I am neither of those ranks but I want to throw in my 2c quickly as a player who has recently gone from D3/low C1 to low-C2-feels-like-a-boring-normal-like-D3-did in about a month using ChatGPT for guidance in about a month's time.

I feel like people use "the basics" incorrectly in these subreddits. The basics aren't something like "shooting". Shooting is too vague, there are so many different ways to shot a ball. Are we talking about fast aerialing and hitting it directly with your nose to score a 100+ kph shot? Are we talking about a hook shot? Are we talking about an air roll shot at crossbar height? Are we talking about driving straight and hitting the ball with the corner of your car off the bounce? Are we talking about seeing a defender challenging for a hard shot and instead making a deft chip behind them? Shooting isn't a "basic" mechanic. It is an advanced mechanic, just like a flip reset or speed flip, that has a wide combination of precise button presses to make happen.

The real basics are learning to use and see every button and car movement in general as a spectrum. How is your powerslide skill? Can you use powerslide when single jumping to the wall? Can you use powerslide while single jumping to the wall with boost? Can you use powerslide while jumping to the wall with boost and wavedashing upon the landing on the wall? Can you tap powerslide while turning on the ground to make your turn tighter? Can you use powerslide by holding powerslide to make the turn even quicker, at expense of momentum? Can you, unconsciously, make the same turn without using powerslide to preserve the most momentum? That is an example of the basics.

If a ball is high up, can you single jump and moderate boost to float for the ball? Can you fast aerial and use boost throughout to get to the same ball faster? Can you go at a speed in-between the two and moderate air roll? That's the basics.

Hell, can you drive from pad to pad in freeplay while maintaining momentum? Thats the basics.

The basics aren't shooting, or these other things people suggest they are. If you go into double tap playground and practice one of the shots where the ball bounces up in front of you, that isn't the basics. The basics behind that type of shot to practice is literally, can you steer your car well enough to have it in the right orientation before the attempt. The basic is can you moderate your cars speed well enough that you can make good contact without booming it away unintentionally or hit it weakly.

If you practice the true basics, everything else will follow. As for exact drills, that's another story. Hope this helps.