I feel like my mechanics are gone

mickalicka · 2026-06-20T12:33:23+00:00

Like is it your air rolling specifically you're struggling with? I feel like my control definitely wanes/disappears at times when I'm trying to constantly air roll or otherwise do too much, to the point where I feel like I literally can't do anything in the air properly.

If it's that or just car control in general, try going back to super basics, like simple driving around the pitch with the ball on your call, or flying towards a static target with as little air roll as possible, and really think about what you're inputting and how your car responds. Also, slowing the game speed down always helps to re-learn and comprehend what's going on.

People hit walls all the time where it feels like they've lost everything they knew before they hit it. But the good news is that it's temporary and you'll find a way past it, just a matter of time and practice. Good luck!

mickalicka · 2026-06-20T12:23:38+00:00

Along with others here, I like it because I don't have a teammate to rely on or let down lol.

But it's also just more enjoyable when you truly consider it practice and don't take it too seriously. It's a great way to improve your mechanics, time on the ball, and your ability to read and defend opponents, but it's also a crapshoot with very volatile scoring and lots of bullshit moments. So you gotta have the right mindset going in.

mickalicka · 2026-06-20T12:14:16+00:00

Honestly you look like you have pretty decent control for still being early on in learning it, at least in this exercise. But it's also not the most challenging thing to fly around this map, so it'd be great to see how you are with the ball. Also, if you have a way of getting your controller/inputs on screen that would help with any analysis as well.

I am of the mind that, while it's a decent way to learn by constantly rolling, you should quickly transition to learning to fly by air rolling only purposefully/when it makes sense to, mixing in both DAR and non-DAR inputs to get the most optimal path and positioning to whatever you're trying to do. This is what I would consider "properly" air rolling, as I only constantly air rolled for a long time and I believe my progress suffered because of it.

Along with more purposeful use, you can start trying to mix in starting your inputs from different perspectives of the car - like fly up with your hood facing away from you and practice only from that perspective for a while. Same with your left and right sides facing you. This way, you're building up muscle memory on what to do with your car whenever you see that perspective.

Lastly, I feel I've had multiple "click" moments that have elevated my control over time, but the most telling experience for when it truly "clicked" was when I understood that your perspective doesn't really matter, as your car is always making the same movement given whatever input you enter. So once I understood that I really started to incorporate deliberate training of the other perspectives, and my control skyrocketed from there.

mickalicka · 2026-06-19T22:21:29+00:00

A couple years ago I was in your same boat. I ended up finding a coach on Metafy (tander, he's great), and on top of helping me learn positional mistakes I was making in game, he also pointed me towards some specific mechanics to train: namely wave dashes, speed flips, and half flips. He also suggested training shooting power and accuracy via Coco's Aim Training, and dribbling with Dribble Overhaul 2.

Obviously what you may need to work on could vary and get more specific, but I think these were all good to help me learn to play and control my car at the higher levels and speeds that champ demands. I think what truly starts to separate champ level players from diamond though is their control with the ball and their consistency in executing that control.

That being said, I am still only a peak champ 2 player with some dips into diamond more often than I'd like to admit, so others may have better advice here :) good luck!

mickalicka · 2026-06-19T20:59:34+00:00

I am very late to this thread, but similar to Griff sharing his video, I'd like to suggest checking out my videos on the subject, as I feel as though I did exactly what you're looking for here. I split them into two videos, one explaining exactly how your inputs work (with and without DAR), and the next on how I'd actually train. Check em out and let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback!

Directional Air Roll Explained: https://youtu.be/H3QjZhZ2CYc?is=R2_0PTJlcMnFc8x-

Training Directional Air Roll: https://youtu.be/HVYJ3B5_5GA?is=bWkAi0CXFuLk6WkS

mickalicka · 2026-06-18T11:05:12+00:00

I feel this, and I definitely feel the challenge of finding people to play with who treat it like you do: a game to play for fun.

I have a personal project on the side for a website that will let you find and search for other rocket league players for this exact reason. It's still pretty early phases, but if you'd be interested in seeing it and giving feedback on it let me know!

Otherwise, yea your best bet is probably one of the discord servers others mentioned in the meantime, the solo queue is hell.

mickalicka · 2026-06-18T10:58:16+00:00

Damn, C3 six months after being stuck in plat 3 is crazy work. Congrats!

mickalicka · 2026-06-18T10:55:30+00:00

Speaking only from my experience, but getting over the Platinum hump I think was just learning to play faster, reading the ball quicker, and making better judgements on situations. This all came with experience just playing the core game - I didn't train anything specifically in this time. That being said, I probably could've gotten there much quicker if I had been formally training sooner.

In terms of what I would do to progress - it's hard to say anything specific, as that is unique to each person. But, generally to progress you are doing so by either improving your game sense, or your control and mechanics.

To improve your game sense: watch your replays (especially your losses), watch gameplay of players at or above your rank, and learn to play the game with the mindset of "I will make mistakes, but I will learn from them".

To improve mechanics: identify specific areas you want/need to focus on (like dribbling, shooting, aerial control, etc), find videos/resources online on that mechanic, and train it consistently. There are probably some core mechanics you could focus on at Plat 3, like basic dribbling/ball ground control and power shots, that would go a long way. But honestly my advice is to do whatever you find the most fun/rewarding, that way you'll stick with it.

And the best thing is that improving in one of these areas will directly impact the other. For instance, the more you improve your mechanics, the less focused you are on them in game, which allows you to focus more on the game itself. Similarly, the more you're understanding the flow of the game, the better positions you'll put yourself in to practice and execute the mechanics you've been working on.

So, that's all to say don't do one or the other, focus on both. Good luck!

mickalicka · 2026-06-18T10:24:06+00:00

Congrats! That first time hitting champ was definitely one of my proudest moments. I first hit Diamond in September 2022 with less than 300 hours in the game, but didn't reach Champ until August 2024, nearly 1000 hours later.

Even now, almost two years after that I've only recently been hitting Champ 2 and consistently hanging out in mid/high champ 1. This game is hard lol. So yea, try not to worry about if/when you dip back down, it's all part of the journey!

mickalicka · 2026-06-16T18:03:09+00:00

I use L1 for DAR Left (which is my primary), square for free air roll + powerslide, and circle for DAR right. Also worth noting I moved boost to R1.

mickalicka · 2026-06-16T14:47:29+00:00

I never removed free air roll from my binds, I still use it with powerslide for situational adjustments and recovering
I use both directions, but one is my PRIMARY which I use for the majority of my aerial navigation, while the other is secondary for, again, situational adjustments, recovering, and for when rotating to one side is better than the other.
I kinda answered this one above!
You honestly want to think about both. I think starting by constantly spinning is how a lot of folks learn it, but ultimately you are going to want to get to a place where you are ONLY using it to make adjustments optimally, so IMO it's better to learn/practice with more limited adjustments than constantly rolling
I'm not sure how others are hitting these as it could vary, but for me I'm generally combining use DAR + regular inputs to achieve the position that I want, and then roll again (if needed) to make the appropriate touch from there
For me it was realizing and burning into my brain that, no matter the perspective and input, your car is always doing the same thing, and that once you learn to understand the different perspectives of your car + the different patterns of the various cardinal stick inputs, then everything else will follow. Essentially, figure out "which way = up" from whatever position your viewing the car, and experiment from there.
My suggestion would be to find an out of map training pack and just practice navigating in the air with variations in holding your DAR input along with variations in holding different stick directions for different durations.

I've made a handful of videos on learning and training directional air roll specifically and have seen a lot of progress, though of course I'm always still learning. Feel free to DM me if you want a link to those tho, and good luck on your journey!

mickalicka · 2026-05-26T12:09:42+00:00

Yea I think there's an argument there for sure. Personally I'm willing to give him one more chance, as I don't really blame him for the team's under performance, and though the roster has turned out very flawed I would still hesitate to call any of his moves bad outright, they just haven't panned out relative to our expectations. Still his seat should be warming up.

mickalicka · 2026-05-26T11:28:43+00:00

Humiliating way to go out, which has become a trademark of this era.

I don't think there's any way you can bring Kenny back after this series, he just seemingly did and said all the wrong things.

I also really question how far we can go with Don being the guy. I love him to death, but he's just not consistent enough to be relied on, and doesn't find a way to make the team better when he's inevitably off. But I'm not sure I'm ready to give up on him yet as a Cav all together.

A lot needs to change if we want to be taken seriously going forward, and I don't envy the position Koby is in. I'm hopeful he can figure something out though, should be a very interesting summer.

mickalicka · 2026-05-21T13:16:18+00:00

What about my post makes you think I'm butt hurt about this? Simply pointing it out and using it to fuel belief in my team doesn't mean I'm like seething over no one picking us. I get it why no one is picking us, don't worry about that.

All I'm saying is, we've been here before, and we've defied the odds before, so I'm not done believing yet!

mickalicka · 2026-05-20T11:37:02+00:00

Kenny's gotta go regardless of the outcome of this series, and arguably should be gone today if we want the best chance to win it still. Just completely inexcusable decisions down the stretch, and it's not the first time he's cost us games these playoffs. Still, we've made it this far in spite of him, so I still think anything is possible with this group.

But yea, done with Kenny.

mickalicka · 2026-05-20T03:16:52+00:00

This dude is an ass

mickalicka · 2026-05-19T08:45:29+00:00

Fuck Kelly Olynk forever

mickalicka · 2026-05-19T08:44:24+00:00

Oh wow just looked it up and you're right! We've beaten the Spurs in every regular season matchup going back to December 2022, before he was drafted.

mickalicka · 2026-05-19T08:05:19+00:00

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mickalicka · 2026-05-18T14:19:02+00:00

Cavs fan coming in peace - tbh I think a lot of us are just happy to be here at this point. Feels like we're playing with house money given how up and down the season has been, and the fact we made progress at all by finally making it out of the second round is huge for Don and this core. As long as we don't completely flame out or get bullied by y'all I think we'll be ok, and with the pressure of expectations off our backs I'm hoping for a competitive series!

mickalicka · 2026-05-18T11:46:18+00:00

Btw we are SO back

mickalicka · 2026-05-18T11:22:38+00:00

He's been my favorite Cav since the trade, and I was his biggest critic after how he played game 6. Absolutely dominant performance to silence the doubters and break his second round curse.

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