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GUIDE · INTERMEDIATE · 4 MIN READ

How to defend

Stay between the ball and your goal, shadow the attacker and pick your moment to challenge. Defending, step by step.

To defend in BonnetBall, get back between the ball and your goal, turn to face the play and shadow the attacker instead of diving in. Challenge when the ball comes loose or you’ll clearly get there first, then clear it towards a side wall, away from the middle.

POV: you’re the keeper · 0:16 · transcript on the video page

The job of a defender

The loading screen sums up the job: “STAY BETWEEN THE BALL AND YOUR GOAL WHEN YOU ARE THE LAST ONE BACK”. From goal-side you can get in the way of a shot. Chasing from behind the ball, you usually can’t.

The goal you’re guarding is 17.86 metres wide and 6.43 metres high. A goal only counts once the whole ball is over the line, so a ball on the line can still be cleared.

What comes at you depends on the bots. PARK bots don’t flip into their shots or go up for aerials. CLUB and PRO bots do both, and PRO bots dribble and flick as well, so give those two more room.

How to defend, step by step

  1. Get back goal-side. When the ball heads your way, drive back until you’re between it and your goal.
  2. Turn to face the ball. Keep BALL FOCUS on, and use DRIFT to swing round in a tighter turn. On the default PRO layout, ROLL L and ROLL R drift on the ground.
  3. Shadow the attacker at a distance. Drive back with them, far enough off that one touch can’t take the ball past you.
  4. Challenge when the ball is loose or they miss a touch. If neither happens, keep shadowing.
  5. Clear it towards a side wall. Away from the middle, so a short clearance doesn’t land in front of your goal.
The ball crosses the line into the net at BONNET PARK at sunset, as red and green cars chase in

Shadowing: stay goal-side

Shadowing is defending with your position rather than a tackle. Drive back alongside the attacker, matching their speed, and keep yourself between them and your goal. Don’t lunge at the ball straight away: give them time to make a mistake, and stay ready to block the shot if they don’t.

The game’s tip is to “DRIVE OVER THE SMALL PADS TO TOP UP BOOST WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR LINE”. Each one gives 12 boost and comes back after 4 seconds, so three of them give you more than the 33.3 every kickoff starts you with.

When to challenge

Good times to go for the ball:

  • You’ll get there first. Arriving at the same moment as the attacker is a gamble with your goal behind you.
  • It’s loose. Nobody has it under control: a bounce, a heavy touch or a ball dropping off the wall.
  • You’re not the last one back. With a teammate behind you, a missed challenge isn’t the end, because someone is still between the ball and your goal.

Otherwise, keep shadowing. In 2v2 and 3v3, who challenges is part of rotation: one car goes, the next backs it up and the last stays back.

Clearing the ball

A good clearance needs power and direction. For power, the game’s tip is to “HIT THE BALL WITH THE NOSE OF THE CAR FOR THE STRONGEST SHOTS”, and a clearance is just a shot the other way. For your hardest hits, flip into the ball nose first, as in how to hit a power shot.

For direction, aim wide, towards a side wall. The game sends off-centre touches out to the side, so if you can’t turn to face the wall in time, catch the ball on its side nearer the middle of the pitch to send it wide. Don’t clear across the face of your own goal: a weak ball there can land in front of the next attacker.

Practise it

Go to TRAINING › SHOT CHALLENGES and pick SAVES. There are three sets, BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED, of eight shots each, with a star at 3, 5 and all 8. The clock for each shot drops from 7 seconds to 6 and then 5.

A shot is SAVED! if nothing goes in before the clock runs out, or early, once your touch sends the ball away from goal at 4 m/s or more for a second, so the sets are clearance practice too. The ADVANCED set includes a shot where you have to race back first. For the keeper’s side of the job, see how to save, and the keeper’s-eye video shows six scripted shots from just behind a green keeper car.

TRAINING: shot challenges, with SAVES at BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE and ADVANCED

Common mistakes

  • Charging in when you’re the last one back. Miss, and the attacker has an open goal. Fix: shadow, and only challenge when you’ll get there first.
  • Facing your own goal when the ball arrives. You can’t see the shot or hit it away. Fix: get back early enough to turn round, or half flip to turn in one move.
  • Clearing across the middle. Fix: aim for a side wall.
  • Running out of boost on the way back. Fix: come back over the small pads, or through a corner pad, which refills your boost to full.

Should I stay in goal?

Only while you’re the last one back. In 1v1 that’s always you, so goal-side is where you belong whenever the bot has the ball.

In 2v2 and 3v3, sitting on your line all match leaves your teammates a car short going forward and gives the bots time on the ball. When a teammate drops back behind you, move up and join in. That’s rotation.

Updated 20 October 2026

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