How to defend the goal? | Types of moves Rocket League Guide

Try and predict where the ball will go and hit it when it's still in the air

The fact that there are rocket-powered and heavily armor vehicles in Rocket League can be a nice encouragement to play very aggressively. However, you can't ignore the subject of defending your own goal. If you and your team think only about scoring goals, you can keep losing matches even if your offensive play is really good.

The tactics while playing defensively depend mostly on how many players there are in the game. In the 3v3 and 4v4 matches one of the players should spend all of his time playing as a goalkeeper and not moving away from his goal line, no matter what is happening on the rest of the field. An additional player can become a defender and stay on his team's side of the field, trying to stop enemy attacks before they will lead to some dangerous moments near the goal. 2v2 matches give you the largest number of choices when it comes to choosing tactics for the game. The two players from the team can divide their roles to become an attacker and a defender or they can both go into offensive. If you want to choose the second method, you must be ready to retreat as soon as it's necessary, because if the other team manages to construct a good attack they will score an easy goal. As for the 1v1 matches, there is no room for playing defensively in these types of games. You must be focused only on getting to the ball and stopping your opponent from doing the same and you can't just play passively near your goal line blocking series of the other player's shots.

No matter what the circumstances are, there are some important things to remember when defending your own goal:

• Don't start your defense too early, like when the ball is still far away from your goal line or high in the air and unreachable for most players. The ball may change its course in the meantime or there's a high probability that you won't hit it and fail your defense. The only exception is if you've mastered rocket flying with boost. You can then risk going into defensive earlier; however, you should do it only if your teammates have joined you and they're also defending your goal (this way you won't lose a goal if your rocket flight fails in reaching the ball).
• Plan each defensive action very carefully by monitoring the flight of the ball and how it bounces off the ground. This will help you in establishing where it will appear near your goal and increase the probability of hitting it with your car, saving your team from losing a point.
• Don't use the complicated dodges and flips when you're defending your goal (especially the tricky side dodges), because they can have an opposite result to what you were hoping for. The same goes for performing stronger hits with the vehicle - always make sure that you're not facing your goal when you're trying to do them, because you can make it easier for the other team to score a goal.
• Don't ignore any opportunities to try and hit the ball that's directly above your vehicle (Ball Cam can be really helpful here). If you're successful you can quickly stop an attack of the other team and start yours.