Rocket League Aerial Tips
Rocket League is a fun-filled game where you drive around in little cars and play soccer with an oversized ball, right? At least, that’s what I was told when I first heard about it. However, nobody told me the crucial fact that for me to be successful in it, I needed an ace in the hole. What am I talking about? Aerials! Today, in this Rocket League Aerial Tips guide, I’ll take you through what Aerials are, why you need to know how to do them, and how you can fix bad habits that may be holding you back.
Table of Contents
What are Aerials?
Let’s start with Mr. Basic: what are we talking about here? Aerials are, simply put, when you fly into the air and hit the ball. Most of the time, when people talk about Aerials, they’re referencing aerial goals, but there are actually plenty of types! Literally whenever you get off the ground, boost up, and steer into the ball, you’re doing an Aerial. That’s a pretty large definition, so I’ll cross a few things off that aren’t Aerials: double jumping, wall shooting without boosting, and anything where your wheels are still on the ground. Technically, if you boost five feet above the air and shoot into the ball, yes, it kind of counts! But to be realistic, we’re going to talk about the shots that are way up there in the sky.
What Kinds Are There?
Aerials aren’t one-size-fits-all. They are as annoying to learn as they are important, so listen tight, because here are a few of the most important varieties. Bonus points, as I’ll also be taking you through how to do them.
- Offensive Aerials – This is the most simple form, and it’s when you’re facing the ball and you have to spring from the ground and shoot it. It’s probably going to be the most common one that you encounter in your normal games. As far as pulling one of these off, congratulations, because this is hands down the easiest one. Set up a practice range and get cracking. Generally, hitting it with the sharp front of your car, especially with a last-second twist, will send it rocketing, but if you’re trying to just angle it instead of shooting it, consider glancing it with the side or bottom of your car.
- Defensive Aerials – Also pretty common, defensive Aerials are when your goal is not to shoot it or put any serious force on it, but it’s when you’re literally just trying to block it from going into the goal. It sometimes features directly colliding with another player in the sky. It’s considerably more challenging to many people. This one is all about timing. When a ball is coming your way and you have to pull off a defensive Aerial, you may be facing away from the ball. It’s difficult, but through careful practice, you’ll be able to do one in your sleep once you figure out the timing.
- Trick Shots – Trick shots are impossible to define, but when you see one, you know it’s a trick shot. They’re hard to pull off, but incredibly rewarding. They often take the form of a normal Aerial, with some unusual feature thrown in, such as flying upside down, twisting in the air, air dribbling, or some other airborne trickery like that. How to do this? Practice. Skill. A dash of luck. These require dedication and, most importantly, taking the occasional risk. You aren’t going to get a trick shot unless you try it. Sure, you might screw up the shot a bunch of the times while learning, but sooner or later, you’ll get better at them.
- Wall Shots – This is the kind of Aerial where you’re dribbling up a wall and you jump off, using your boost to hit the ball. This is generally the result of a floating pass. To get this down, the trick is to be good at figuring out when to jump. Too early or too late, and you’ll miss the ball. Generally speaking, jumping too early is far easier to correct than too late.
- Air Dribbling – A hallmark of highly-skilled players, Air Dribbling is one of those things that’s challenging to do, but if you do it, you’ll look awesome. It’s when a player can, while in the air, dribble the ball (duh). To do this properly, the trick is to keep slightly behind the ball, angling your car to follow it, lightly tapping your boost to stay right behind it, occasionally nudging it. It takes some time to get this down, but the best way to learn it is to spend time in the practice ranges.
How Come I Can’t Do Aerials?
A lot of people just can’t do Aerials. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been playing for a while, or if they’re just starting off; their Aerials suck. Maybe they can do them and then the next, they just can’t. Don’t worry. Most of the problems that you might have can be easily fixed, and I’ll list some of the common problems here, as well as their solutions.
- Full boost – This works if you want to get to the ball fast, but you may want to lay off it when you get close for more precision—especially if you’re just learning.
- Wrong part of the car – The front will send the ball harder than other parts of your vehicle. Find the right edges for specific shots.
- Self-fulfilling prophecy – Players sometimes tend to psych themselves out after missing one and promptly miss all the other ones. Relax. People miss shots. It’s not a big deal. Just try to do better the next time.
- Too Many Trick Shots – Remember when I said Trick Shots were cool? Well, they are, but people sometimes try them before knowing how to do a normal Aerial, and that’s when they get into trouble. You have to learn to crawl before you can walk; learn the basics first.
- Never trying. If you literally never go for Aerials, you aren’t going to improve. It’s as simple as that, so give it a shot!
Summary
In conclusion, in this Rocket League Aerial Tips guide, I took you through some of the most common forms of Aerials and how to do them, before explaining the worst ways to do them and how to get on the right track. It mostly boils down to practice and not being afraid to fail.
Until next time, get out there and have some fun!
