Basic moves | Types of moves Rocket League Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
The only way to move the ball in Rocket League is to continue hitting it with your car. Obviously each hit is not the same, but unique. The ball physics in the game aren't entirely realistic, however the basic principals are preserved. There are two main factors responsible for where the ball will go - how hard you've hit the ball with your car and at what angle. You can influence the first factor not only by using your gas and brake pedals, but also by relying on a rocket boost which has been covered more extensively below. As for choosing the correct angle, this is a very important aspect if you want your each shot to be very precise. It's not always possible to score precise hits in the heat of the battle, but if you're presented with an opportunity to plan your shot you shouldn't miss out on it. For instance, hitting the right side of the ball will send it more to your left and hitting the bottom side of the ball will send it flying high in the air.
Performing jumps is a good way of helping in hitting the ball. You should rely on jumps especially when you want to hit the ball before it bounces back after hitting the ground, if you want to hit its bottom or top side with more precision or when you want to outrun all of the other players and be the first one to come in contact with the ball. You can do single or double jumps and choosing the correct move should be based on the current situation (don't rely on only double jumps).
Another move you should be using regularly is the rocket boost. What's great about this feature is that you can use the boost to achieve many different things. It's main purpose is to allow your car to quickly move from one end of the field to another. This may come in handy when you want to finish an attack after the ball has found itself near the enemy's goal or when you need to quickly return to your own goal line after the other team has begun their offensive. Other ways of using the boost involve increasing the strength of your shots (once the ball has been hit it will gain a lot of speed), rocket flying (you can find more info on that move on one of the other pages of this chapter) and stopping or destroying vehicles from the other team as a result of hitting them (an important thing to know is that a car is not destroyed forever, because it respawns after a short break).
Driving with rocket boost turned on is very limited. You can check the current state of the boost by looking at the gauge in the right bottom corner of the screen. You can recharge your boost by driving over orange pressure plates located in the outer sections of the stadiums. Be on a look out for pressure plates with orbs hovering around them. Driving over them will FULLY recharge your boost bar, even if it was fully depleted before making this move.
Important - Each pressure plate disables itself after a vehicle has driven over it so you will often be a witness of someone else "stealing" your boost opportunity at the very last moment. The good news is that you can choose from many different pressure plates and that they become active again after a few moments.