Before you take to the arena, spend some time in practice mode not only getting familiar with the mechanics of the game, but also setting up your camera. You can change the distance of the camera from your car, your field of view, the angle of the camera and much more. All of these things will affect what you can see in-game. And everyone has a slightly different preference for how it should look. Personally, I say the more I can see, the better.

when you're first starting out, positioning is the most important thing to pay attention to. It may seem like everyone is charging after the ball flat-out all the time -- it feels like pure chaos for a time. (To be fair, sometimes it is.)

But once you play the game for a while, you may begin to notice a pattern, aptly called "rotating."

When you and your teammates are properly rotating -- whether playing 2v2, 3v3 or 4v4 -- the goal should never be left unattended. When one or two players push up for offense, one should remain back on defense. This gets more tricky when you're playing 2v2, but you must adapt the same principle to make sure someone is always keeping an eye on your goal.

The handbrake is a tool I use as much as boost and jumping. It allows you to drift and whip your car around quickly to get into position, and it's helped me score a lot of unexpected goals. Get very familiar with it and use it to your advantage.

Instinct will tell you to crash the ball anytime it comes near you. It happens, and sometimes instincts just take over. But if you're following a rotation, you should (very quickly, on the fly) assess who is in a better position to tackle the ball.

In many cases, you will find that it's your turn to drop back and defend. Even if it's not, dropping back to defend is generally the safer and better choice.

Even if you're properly rotating and you're going after the ball, your teammate may have a better angle. Rather than both crashing the ball (and it inevitably taking a weird bounce all the way downfield, back into your goal) back off and let the teammate with the better angle go for it. Often times, this will let them set up a better pass and maybe even earn you an easy goal.

The art of "leaving the ball" is a valuable lesson to learn.

Building on the ball chasing point, you'll sometimes find yourself in a situation where you have a pretty clear shot at goal. The urge to "break their axles" with a sick goal will be strong. If the other team is back and defending, resist the urge to take a shot. They'll be ready and waiting for almost anything you can throw at them.

Instead, take the ball wide, to one wall or the other, and get creative there with a pass to one of your teammates. The chances of a weird bounce, passing the ball to where a defender can't get to it or doing something unexpected are much higher than bumbling an accidental goal in over a few defenders.

Whether you queue for ranked or casual matches, one of the best things you can do is find someone to play with. Not only will this lower the odds of one of you rage quitting when things get tough, you will learn to anticipate each other's moves much better than some random teammate.

This alone will increase your odds of winning.

When queueing without a teammate, you risk getting paired with teammates who are still upset from their last loss, in a bad mood or who don't know how to rotate properly. And it doesn't just have to be one of those things. Everyone's play style is different, and being able to read your own teammate and expect their next move will go a long way toward your own improvement.

Boost is a precious resource in Rocket League. Even though it regenerates quickly, you will often find yourself without any, struggling to get back and defend your goal.

Instead of using boost all the time, you can "lunge forward" by holding the joystick forward and double-pressing the jump button. If you do this a few times, you can reach the same top speed as you can with boost (you just can't sustain that speed as well or maneuver as quickly or easily).

Learn to use both effectively in different situations to reduce the number of times you get stuck without boost.

Stealing boost from opponents is also a good strategy, so long as you're not going out of your way or breaking rotation to do so.

If it's a question of rotation or whether or not you should swing wide to grab boost before heading toward your goal, you should almost always err on the side of defending and worrying about boost later.

Your teammate will be much more understanding of you missing a save without boost (and at least having had the chance of stopping it) than if you abandon the goal to grab boost and miss the opportunity to defend.

When you boost (or sometimes flip or shoot) into an opponent, your car will blow theirs up. This is called a demolition and it's a very divisive tactic in Rocket League. Some people play as enforcers, cruising around just aiming for cars.

If done right, it can open up a lot of holes in the other team's game. If done poorly, it can open up holes in your own team's rotation. (It also doesn't make a lot of friends.)

Other players will usually whine in the quick chat when they get demolished, but there are times where a demo can change the momentum of the game. I recommend using demolitions as a tool. Don't go out of your way to use it, but if the opportunity presents itself … have at it! And try not to get too upset when it happens to you -- some players demo to get under your skin and throw you off your game.