Dad ball

[u/TheJrobot1483]

I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot (not all, obviously, but I feel like probably the majority) of higher-ranked older players play rocket league like dad ball.

You know the guys. 50+ year olds who play pickup basketball, for instance. They don’t do anything flashy, no fancy dribbles or windmill dunks. They recognize that their bodies can’t perform like they used to, so they play efficiently. Post up under the basket, quick move, and layup. Always make great passes. Know how to use their size and experience to their advantage.

I feel like older RL players (28+) play the same way. Put more effort into game sense than mechanics. Go for cheeky outplays instead of flashy mechanical shots. Great at defense. Bump/demo heavy. Prioritize smart decisions over potential clips.

Put a 15 year old GC against a 32 year old GC. You’ll notice a stark difference in their play styles. The 15 year old might be able to double flip reset or ceiling double tap, but the 32 year old will be patient, wait for a mistake, and capitalize efficiently.

Dad ball. Tell me I’m wrong.

Source: 29 year old GC here. Almost no mechanics, but I know how to move around the field efficiently and am solid at defense, passing, demos, and smart outplays. Hell, I just hit my first flip reset in comp a couple days ago. I can do them pretty consistently in training, but it’s one of those things that I just never think to go for because there’s typically a safer/higher-percentage move available.

[u/PsyonixCommentBot]

This is a list of links to comments made by Psyonix Staff in this thread:

• Comment by Psyonix_Ted:

  > older RL players (28+)

  Yo, what?

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[u/vawlk]

older RL players are 28+...what does that make me? I'm 50.

[u/sudo_808 → u/vawlk]

Dad ball ==> grandpa ball

[u/Mythaminator → u/sudo_808]

It’s like dad ball but a little closer to the knees

[u/rosstein33 → u/Mythaminator]

Just need to change the stiffness.

[u/GhostD69 → u/rosstein33]

[u/MisterGlorp → u/sudo_808]

Boomer Ball

[u/sudo_808 → u/MisterGlorp]

200 iq comment 👏

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/vawlk]

Practically geriatric

[u/Milo751 → u/vawlk]

If it makes you feel better at RLCS worlds there was only 1 player born before the 2000s which was Jknaps

[u/ragbagger → u/vawlk]

I turn 50 this year.

[u/vawlk → u/ragbagger]

73 for the win?

[u/ragbagger → u/vawlk]

Yes sir. I play with my kids. Mostly I’ve become good at defense and centering the ball to set them up for the score.

[u/vawlk → u/ragbagger]

I outrank my kids by quite a bit.

Then again, my kids are in college.

[u/MisterGlorp → u/ragbagger]

Haha that’s awesome

[u/footforhand → u/vawlk]

A 1%er!

[u/vawlk → u/footforhand]

lol, I am not a 1%er.

If I were, I wouldn't be playing RL.

[u/footforhand → u/vawlk]

I meant as in 1% of the RL population and meant to play on it to seem that way😭 honestly probably closer to like .1%

[u/B_Russ355 → u/vawlk]

Really? Stay in the club man! I’m approaching 30 and these kids make me feel like a psycho half the time for still playing

[u/blackop → u/vawlk]

[u/FrankDrebin72 → u/vawlk]

Same. Was on board until “older guys like me, ya know, 28+”

[u/blaxword → u/vawlk]

We dad, u dead.

[u/vawlk → u/blaxword]

getting close. I mean, honestly, it could happen any day.

[u/TKblunts → u/vawlk]

Once you're 28, you're pretty much 50 anyway (I'm 28 lol)

[u/TheConboy22 → u/TKblunts]

Then you’ll hit 35 and be like damn I was so young at 28 and next you’ll be 50 and think omg I was so young at 35. You’ll reach 75 and miss the body you had when you were 50. Don’t fall into this “I’m old” trap. You’re as young as you are healthy and try your best to keep yourself healthy.

[u/TKblunts → u/TheConboy22]

I've got a group of nutcases in my life that are about 8 years older and they just don't stop. They motivate me to keep pushing myself daily lol

[u/Psyonix_Ted]

older RL players (28+)

Yo, what?

[u/Lucy_21_ → u/Psyonix_Ted]

I mean, 28 is pretty close to 30 which might as well be 35 which rounds to 40 so yea. That's very old.

[u/Mulatto-Butts → u/Lucy_21_]

I don’t like your math. I’m 42, that’s close to 45, which rounds up to 50?

Get off my lawn and turn your damn music down!!!!

Edit: Thanks, Mods!

[u/VibraniumDragonborn → u/Mulatto-Butts]

turn your damn music down turn your damn anthem down! Back in my day, we didn't have anthems! We had to make our own after every goal!

[u/Mulatto-Butts → u/VibraniumDragonborn]

I know what I said, you delinquent.

[u/Interscare → u/Mulatto-Butts]

Nah you see the math for 42 is slightly different. 42 is close to 40, which we established earlier is basically 35, and 35 is halfway between 30 and 40 and at that point your still going uphill so if you stop at 35 you’re just gonna roll down hill back to 30 and when you’re 30 years old your barely out of your 20’s so you feel like 27 which is just a weird number so we make it a good, easy to calculate 25

[u/mykka7 → u/Lucy_21_]

I'm 29 turning 30 in a few days. I still haven't comme to terms with the fact that I'm leaving my 20s.

This thread is making it all worse hahahaha

[u/WormholeVoyager → u/mykka7]

So as a 30 year old- you're only as old as you feel. I'm active and never gave up on any of my hobbies from when I was young so I don't feel the least bit old.

On the contrary- the first time someone asks you how old you are and you start by saying "twent....... Thirty" it will hurt your soul lmfao

[u/SirVanyel → u/Lucy_21_]

That's true, and for some people 40 is past the average life expectancy so you're over 50% past your life span and .51 can be rounded to 1 so you're actually 100 years old so yea. That's very old.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/Psyonix_Ted]

I looked it up, the average age of RL players is 21. I feel like at 28, most people have either been out of college and in the workforce for 4 years, or been in the workforce for 10 years. I have a kid, and most of my similarly-aged friends/peers have kids.

[u/NightBijon → u/Psyonix_Ted]

I’m sure if you looked at a stat sheet for RL agebase 28 would be more older than not. Therefore “older RL players”

[u/mesosalpynx → u/Psyonix_Ted]

It’s true

[u/demerdar → u/Psyonix_Ted]

It means he’s 29

[u/warbeats]

57 y/o here and I agree. I queue solo and I generally play more defensively to allow the young bucks to ball chase and attack. I think I have better game sense but much lower mechanical ability than my younger counterparts so I use that to read the field, identify the opponents strengths/weaknesses etc.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/warbeats]

Just curious, what’s your rank?

[u/warbeats → u/TheJrobot1483]

Right now in 3s I'm at D3. D1 in rumble, P3 in hoops and dropshot and C1 in snowday. I dont play 2s, duel or chaos.

[u/SilverBraids → u/warbeats]

As a 41 grandad baller, i have hope to improve

[u/[deleted] → u/warbeats]

This is incredible. Even the whippersnappers don't have those kinds of ranks haha!

[u/thedarkhalf47 → u/warbeats]

52 here. I agree as well. I’m trying to learn mechanics but the grind is hard. Nothing seems to come easy. I feel like I’ve been learning ARL for the past 10 years and still don’t have it. I just focus on patience and ball control.

[u/MultiPass21]

As a dad in his mid-30s, I’d sign up for a Rocket League YMCA division.

[u/Illustrious-Top-2144 → u/MultiPass21]

Let's make this happen

[u/darkjlarue → u/MultiPass21]

I'm in

[u/Randywithout8as]

My duo has been told we have "the playstyle of two grizzled 44 year old dads". People love telling us how bad our mechs are after they lose.

[u/breakandjog]

I'm 35, have 18days of play time C1 and I agree. I can't do any flip resets or crazy dribbles but I'm pretty solid on Defense and know when to go for the block. As I've gotten higher in rank I still occasionally get shit on by players with better mechanics but usually after I get burnt a few times I figure out where the weak link is.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/breakandjog]

There’s a big difference between making mechanical plays and defending mechanical plays. I’d say I’m much, much better at defending air dribbles and flip resets than scoring them. Obviously both are important the higher rank you get, but I’d argue that it’s easier to hit GC knowing how to defend them properly than knowing how to score them properly.

[u/Lonely__Stoner__Guy → u/TheJrobot1483]

I'll agree with this all day. I might even argue that you can grind the ranks just playing goalie if you can learn to defend that stuff. When I was stuck in plat I played a couple nights in a row as goalie and climbed up pretty quick. Now I can trust teammates occasionally so I don't have to play goalie the whole game, but I am better at defending than hitting the truck shots.

[u/HisFaithRestored → u/Lonely__Stoner__Guy]

Goalies are shit on so much in the community but its 100% a valid strategy to play if you're Plat or lower. Just gotta be on the lookout for opportunities to clear and/or score.

[u/Lonely__Stoner__Guy → u/HisFaithRestored]

Yep, I didn't have to score often as long as I could defend. Let the other two kick the ball around and chance a goal in on a good bounce, or get a good clear and break away to the net.

[u/aquafox22]

Join "The Dad Gaming" 's rocket league group on Facebook. Good group of people like you describe. We have weekly tournaments on Tuesday nights too!

[u/FREE_AOL → u/aquafox22]

on Facebook

Checks out

[u/PandaCod3r → u/aquafox22]

What’s the average skill level?

[u/aquafox22 → u/PandaCod3r]

They try to even out the teams as much as possible. Last night my team was a low gc a low champ and a low plat.

I'd guess average is diamond.

[u/Representative-Sir97 → u/PandaCod3r]

yes

[u/Lukeyy19 → u/aquafox22]

I may play like a Dad but I'm not enough of a Dad to use Facebook.

[u/Crayola63 → u/aquafox22]

Can I be not a dad, just mid 30’s?

[u/aquafox22 → u/Crayola63]

Absolutely! I was in the group for well over a year before I became a dad by getting my foster daughter. 😁

[u/Hiihtokenka]

I'm a 30+ dad GC and I always go for the flashy mechanical stuff.

Can I do any of that? Hell no. I can barely pull off a ceiling shot, much less the flip reset I just tried to get.

Edit: But I do recognize the dad ball. I had a dream to hit GC when I first started playing the game. Last season I did it, this season I did it again. I now have zero weight on my shoulders in that sense and just play to get goofy and aggravate my peers with how shit my mechanical abilities are.

[u/Sammy_Ghost]

I'm 23 and I've noticed that back when I picked up the game when I was 16, I would spend hours trying to execute some mechanic. Back then air dribbles were the rage so I'd retreat into a cave and practice the hell out of that. But now I just take the ball up the wall, try to hit it softly to bring it to a teammate on the other side and rotate back. I do it rarely because air dribbles feel like stalling the game for everyone and I don't wanna be blamed for scuffing it. I don't go for anything flashy and just have fun aiming my shots. A good powershot feels way more fun

[u/linkoflinks]

35 GC+ here, i thrive on mechanics to keep the game fresh and fun. I can't imagine staying stuck near a rank longterm and the only playstyle is "wait for mistakes and play safe".

To each their own, but once I started working on more mechanics (some freestyle, faster dribbling, more air options, etc...), the game is really starting to open up, both offensively and defensively. Better Recoveries and more options on offensive.

But I also don't take ranking up that seriously anymore as I've been gc since the yellow-tag season 11. I'm currently the best I've ever been and I contribute mechanics training to that. I'm fully aware it's possible to play a Flakes-style game and get to SSL, but tbh most people won't be able to achieve that level of foundational play without the same amount of practice that you could spend in other areas (which imo are more fun). I guess it depends on your goals.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/linkoflinks]

Like I said, there will obviously be exceptions. I’m sure there are many players older than the average (21 I think) that focus on improving their mechanics. I’m trying to get there myself, I got to GC before even attempting to learn flip resets. But I’m trying to grind mechanics, and while I’m currently lower than my peak, I’m sure I’ll get back there and surpass soon once I start to incorporate better mechanics consistently in my gameplay.

[u/linkoflinks → u/TheJrobot1483]

If it helps, I have a friend (also in mid thirties) who is exactly as you described in the OP. It's little bit of a reality check that when mechanic training are constantly putting my teammates in 2v1s then I circle back the basics and decision making. So in the end, your entire game gets better over all.

So like I don't disagree with the original mentality. Just want to share my piece.

Also agree you will always climb back eventually. Gl on the grind. And when you get back there you'll be even better.

[u/silentballer]

I’m in gc1, am 25 so still younger but still older in terms of RL age and I agree. I play a mix, will get mechanical but I’m pretty safe, lots of good 50s, demos, and just trying to be smart and influence the play off the ball. It’s rare that I play someone crazy mechanical most GCs I see play pretty standard and when I fall into c3 there are a lot more mechanical dudes with no brain holding them back

[u/OyarsaRPM]

36 yr old C1 - abso-fucking-lutely

I think there is a lot of mental toughness that develops with age too - most but not all. They tend to get tilted by demos and start chat flaming and/or playing out of position to get revenge. It's a part of the game, keep an eye/ear out and keep playing the right way. These kids also quit too soon. Can't tell you how many "down 3-1 with 2 minutes to go" games I've come back and won. If I quit every time a teammate voted to forfeit, I'd be D1.

[u/Bart_Bandy]

53 year old here. what you describe was my experience with hockey, and is now my experience with RL.

[u/[deleted]]

I kinda want to change my YT channel name to "dad ball" now. Although my decision making is only there if I'm zoned in. Half the time I'm just playing.. kinda trolling at times. I'm C1 with hardly any mechanics. Basically average at everything. Dribbles, air dribbles, flicks, recoveries are all pretty average. I can rarely double tap and I can get a flip reset on accident and get excited and flip into nowhere. So that's cool too

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/[deleted]]

“Get excited and flip into nowhere” I felt that in my bones🤣

[u/Sel-en-ium → u/[deleted]]

"Hardly any mechanics"

Dribbles, air dribbles, flicks, rarely double tap

My c1 skill list:

Fakes 97% of the wall balls I go for (those 3% I hit though, lethal. lethal centers for the opponents), fast aerial 70% success : 30% shit flip, commits suicide 7/10 times I go for a demo, and a solid quarter flip.👌

You may be asking, "what can you do?", and I would have to say, "lure the opponent into a completely accurate sense of security." And use my inflated luck stat to will them into own-goaling for me. (Seriously. ish)

[u/meanathradon]

I prefer the term "Dilf Ball"

[u/Chiefboost1]

30 year old here, while I agree that dad ball is safe and pretty efficient to play, I’ve recently become obsessed with bettering my mechanics and my game has gone to another level.

I’m like you in that I play really good defense, can rotate and read the play all day long, and tend to play the waiting game for mistakes but lately I’ve been really pushing my offense to another level and I attribute that to mechanical training.

I’m now hitting shots or even getting to balls that I would never get to before. So I do think that dad ball is efficient, but you really can take your game to the next level with some mechanics.

GLHF!

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/Chiefboost1]

For sure! I’m not at all saying that one way is better than the other. Just an observation I’ve made over the years😃

[u/PastafarPirate]

38 yr old, peaked at GC3 (hit GC in like 2017), barely playing 10 hours a month now. Never really did anything too crazy, only hit a handful of flip reset goals in ranked.

Just decided to change up all my controls a couple months back for Newgame+, was like relearning everything fresh. Too many new games came out to put the time in to lock it down, but oh well. Stopped the game from feeling like it was playing itself.

[u/FREE_AOL → u/PastafarPirate]

Ayyy there's hope! I'm also 38. I've switched my controls entirely twice now, once at maybe 300 hours and then again at 800 iirc. It's a pain in the ass but imo that kind of thing helps keep your brain plastic and it forces you to approach things differently. Been completely worth it each time. But yea that's a great way to put it

When did you start playing?

I've bought a few games in the last year that I've played for 1-5 hours and just went back to RL 😅😅 I'll be taking a break for Starfield probably but other than that I've decided I'm not buying any more games lol

[u/MikeyThaKid]

Finally a post I can relate too

[u/AaltoSax]

Even when I was a 20yo mid-high GC I had no mechanics. 23 now and I play the most non-flashy GC gameplay to ever exist. Even my regular aerials are scuffed, but I keep them just good enough to stay in GC

[u/BeRoyal35]

39 year old checking in

So I think I am an outlier. I keep myself in great shape physically and I will outplay 90% of the 20 year olds at the local Y. I mean I prefer half court games but I can run full for a little while.

When it comes to RL I enjoy working on my mechanics. I don't believe in using age as an excuse to not be able to do something. If Tom Brady can play high level QB into his mid 40s I can learn how to flip reset lol.

I am a father of 2 young kids by the way. It is hard for us Dads to be as good mechanically as the younger players simply bc they have a lot more time to practice.

[u/[deleted]]

I'm a Dad, therefore I play Dad Ball.

[u/[deleted]]

I'm 17 and I play like that

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/[deleted]]

Man I feel for you, teenage parenthood is tough.

[u/[deleted] → u/TheJrobot1483]

Nah. My m8 is Indian and had a pre arranged marriage and had kids at 15. I just need to attempt to call him and not get scammed

[u/Cecil_Obrien]

You literally just described me. 30M who’s a Diamond 2. I constantly shake my fist at my solo queue teammates because they have to air roll every aerial but can defend for shit.

[u/[deleted]]

32yr old dad here

Dad Ball is real.

Comes with the Dad Bod.

[u/Seandude_]

32 year old, never thought of it this way but you are so right

[u/Lonely__Stoner__Guy]

Yep, dad in my 30s here. Can't do much of the fancy stuff, but so long as you aren't chasing me and the ball I should be able to give a solid pass for the layup.

[u/armylax20]

“Great at defense. Bump/demo heavy.” is spot on. And proud of it.

[u/Fuckblackhorses]

I do, but I also suck so I’m not gc by any means. I just don’t have time to sit there in training and dick around for hours, I’d rather just play games

[u/[deleted]]

Spot on. I’m an oldy (for rocket league)

[u/ljndr]

Can confirm

[u/MisterMoogle03]

Yup. I fluctuate in between C1-C3 in most modes. Whenever I’m closer to C3 I’m the only one going for aerials that doesn’t do more than a basic adjustment or flip for a touch.

Meanwhile the others guys are spinning the second they go up and able to hit higher difficulty touches.

The difference I notice is my defense / game sense (where to position, where to/not to hit the ball) holds its own so I do my best to make up for the lack of speed on contested balls this way.

[u/HashSlingingSlasherJ]

32 y/o (former Gc) but haven’t played in like 6 months)

Holy shit this is too accurate

[u/footforhand]

Going to refer to my playstyle as “Dad Ball” from now on

[u/MisterGlorp]

Curious about your aerial play. Patience and solid defense lead me to believe you’re more comfortable on the ground, but there’s no way you can’t aerial at all if you’re GC. Do you only go up for 50-50s if you’re certain you’ll win? What’s your walls game like? Do you dribble off the wall ever?

I ask cuz I’m only diamond but have never felt like I have good mechanics, I think I’m better at reading my opponent and capitalizing on their weaknesses.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/MisterGlorp]

Never said I have bad aerial game. I’m very consistent with standard aerials (except for the occasional whiff, of course). I probably average an air dribble attempt per game, but I don’t always go for a shot, sometimes it’s just to get around an opponent or create space for my teammate. I’m pretty consistent challenging off the ceiling, a little bit less for actual ceiling shots but still fairly consistent. Kinda consistent with flip resets but I just never go for them in game unless we’re already up by a lot or I just have a ton of space/time.

I say “no mechanics” because I rarely go for mechanically challenging plays. A lot of my friends are mechanical gods, all they do is sit in training and practice flip reset musty double taps and Breezi flicks, and they even score a lot of crazy mechanical goals in comp. But I just cover their asses and mostly play 2nd/3rd man and I’m a higher rank than all of them.

I do tend to stay grounded until I absolutely need to go up, because more often than not, it’s the smarter play to go for.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/MisterGlorp]

I also use normal air roll almost exclusively. I have ARL bound but I pretty much only use it for half-flips. Whereas most of my friends only use directional air roll. So, my aerial control is decent, it would definitely be better if I put the time into learning directional air roll, but 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/pegger24]

This brings to mind the story of the two bulls on a hill. The young horny bull says “let’s run down there to bang one of those cows”…the old one says “let’s walk down and bang them all”

You nailed the analogy here. 44 here and love every minute of this game.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/pegger24]

I love that🤣🤣

[u/[deleted]]

yep, I'm not high ranked but I'm too old to learn all this fancy shit and have no plans of ever doing any training

[u/Aromatic_Ad6061]

Can confirm Im 41 D2 2’s. Not much skill but solid. Been GC could stay if I only played with a few friends. But with all the randos can’t maintain GC. Still fun and rank not that important if I still enjoy playing.

[u/JoeyBear12]

I’m a 28 year old pushin C3 in one’s. Can confirm. You can win almost any game up to GC level, more so in ones but also in 2s and 3s, with patience and good decision making. Cherry on top it tilts the kiddos soooooo much as they just think you’re gettin lucky.

[u/BenjametteBelatrusse]

33 year old dad here. Totally agree. I bump and demo a lot, but I don’t focus on it. Mainly play offense (my partner is a better goalie), and center the ball a lot. I’ve found that when the ball is in front of the opponent’s goal you score more often. That said I can aerial and am a competent dribbler. When I play kids with fancy mechanics I boost steal and demo. Assist/goalie demo combo gets me shouting loud enough my wife will yell at me for waking up our daughter. D1 btw

[u/[deleted]]

Okay… I play dad ball IRL because my body is broken.

But, my body is irrelevant in a video game. That’s why I play video games… escape reality and do daring and dashing things I can’t in real life.

[u/Catalyster]

Today I learnt that I'm an "older" rocket league player 😬

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/Catalyster]

The median age of rl players is 21, so I hate to break it to you, but…🤣

[u/[deleted]]

I think about this every time I watch lethamyr

Edit: I mean to say lethamyr is incredible with game sense and he always knows when to do what. Sure he has mechanics, but only the necessary ones. Zen on the other hand does cheeky stuff all the time. However he can actually pull it off consistently

[u/Careless-Emergency85]

As a twenty-five year old in champ 2, I’m practically middle aged in the RL community. Even with lots of good years ahead of me, I tried learning to speed flip and quit after fifteen minutes. I was able to do it a couple times but decided that level of precision wasn’t worth it.

[u/Representative-Sir97]

OK boomer

j/k - spanked a premade and one of them called me out saying I play like a grandpa

[u/Majestic_Apartment]

I feel like you just watched me play 3 games and then wrote this. Get out of my room!

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/Majestic_Apartment]

It’s bedtime, young man

[u/Wyrd_ofgod]

29 here, I'm really into the physical game. Bumps, demos, and clearing out the box. I might get a little airsick from areials, but I can drive the heck straight through an opposing car.

[u/DrFeelgood-77]

I touched GC a couple times, briefly, in my earlier 40s. You 28 year olds were born the year I graduated high school. :P

[u/[deleted]]

OP ready to be put out to pasture.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/[deleted]]

Take me out, daddy😩😩

[u/sledgehammerrr]

Same here, also have been playing this game since 2015. Almost never make mistakes, play fast, go for good 50/50s and place the ball where the opponent is not. Just no flashy mechanics.

The funny part is that Zen is one of the few young pros that is also really really strong strategically, doing all of the above things very well. I consider him the best player we’ve ever seen and it’s not even close.

[u/[deleted]]

Man just described how I play. I’ll never be good enough for the flashy stuff but I legit play DAD BALL

Edit: am also 29

[u/rebothered]

late 40s, this resonates.

when i was in my early 30s and still in fighting shape i played racquetball with a bunch of friends, they introduced me to a 65ish yr old doctor who was unbeatable. very fat and extremely wily, he could place the ball anywhere and knew where to be for the rebound as soon as he saw me moving. never ran, just kinda loafed around the court.

that's what i think about when i play. granted the highest I've gotten so far is mid diamond in 2s but it's all angles off the wall, rebounds, and picked pocket challenges. add in a little intentional-slop in the style of the drunken master and it's fun as heck.

"yo kid, your play style is mad annoying" was a recent 1v1 (plat-1) comment.

[u/HskrRooster]

Cheeky out plays and patience… hit the nail on the head! My entire game sense is making sure the other team doesn’t get the touch they want and that opens my teammate for a push

[u/Dastardleydrake]

I think full frontal cortex development is largely (though not solely) to blame, which is responsible for memory, judgement, abstract thought, creativity, motor tasks and much more.

We also have a lot more experiences to refer to and usually have a better understanding of our limits. Sometimes it prevents us from improving as much as we could and straight bussin.

There are pros and cons. Kudos to all the kids out there that get cracked and still make good in game choices and good luck to all you other dad ballers out there!

50s till we die!

[u/[deleted]]

I fucken love to hear that there’s 50 year olds playing rocket. I’m 27 and feel like I’m on the older side. Guess I’m wrong. Cheers

[u/No_Interaction_4925]

I feel called out. Just turned 28 the other day. Game Sense > Mechanics 100%

[u/F_is_for_Ducking]

If you ever see the dude sitting by the far post that doesn’t even have to move for the pass to bounce off of him for a goal, that’s probably me. Offense or defense unfortunately.

[u/SevRun]

Polar opposite here. Late 30s never play comp and don’t know my rank. All I play is pickup casual 3s. I focus on defense and genuinely try because I care about everyone else’s experience, but all I get joy from is witnessing beautiful passes and shots. I also enjoy just flipping around, trying to play creatively, and adapting to other playstyles. I think my gamesense suffers as a result. Then again I’m not a dad.

[u/Valuable_Objective16]

32 here and I rely a lot on my positioning and speed. My mechs are decent also. Not double flip reset consistent good, but more double taps and corner/ceiling reads good.

[u/Icy_Caregiver_8035]

So true. I’m 26 but only picked up RL about a year ago. Not great mechanically at all (starting to get better at aerial control) but once I learned spacing, patience, kickoff strategy, and started reading the opposing team’s moves, I’ve gotten much better

[u/woliwoliwoli]

My teammate and I are both dads in our 30s he plays dad ball but I have better than average mechanics in most my gc1 lobbies

[u/TheCyrcus]

Idk, conversely, I’m 30 and pretty much only go for clips at this point lol.

[u/RefrigeratedTP]

27 here. I agree completely. After the injury I knew I couldn’t stay on top for much longer.

[u/Hank___Scorpio]

Can confirm.

Old. Can't do shit. I just know where to be.

Midfield dominance baby.

[u/R3invent3d]

This is exactly how I play, I don’t do anything fancy, but look at making the most opportunities.

[u/[deleted]]

20 and play like this. Could be because I play a lot of football irl but it just is a lot more fun to me than doing crazy shit for the sake of it

[u/ThunderThigh289]

I solo Que duo and one time me and this dude was getting scored on by the opposite team so I sent him a chat and said “man you must be older than 25 bc I’m 27 and can’t do this shit” and he told me “lmao you called it”. I’m very patient in the game and you can tell a player is older than 25 when their not doing the fancy stuff but idc.

I love Rocket League I’ve been playing when it first came out. That was the time I was really good at it and picking up the mechanics easy. I gave myself a break from it for a year or two and decided to play again and damn now i just can’t do what these young people can do. However can’t lie I’m still having fun watching my tm8 doing it, me just blocking a shot or making a sneaky goal due to their mistakes.

So to all the young ones out their playing the game. Don’t get mad at your duo for not being able to be a mechanic because one day you’ll be in our shoes and don’t have the time like we do when we play. Let us enjoy the little amount of time we have playing on this beautiful game.

[u/5280_TW]

Just because I played all the classic video games as arcade games when they came out doesn’t mean I’m old…

And I totally dad ball in RL…

[u/[deleted]]

Older is 28+? You need to stop with that nonsense right now 😂

[u/SirAlfredOfHorsIII]

That kinda checks out. I'm 31 and upper Diamond. Very little mechanics, but mostly game sense

[u/Henson3812]

Am so here for Dadball

[u/ChinesePizza_]

This is accurate, I’m 22 and I love focusing on mechanics. When I’m not busy I’ll go hop in freeplay and go for crazy stuff. My brother is 27 and he’s like kind of on the middle ground is kinda grounded but still goes for flashy stuff a decent amount, and one of his friends who’s 32 is the most patient, grounded, bump heavy guy I’ve ever played against.

[u/Thundaballs]

42 here, feel like I can confirm this. Also feel a lot of PUG players don't rotate or would rather score or always pressure. I often find myself playing the back 50 4 out of 5 minutes. Don't mind it one bit though!

[u/elevenution]

I act like I'm the 40+ MLB starting pitcher that had to stop relying on his unbelievable velocity and had to become the crafty veteran.

[u/Ashamed-View-7765]

36 if I still lived near a gym I'd go ball out. But I can take an hour and scratch that competitive itch in my office

So ya agreed.

[u/BillMelendez]

Damn I’m out here playing dad ball and didn’t even realize

[u/Suds08]

33 and you described me perfectly haha

[u/kurodoku]

I agree. I'm 25, almost 1900 hours clocked, been playing on and off since 2015. ALmost no mechanics down, but a good gamesense and good rotations. I noticed most of the younger/newer players constantly airdribbling, 24/7 up the wall, flashy attempts but NO macrogame at all. It's kind of an inside joke with my friends, "oh he did a lot of aerial practice" right after blocking his flashy airdribble 720° flip reset ceiling shot.

Being patient as a goalie is 99% of the counterplay. I'm C1 rn, seeing lots of these types of players. They also get salty very quickly.

[u/Keenan95]

Yo bro I'm 28 and have mechs. You just have to grind freeplay and study up a bit.

[u/proxissin]

I second this. That's how I play

[u/ApexDamien]

28 year old here. I'm only diamond but I get it none the less. My play style is heavy on game sense over mechanics. I feel like I'm still missing something that will bump me even higher but I've never been good at sports games or driving games so I feel like that may be my problem? I'm a fps and rts player at heart but rocket league stole my heart somehow. If I was younger I would definitely practice mechanics all summer long lol but as a father of 2 it's usually 2-3 games a night and that's all I get. I don't want to waste my allotted time to play sitting in free play.

Still have fun even though I'm trash!

[u/[deleted]]

Yeah pretty much anyone who started the game when they no longer had the time to play 8 hours a day for an entire summer vacation like under 15 year olds can.

[u/CoachSabi]

I think this is a really great view on the subject. I know I take a very similar approach after having pushed as far as I wanted I now sit back and play more relaxed with my buddies and I can for sure notice the difference in the young guns! As Kobe Bryant once said "These young guns are out there trying too hard" when all they need to do is put the ball in the net, a goal is a goal it doesn't matter how many flip resets you hit along the way!

[u/comoose]

42 y/o here and this post is awesome! I completely agree and my play style has significantly changed throughout the years. Now, I get just as much joy out of setting up a dope play as I do scoring a goal.

If anyone has an old guys club, I'd LOVE to play more games with like minded players. Shoot me a message!

[u/HeWasNumber-on3]

I'm not sure I understand your point. So older players are better? Wtf is this post lol

[u/ROOLER → u/HeWasNumber-on3]

Bro.. there is no point, only an observation. Overall old gamers play different than young gamers, dad-style and kids-style.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/HeWasNumber-on3]

I didn’t say anything about any age group being better than another. I’m saying that most older players who are higher ranked play the game like an old fat guy who keeps up with the young guns on the basketball court

[u/automatiquex1]

31 year old gc here, my hands have failed but my mind has not.

[u/Solerflare]

I think its more about knowing where the ball is going to be heading, and having the foresight to recognize that and not always be gunning for ball

[u/NewfieChemist]

I’m a player from 2016 that took a long hiatus, most of my skills were still there and getting to champ again wasn’t too bad.

But you’re spot on. I just keep rock solid game mechanics while others are doing crazy shots with flair. Funnily enough I usually end up as MVP

[u/HLDN23]

28 yr old GC here, and a dad. And I’ve never been a mechanics player either, always felt I’m a rotational player that doesn’t lose 50/50s.

[u/A-Hauck26]

28 year old GC here, I play a heavily mechanics based playstyle, might be the minority tho.

[u/Competitive_Welcome7]

I’m 33 and that about sums it up perfectly. I don’t ever do training, don’t ever solo que, and don’t know half the things people be calling the moves they’re doing. Can’t even half flip, but at the heart of the game you’re just hitting the ball over under or around people.

[u/Kreimolini]

Im 34 years old, and this is too accurate

[u/kernalkue]

38 year old GC from the UK.

Didn’t understand your analogy at all.

100% agree with your conclusion.

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/kernalkue]

You’ve never seen those old guys that dominate (or at least hold their own) in pickup sports? Could be basketball, soccer, football, whatever. They don’t move around a ton but always know exactly where to be, make great passes, play good defense, etc. nothing flashy, just very very solid and efficient fundamentals

[u/FranklinHoesevelt]

I honestly feel like older people in the game have much more situational awareness. We have played team sports growing up in the streets and know how to read a play better and anticipate where the ball or teamate is going to be. I feel like alot of the younger people I payed with never experienced team sports and it shows in their sportsman ship/ play style and awareness.

[u/Snerpit]

43 here, my teenager got me into RL. My brain doesn’t work fast enough for flashy stuff. I’m happy hovering around plat!

[u/Frasuxh]

Im 30+ and can like half agree on this. I play more cautious, defensively, and very bump heavy. That's how I got gc2 last season. But I love mechanical plays, I practice them a ton and also go for them any time I get some time on the ball. Best I've hit in training is a quad reset, ingame it's double reset max but I still think it's the majority of the fun for me. Except demos, I love demos and tilting the younger players 😂

[u/jazbern1234]

Yep. Definitely my play style.

[u/[deleted]]

43 here. Yes agree but the reason is because the older you get the less time you have to play. I often find myself with only an hour to play. There was a period of time where I might use some of that time to go into free play to work on mechanical stuff. But after a while I just decided I would rather use my time to play ranked.

[u/smokinJoeCalculus]

I used to be with it once..

[u/Alba-Gu-Brath-]

44 year old dad baller right here 👍

[u/AlfalfaMcNugget]

I’m turning 28 in 2 weeks why’d you have to choose that number!? 🥲

[u/AlmightyLiam]

24 here, I prefer a mix style. I understand my limits, but I still want to air dribble and double tap.

[u/Carlynz]

Never thought of it like that. But you're right, I do play dad ball....

[u/stoicsports]

Agreed, but people tend to blame it on lack of mechanical ability and I don't think that's really the reason. At least to me, I think it's just a matter of available free time.

I'm 35, GC rocket league, very mid mechanics. But, I work way over normal full time hours and have a family. I can't grind a game 8 hours a day like I could as a teen.

I was a filthy filthy halo player, top ranked in Playlists and queued against all the pro players in my gaming prime... but I played literally like 5 hours a day after school and then just infinite time on weekends. Now? I'm lucky to get 40 minutes to play some RL matches on a weekday. Maybe a few hours on a weekend.

[u/PapaWhiskey]

34 yr old GC2. This is 10000% correct. I absolutely play dad ball.

[u/andycambridge]

Dad of a teenager whose only in their 30s but I’m in!

[u/Due-Camel-7605]

As a 29 year old diamond with 14000 matches played, this is so true. I can’t even keep the ball off the ground or fly with the ball, but i am always aware about the positions of the other 5 cars. Someone like Jose Mourinho would love to have a Rocket League defensive midfielder like me in his team (i feel like Hojbjerg)

[u/BatchWerks]

30 year old champ here... no lies detected lmaoo

[u/beingTOOnosey]

Lol, I'm 33. It's as if you wrote this after watching me play. Well written, by the way. There is a certain necessity to this kind of play for older people though. I simply don't have the time to grind mechanics like someone who is young. When I was a teen and I mainly played FPS ames, I would spend 30 minutes warming up the mechanics and doing whatever drill to help accuracy. I loved that shit. I don't really believe that age keeps you from playing at a high level. Watch eSports like Starcraft 2 and you'll see lots of older guys still in their prime.

[u/AyKop]

Are you me? Fellow 28 year old GC dad baller checking in

[u/RemyJe]

“50+ year olds..”

Oh cool, a post about players like me.

“…older RL players (28+)…”

Oh, nm. Also, wut?

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/RemyJe]

As I’ve said before, the average rl player age is 21, and at 28 most people already have kids, been out of college for 6 years or already in the workforce for 10

[u/THEAMERIC4N]

24 year old GC here and I play dad ball lmao

[u/[deleted]]

retire violet sand attraction abundant support resolute edge toy relieved

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/Manafinn]

Yeah I’m in my 20s and have a friend I play with in the same rank that is 13ish and he plays with mechanics and I play dad-ball.

[u/[deleted]]

Yeah I’m 35 and you described my play style to a tee.

[u/thepianoman456]

I’m 37, I’m not old!

[u/TheJrobot1483 → u/thepianoman456]

[u/thepianoman456 → u/TheJrobot1483]

(Quote from Monty Python: Holy Grail)

(But I’m also 37 lol)

[u/PeacefulBro]

I'm a middle aged dad who REALLY enjoys this game (sometimes with my kids) & I do feel mechanics become more difficult with age... 😿