This post is an Opinion piece by @redwood, a long-time Snow Day player and doesn’t necessarily represent the views and opinions of Rocket Hockey League.
Every so often, someone will publish a thread on the Rocket League subreddit asking Psyonix to fix an exploit in Snow Day that allows players to pinch the puck so it travels at fast speeds across the arena. Here’s a recent example.
We need to talk about this hockey mode exploit… from RocketLeague
For those who don’t know what pinching means, here’s a visual example. Notice how @redwood front-flips into the puck creating a pinch hit that travels 203 KPH past three defenders for a goal.
Because the puck has a flat surface, hitting the top of it can create a pinch it. This technique comes in handy for making quick passes on the wall or scoring from long distance. According to BeBenNova, who published the Reddit thread, too many people are learning how to pinch hit and are abusing the technique.
“This is probably gonna be downvoted or flat out ignored because of the low player base of the mode and I don’t even know what can be done to fix it but I hope it will end up being fixed somehow, it really cheapens the mode,” BeBenNova said.
First and foremost, pinch-hitting is not an exploit, it’s a skill. It’s one of the things that sets mediocre skilled players apart from the more advanced. Pinching has existed in Rocket League since its release. Here’s an example of a player pinching the ball on the side wall centering the ball for a team-mate who scores a goal.
Because the puck has a flat surface and the ceiling, walls, and floor are flat surfaces, there are more opportunities for these types of hits to occur in Snow Day. Here’s an example that shows one way to pinch hit the puck.
I have more than 2,000 hours invested in Snow Day and pinch hits are not guaranteed. I usually get them with a bit of luck and good timing. However, I have played against people who try to pinch the puck with every chance they get and are highly successful at doing so. While these players are annoying to play against, it doesn’t distract from the game. It reinforces having better positioning and trying to maintain closer defense, not allowing the opponent to have an open lane to pinch the puck.
Pinch hits are momentum changers and a well placed pinch can turn a game around in a hurry. They’re fun, unpredictable, and help to make Snow Day a unique game mode. Over time, more players will learn how to pinch hit the puck. The best way to defend them is to play close defense on your opponents. If open lanes disappear, the effectiveness of pinches is drastically reduced.
Snow Day isn’t broken and Psyonix shouldn’t alter the game mode’s physics in any way. To all Snow Day players, I encourage you to learn how to pinch and defend against them because they’re not going away. Pinch hits in Rocket League are not an exploit so please stop calling it one.