In your hit the ball when it's falling gifs you hit it wrong both times. You should never jump when hitting the ball if it's falling right in your face unless you are purposely trying to kill it's air or if someone is contesting and you want to cover the ball.

Whenever the ball is falling in your face or you think you can meet it's bounce, NEVER jump. Simply drive the car to hit it exactly as it bounces. Practicing this you can:

1) Shoot the ball without jumping and setting yourself up on goal by bouncing the ball onto the opponent's wall and following it up.

2) Going for an aerial yourself with the ball you hit. You will be following the ball trajectory the best if you hit it then follow it into the air and match the ball, this is one of the easiest "pro" aerials to learn.

3) You wont flail after hitting it. If you are recovering or your car is in the air/recovering even for a couple of seconds that is more time lost.

Also if the ball is already rolling on the ground, DO NOT JUMP. Simply drive into the ball and keep boosting if you want it to go low when you hit it. If you want to chip it then keep boosting towards the ball and then let go of the boost before hitting the ball, it will fly much higher. You can vary your speed in this and take off boost to do small chips, then follow your own shot for an air roll that 99% of bronze players wont save and 60% of silver players will never save even if they are camped in goal. You can also aerial dribble this way.

Setting yourself up is the best way you will get out of ranks like 1v1 and 3v3 solo or every rank if you are not in a party with trusted players. Do not instead waste your time jumping and hitting balls you don't have to jump for. It is a way to send the ball flying for someone else not yourself. Either it will be your team or your opponents but mostly the latter.