Champion rank, passing plays can help you get through your opponents' defense, so incorporating passing with your team is crucial.

Low Boost Defense and Advanced Backboard Clears: You’ll sometimes be boost starved, so getting little pads and having to defend with minimal boost will become a norm, especially in 3v3 game mode. You can also use your backboard to quickly clear the ball from your side without having little to no boost.

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7. Grand Champion

Grand Champion is the highest rank in Rocket League—except for SSL, which assumes players must have near-perfect mechanics and excellent decision-making skills. The focus here will be on extra-advanced mechanics for style points at this rank.

Advanced Flicks and Musty Flicks: Musty Flicks(which will be explained in another blog) and other advanced flicks should be in your arsenal. This also includes 45-degree, 90-degree flicks, and delayed flicks. These flicks help you take some really powerful shots from very awkward angles.

Chain Flip Resets and Ceiling Shots: Chain flip resets combine multiple flip resets to make unpredictable plays for the opponents at defense. On the other hand, Ceiling shots involve coming down from the ceiling and flipping into the ball with as much smoothness and power as possible. Perfect Ceiling shots create a sense of control, where you can pull the trigger whenever you want, keeping the opponents guessing.

Air Dribble Bumps: Air dribble bumps are very simple, yet they tear through the defense if done perfectly. They involve a simple ground or wall air dribble where you bump your opponent in mid-air once you reach the goal.

Perfecting Basics and Squishy Saves: Perfecting the basics is still very important at this rank. Squishy Saves, named after the pro player SquishyMuffinz, involves going straight to your net and coming out upside down for a quick save.

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Final Thoughts

Efficiently progressing in Rocket League requires understanding which mechanics to concentrate on at each rank. Based on this, the primary goal should be to work these mechanics out systematically while attaining the necessary skills to move up in the ranks and become a strong opponent. Remember that practice and consistency are crucial. If you want to master the mechanics that will help you rank up quick analysis within our many lessons and games.

With interactive mechanic training, real-time feedback and analysis on your progression, you’ll save hours of time watching countless YouTube videos and get better, faster.