“Ugh, I can’t believe I lost to a bunch of ballchasers!”

Ah, the common saying of many Rocket League players. Ever hear this cry of exasperation or even uttered it yourself? I often see it stated by the loser of a match where they couldn’t keep up with the pace of the other team. It’s so easy to call them a ballchaser and move on, but I don’t like the term “ball chasing”, at least how loosely it used in-game, on online forums and social media.

Allow me to explain.

When I refer to ball chasing, it is entirely attributed to a player who prioritizes making a touch on the ball over other and better options available. A player who attacks the ball and follows it up themself is not necessarily chasing the ball.

“At what point do you call someone a ballchaser, and what is the alternative?” While I appreciate the interaction, an important note for this article is that this isn’t a guide on what kind of players you can accurately call a ballchaser. The intent is how you can really pinpoint certain hiccups in your gameplay and refine them.

With that said, there are three key factors that come into play to differentiate a “ballchaser” and an “aggressor” that I would like to address.

Boost Amount

Boost management is incredibly vital at high levels of Rocket League. Managing your boost properly can prolong or end an aggressive solo attacking play. The amount of boost you have should always be in the back of your mind as it should impact how you proceed with the current play. If you will need to expend all of your boost to dive at a ball you may not even win, you should likely not attempt it.

I’m sure every player can recall a time either they or a teammate has gone for a high ball, fell short of it, then the inevitable “Need boost!” shows up in the chat log. In almost every case, the player has no business going for this ball. The only thing this does is cause you to be out of position for at least ten seconds as you gently fall back to the ground and start your journey back for boost. On top of being out of position, you’ve likely confused your team; it’s reasonable to assume that one of your teammates had the boost to make that challenge, therefore they were not ready for your miss and are in an awkward spot if a shot comes on target.

Position of Players on Pitch

Ever had a teammate come out of nowhere, take your free open net shot, and hit it to the opposition corner? That teammate is completely ignoring the position of the team when going for the ball. The glory of a goal should never take precedence over the team’s victory.

This doesn’t just apply to teammates taking ball control from one another. A ballchaser will dive into a challenge he will never win, leaving his teammates in a 2v3, leading to an opposing goal more often than not.

You’ll notice that the last tip regarding boost usage can directly tie into this point. It isn’t one outlying factor. If you find yourself making one of these mistakes, you will notice the other two follow suit.

The Outcome If You Challenge the Ball

I’ve alluded to this in the previous tips, you may have noticed. Ultimately, this is the deciding factor if you are ball chasing or aggressing the play. Taking boost amount and player positioning into account, what is the outcome if you do go for this ball? If that thought doesn’t cross your mind at some point in the play, that is a strong argument that you are ball chasing.

The outcome doesn’t just apply to challenges, of course. This applies to just about everything you do. From challenging, shot choice, and each touch on the ball, you should always be thinking about how this touch will cause the match to go. Too many players are playing reactively to the situation without having forethought to what will happen several seconds in the future.

Always think about where the ball is going to be, not necessarily where it is in the present moment.

It happens in almost every game. The ball is bouncing towards the player’s net and they are last back. This ball is practically begging to be power-shot to the other team's half. In most cases, that is exactly what the other team wants. If all three enemy players are in their half and collecting boost, they are waiting for you to give the ball back to them. If you fall into this trap, you now have to deal with a fully boosted three-man attack. This leads to sustained pressure for the other team, and inevitably a goal against you.

In this image, you can see my teammate on the wall and an enemy player between the both of us. To avoid challenging this ball and risk getting beat by another blue player, I would both look left and use my rear-view camera to get the full picture to create a mental map of where all players are located.

I Think I May Be Ball Chasing! What Can I Do?

By asking yourself this question, you are already on the path of recovery, so don’t fret!

Personally, I always listen to music when playing Rocket League, even in ranked. I find it helps me focus on the game. So, with music turned up louder than game audio, how do I listen to player cars moving around the pitch? Simple! I use my camera almost obsessively.

I occasionally do replay analysis for lower ranked players, and one of the most common things I see is that they rarely utilise their camera movement.

By camera movement, I mean the right analog stick on controllers as well as the rear-view camera. Since I am hindered by lack of in-game audio, I was essentially forced to improve my game sense. By that, I mean using my camera whenever possible to keep an updated mental image of where all players are on the pitch.

Knowing where everyone is located on the field is one of the most helpful things you can do to improve your own game. Not only can you see where enemies are so you know when to challenge the ball, but you can notice your teammate preparing for a pass that can lead to an easy goal.

Consciously updating your mental map will improve your decision making. Knowing that you have space on defense prevents you from just giving the ball back to the other team, allows you and your teammates to fill up on boost, and controls the pace of the match. This directly ties to being able to determine the outcome on how your challenges will impact the current play.

Boost usage also improves with the above process. Keeping track of the enemy players allows you to know when to challenge, and more importantly, when not to challenge the ball based on your boost level. Both of your teammates are in the other half, no mid boost to speak of, and they are applying good pressure? Quickly go for your back boost then get back into position to follow up. Had you crept up with no boost and the other team gets a power clear, you are stuck in mid field with no momentum to get back on defense.

You don’t have boost but you have an opportunity to challenge the ball? Do a quick sweep of your camera and check behind you, if a teammate is there and ready, back off and let them go for it instead. This makes for a better chance to win possession while preventing the risk of being boost starved.

Conclusion

So we’ve covered quite a bit here. Dissecting the term “ball chasing” and how it can be misleading, while also covering ways to remove it in your own gameplay.

Admittedly, my main cause of writing this article was due to annoyance caused by hearing aggressive but smart players being described as ballchasers. This happens even in the RLCS. I think the term should be exclusively used when referring to a player challenging the ball, completely neglecting the factors I’ve described in this article.

I hope to have opened some eyes through this article. Thanks for reading, you bunch of ball chasing legends!

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