Strategy

Rob Uyeyama's Guide to Learning Foosball

1995-05-20T16:15:00Z

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REC.SPORT.TABLE-SOCCER FAQ 4 v1.2a
Guide for Beginners and Intermediates
LEARNING FOOSBALL
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(C) Copyright 1995 Robert Uyeyama.
Permission granted to distribute free, freely. Rob Uyeyama
(uyey...@hawaii.SPAMNOTedu)

The latest version of this file is available at the table-soccer FTP
site at Foosball Heaven, http://www.foosballheaven.com/

____________
Introduction
____________

For whom is this file written? This essay is is intended for a
wide variety of players; there are three separate chapters for
three arbitrarily selected levels of play of people who have
little or no experience in competition. This ranges from the
absolute-beginner to someone who can be quite good, but not
"tournament-hardened".

This file is not intended to limit postings to RSTS. If you
have further questions, please feel free post. We're a friendly
bunch. :-)

The three chapters are as follows:
    Chapter One is for those who have essentially _never_ played
before, or are just learning how to play.
    Chapter Two is for those who have played for several months
to several years, but only on a casual level-- for these
people, they rarely have considered practicing, shots are
impressive only once in a while, but they certainly haven't
taken the game strategy seriously... until now... and wish to
learn more.
    Chapter Three is a short list of advice for those who have
played seriously, even for several years, but only on a very
local level. This would include bar-players and
college-players who are considered among the best at their
respective home ground, but who have not had any "big"
tournament experience.

Introduction:
____________
A fact which may come as a surprise (a welcome one) to many is
that foosball/table-soccer is played on a competitive (read:
"professional") level. There are several "tours" which exist,
and these tours organize various regional, national, and even
"world" championships! For example, in the United States, there
is the well-established United States Table Soccer Association
(USTSA) and the nascent American Table Soccer Federation (ATSF).
These organizations are manufacturer-based, in other words they
are not player organizations, but rather promoting organs
sponsored by the table manufacturers: USTSA for Tornado (817
561-0511), and ATSF for Dynamo/Striker (800 527-6054). Contact
these phone numbers for more information on regular
draw-your-partner events in your area, as well as for upcoming
national and regional events-- go see tournament foos today!

The older tours were played on Tournament Soccer (TS), Dynamo,
and Hurricane tables in the 60's and 70's, but now the quality
of the newer brands of tables has much improved, prompting some
players to label the older tables as mere "toys". So if you
haven't played on a Tornado or Striker, you really are missing a
lot, and perhaps even learning wrongly that some things are not
possible on a foosball table. For example, the "modern" balls
tend to be made of a very durable plastic (urethane), causing
the balls not to dent and therefore they will always roll
completely straight. The shapes and even fastenings for the men
have changed so that catching, kicking, and tic-tac-ing are much
easier; what is tic-tac-ing? Imagine passing rapidly between the
men on your three bar for up to several minutes on end-- the
sound the ball makes as it bounces between the men gives this
motion its name. Other improvements include very flat playing
fields, individually adjustable table legs, smoother bearings,
lighter rods, counterweighted men, etc. Most people which
switch over to these tables do not like them at first, but
within a few weeks of playing, the verdict is unanimous: no one
would dream of going back to playing seriously on their "old"
table, sentimental feelings aside.

So the purpose of this file, and indeed the newsgroup itself, is
to promote the sport of foosball. This particular file is
important, because by encouraging new players to begin playing,
and encouraging the large bulk of non-competitive experienced
players to enter competitive play, we will certainly make a
great step towards that goal.

Happy Foosing,
Rob Uyeyama (uyeyama@ hawaii.SPAMNOTedu)

___________________________________
CHAPTER 1
Getting Hooked: No Spinning Allowed
___________________________________

This chapter is intended for those who have little or no
experience in foosball at all, or for those who wish to "teach"
others who have little or no experience.

    If you're reading this, you've probably encountered good
players, perhaps so good you didn't even dream that this "game"
could be taken so seriously. But it is great fun, and you're
probably also on your way to getting hooked. This is the most
important part; take the sport as fun, and never be discouraged
by any silly, competitive attitudes you may run across when
playing other "good" players. Whether you want to learn how to
beat these people, or simply ignore them and just have fun with
your friends, it will benefit you to learn more about the sport.
    The main goals which will be discussed are: 1) Discovering
what is possible; 2) Learning basic skills; 3) Discovering what
to practice (yes, practice). Let us begin with the first
concept: what is possible? First of all, the game consists of
putting the ball in your opponent's goal, and keeping it out of
yours-- that's obvious. But there are good and bad ways of
accomplishing this. The most common problem is "spinning the
rods." Here are the most often-cited points that are good about
spinning the rods: 1) you can hit the ball HARD with little or
no effort 2) you hit the ball more often; 3) because of 1 & 2, you
probably score more often; 4) this method is fun and energetic;
5) if you don't spin, you miss the ball a lot, hit it slowly,
score less, and look lame.
    REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN'T SPIN THE RODS: 1) you can hit the
ball about as hard as your spin by practicing a wrist-flick (to
be described) in less than a week; 2) you can easily learn to
hit the ball more often than a random spin; 3) you can
accurately aim the ball and score, while a spin-shot is pretty
random or only straight and easily blockable by an alert
opponent; 4) you are in position to catch loose balls if you
don't spin, creating more scoring opportunities; 5) spinning
can damage the table (by breaking men, pins/screws, or damaging
the rod itself). The third and fourth reasons are the most
compelling since you'll score more often, while the first two
are just ways of saying, "you get the same benefits as spinning
anyways with very little practice."
    So: don't spin the rods. Now as far as offensive play, how
do you get these benefits? This is what is important: 1)
practicing your wrist-flick, and; 2) aiming the ball.   Not
spinning the rods also helps you on defense, and that will be
discussed immediately afterwards.
    WRIST FLICK: if you can't seem to hit the ball very hard
(without spinning), how do you do it? First of all, try it with
your right hand, since that hand will be doing almost all
shooting. Put the ball on the playfield under your front
three-man rod, in the center in front of an open goal (lift the
defending rods for an open shot). Now, practice hitting the
ball as hard as possible straight into the goal from this
position-- use your middle man and _don't_ push or pull the rod:
1) Stand slightly to the left of the rod, and away from the
table; 2) Hold on to the handle, and don't let go; 3) Now,
"forget" about both your arm and your hand, and only concentrate
on your WRIST; 4) "Throw" your wrist as hard as you can
_straight_ down towards the _floor_, past the side of the
handle, resulting in 5) your wrist snapping downward-- since of
course your hand is still gripping the handle, the motion stops
as your wrist locks abruptly-- this is the wrist flick!
    AIMING: set the ball up along the 3-rod as previously. This
time, instead of concentrating on speed, consider your control
of the aim. Observe that if you hit the ball dead-on, the ball
travels straight into the goal. Now change your rod's position,
so that if you swing (wrist flick) straight (without
push/pulling the rod), you'll hit the left 1/4 of the ball.
Swing. Notice that the ball angled to the right. Different
distances from the edge of the ball produce different angles.
Beginning your swing with the front of the man's toe touching
the back of the ball gives you more control than if the toe
begins from the air way out from behind the ball. Now try
aiming a shot into an undefended goal from every single man on
your five-man rod. You can even hit a ball in from the very
edge of the table!
    Before we go on, let me mention an alternative way of
hitting a ball hard, this is called the "open hand", or "fan"
technique. Basically, you *** your rod & men backwards to shoot by
rolling the handle clockwise up your palm as you open your hand,
fingers toward the floor. As you shoot, you reverse the motion
and roll the handle back (counterclockwise) to your fingers,
which catch the handle tightly. Done quickly, this open-close
motion can result in a very hard shot. Control with the
open-hand "fan" is more difficult that a normal wrist-flick, but
it can be learned.
    FUNDAMENTALS OF DEFENSE: Again, don't spin the rods. You
can only block an incoming shot if your men are straight down,
which they aren't about 80% time when they're spinning; yet it's
fairly common for beginners to do this anyways. Why? Because
it looks cool, and once in a while, a shot blocked by a spinning
rod will immediately become an offensive shot towards your
opponents goal-- neither of these reasons are compelling. Even
if you're not spinning, don't get eager to shoot the ball: Stop
the ball, then shoot it. ;)   Otherwise, you'll often lose the
ball, resulting usually in a possession and a quick goal from
your opponent's dreaded 3-rod.
     So, what else do you do? Your opponent can aim the ball
just like you can. Therefore, you want to guard both the
STRAIGHT shot, and all ANGLE shots. Remember if you can draw a
line from the ball to your goal, that shot is open. Never
position your two men (your middle goalie and one of the men on
the two-man rod) behind each other- if you do, you're just
blocking the same place twice, and you might as well just lift
one of the men, and your defense wouldn't be any worse for it!
Just experiment, placing the ball on _all_ parts along the
opposing 3-rod, and positioning your defensive men to block both
the straight and angle shots. Remember if you can draw a line
from the ball to your goal, that shot is open. (Did I just say
that?) Now your opponent either rely on you to flinch and open
these holes, or must "race" you, moving the ball horizontally
along his three-rod until it reaches a position where a
diiferent straight shot (or sometimes the angle) is open.
Defending against opponents who try this latter option will be
discussed in Chapter 2. Also, be very aware that shots from the
opposing 5-rod and 2-rod can also be blocked in this way-- you
just have to learn to expect a shot from these areas of the
table, and block most of the possible "lines" to your goal.
Just being aware of these "lines" and trying to block them will
make a big difference. Finally, if you're shooting from the
defensive region, remember you can still aim it, and take your
time to lift up your 5- and 3-rods (or in doubles, tell your
partenr) so that you'll never block your own shot!
    WITH WHICH HAND DO YOU HOLD WHICH ROD in singles play? 1)
When you're defending against a 3-rod shot, hold BOTH of your
defensive rods (goalie & 2-man)-- Ditto for when you're shooting from
your defensive region. 2) When you're defending an opponent's
defensive-region shot, you should have your right hand on your
3-rod, and your left either on your 5-rod or goalie-rod; the
latter may be more effective at first. When the ball is in the
center region, you should have your L & R hand on the goalie-rod and
5-rod (maximum defense). 3) Later, when you learn how to pass
and you have possession of the ball, you can stop the ball, and
switch to holding the 5-rod and the 3-rod (ready for offense or
passing to the 3-rod), and when you get much better, you may
wish to stay in this position for defense against the opposing
5-rod or 2-rod, so that you are ready to catch any loose balls
on your 3-rod.
    BALL-CONTROL (or how not to lose the ball): this is
especially for those playing on tables which are not Tornado or
Striker, and tables which are old, dented, and otherwise warped.
Ball control is much easier on the Tornado and Striker, but the
skills in this section are still essential to learn for these
tables too. To be able to use your growing arsenal, you need to
be able to "maneuver" the ball, and not lose it. There are
three exercises which are good to do, all on the 3-rod.
1) INTERCEPTION: Try _very_ lightly tapping the front of the
ball (with the back of your toe), then as the ball rolls back,
tapping the back of the ball (with the front of your toe).
Continue to gently tap the ball back and forth; this
back-and-forth distance will be less than an inch-- the skill
being learned here is to rapidly lift the man and swing it
around to the other side of the ball to prevent it from rolling
away. You will find the shape of the motion to be a series of
"C" shapes around the ball. 2) PINNING: In the second
exercise again begin by tapping one side (front or back) of the
ball, but this time let it roll further. Move in the same "C"
shape as if to intercept it, but leave your toe lifted in the
air. When the ball rolls under your man's toe, bring it down
forcefully on the _top_ surface of the ball to "pin" it to the
playing field, resulting in a sudden stop. Practice both
versions (i.e. tap back of ball then front-pin; tap front of
ball then back-pin). This develops the reflex to suddenly and
confidently "catch" a ball which is too difficult to intercept
by method 1). For example, this "pin" catch is very useful for
a ball which is rolling away at high speed. 3) BALL MOVEMENT:
The third exercise is to pass the ball from one man on the 3-rod
to another, steady the ball, and again pass it to the next man
on the rod. Continue passing among all three men on the rod.
The skill here is maneuvering the ball wherever you wish it to
be along your rod. Also try bringing the ball to a stop at
various points along the rod. You will find that the skills
learned in 1) and 2) are very useful to prevent the ball from
rolling away out of reach-- try and develop a feel for when it
is better to use 1) vs. 2) to retrieve a ball about to roll away
from you. These skills of interception, pinning, and
ball-movement are applicable to all rods of a foosball table.
    Now that you can wrist-flick hard, aim the ball, know how to
act on defense, and know how to maneuver a ball without losing
it, you are hereby no longer a "spinner"!

__________________________________________
Chapter 2
Learning that Consistency is the Key--
Resolving to Practice & Stop the Ball
__________________________________________

This chapter is intended for players who have casually played the game
(and never took it seriously) for many months or even years, and for
those who have been seriously playing but only for a few months.

    If you're reading this chapter, you may play the game largely to
pass time while being entertained-- you may have played the game like
this for a few years, even going through a few short periods of
"foos-addiction" and taking the game seriously. Now, after all this
time, you've finally become tired of that/those "good" players still
being much better than you are and would like to know if it's worth the
effort to get that good. Answer: The effort required is much less than
you think; the keys are knowing what to practice, and knowing strategy.
    What may seem to be the answer at first is acquiring an arsenal of
unstoppable shots; this is untrue! Although having such an arsenal
isn't necessarily a disadvantage, all you need on the 3-bar is one good
shot... learning all of the other shots will simply make you 2nd-best
in all of them, and very good at none. However one unstoppable shot
from the 3-rod is not enough either; you need a good 5-rod to pass it
to your 3-rod unstoppably. Re-learning your defense is less critical
at this point (for tips on learning a moving-defense see Chapter 3).
    So in summary: 1) choose a shot and learn it well; 2) Learn the
5-rod brush-pass, and use it so you can use your shot; and 3) learn
essential strategy so you can put your shot and pass to good use. All
of these parts must be performed consistently and effortlessly-- using
your best shot or pass once in a while, or having it be inconsistent
(i.e. it works great half of the time) will make all of your effort
moot. 1-3 are described in turn:

3-ROD SHOT:
___________
    You should choose _one_ main shot. My advice is choose the pull.
If you play on a Tornado or Stryker table, you can choose either the
pull or the snake; on some of the older tables, snake-shots are often
more difficult and less potent. Read FAQ6 for instructions on these
offensive weapons-- included are instructions for both beginners and
intermediates. Once you have chosen a shot, it is very important to
use it strategically... in other words _every single time_ you get the
ball on your 3-rod; the point here is that your favorite shot is also
your highest-percentage shot. Having a wide-arsenal is fun and flashy,
but the "one-shot-player" will win the most matches! Make sure your
setup is the best it can be; for example with a pull, make sure your
3-rod is pushed all the way to the wall; if it isn't, the defense has
less goal to defend, and your scoring percentage will simply go down!
    Why the pull is good: Good shooters can shoot the shot so fast the
defense cannot race the shooter to the hole. The pull-shot begins with
the ball on the right side of the middle-man with the 3-bar is pushed
to the wall; as you pull the rod, the ball moves horizontally, and you
eventually shoot the ball in. Remember a good stationary defense will
cover your straight shot and angle shot. By moving the ball
horizontally far enough you will be able to shoot a straight shot to
the right side of the goal; the defense will obviously move his men to
the right side of the goal. Therefore for the shot to succeed, you
must "race" the defense to that open hole; if you have a slow pull
shot, it's useless. If you have a fast one, you can _always_ beat a
set defense to the hole!
    Some caveats: A fast pull can be beaten by a set defense if the
timing of the shot is predictable... in other words don't set up your
shot, wait a consistently predictable two seconds, then shoot it-- a
blazing fast "2-second pull" is raceable. By USTSA rules, you have 15
seconds on your 3-rod, so use your time and "sit on it"! You will also
be able to analyze the defense during this time. Also, practice
shooting the straight shot (!) accurately in the case of a good
moving-defense.
    Why the snake is good: This shot begins in a front pin in the
exact center of the 3-bar. The shot is good because it can be as fast
as a pull shot, but can be shot in both directions: the pull-snake to
the right corner and the push-snake to the left-corner... the defense
doesn't know what to defend! If these are both covered, the straight
shot is open. For this reason, the snake is most useful when its setup
is in the center of the table. Most people think the snake-shot is
easier to learn than the pull, and for this reason some people
recommend learning the snake to beginners; people can get quite good at
the shot in only a month! And once you learn the shot, you will find
the soreness of your wrist will disappear. But learning to really
master the shot, however, is not easy either.
    If you don't want to _practice_ a shot _at all_, but still would
like to score better, doing the push-kick or the pull-kick (see
definition in FAQ1) _every time_ you get the ball on your 3-rod will
improve your scoring percentage. Why? I am not implying that these
are bad shots to learn in the long-run; many people have unstoppable
push-kicks and pull-kicks. The reason these shots are recommended in
this context is that even a medium-speed push-kick or pull-kick can
score reasonably against a good defender; a medium-speed pull or snake
is much easier to block! This is because where you intend to shoot the
ball is more unpredictable-- the ball begins on the inside of either of
the outer-men on the 3-rod (left man = pull-kick setup; right man =
push-kick setup). The ball is passed horizontally to the middle man,
who shoots it straight in. This middle man can shoot the ball straight
into either the left or right corner of the goal, depending on how far
the horizontal pass is. If the horizontal pass is even medium-fast, it
becomes difficult for the defender to predict which corner you are
aiming for. So practice shooting the _edges_: the edge of the near
corner and the far corner of the goal. The middle of the goal will
usually be blocked in any case, but if you always aim for the corners,
you will be most unpredictable to the defender! Also, be aware of two
more options: 1) a faked pass w/the outer man who instead angle-shoots
it toward the near corner, or 2) executes an outer-man push or pull
shot toward the near corner.
    However, mastering a pull-kick or push-kick shot so that your
scoring percentage is very high tends to be more difficult than getting
to this same percentage with a pull or a snake shot. So if you are
going to practice a shot, make it the pull or snake. If you refuse to
practice, but still want to score more, always use a push-kick or
pull-kick. And always use your best shot.

5-ROD PASS
__________
    Having an unstoppable 3-rod shot is useless if you never get the
ball on your 3-rod! A good opponent will do exactly this. Even if no
players in your area can keep the ball away from your 3-bar the entire
game, learning a good 5-rod pass will still do wonders! You can play
someone with a better shot, and if your pass is better, you will get
more scoring opportunities, and things will even out in your favor.
    If you're going to practice anything on your 5-bar at all, practice
the "Brush Pass"-- read FAQ2 and skip straight to the "brush passing"
section. The brush pass techniques will begin bearing improvements to
your game almost immediately. So the brush-pass is _as_ important as
learning a good 3-rod shot. Spend as much time practicing this as your
you do your shot.
    What else do you need to know about your 5-rod? You should be able
to: 1) block opposing defensive shots; 2) block opposing 5-rod passes.
The first point is difficult for many people because there are "too
many men" on the rod, and the range of motion of that rod is very
limited. The following exercise (also described in FAQ3) is very
helpful: Lift up the opposing 5-rod. Pass the ball back and forth
between your 5-rod and your 3-rod, doing ALL ANGLE PASSES. The
straight passes are easy to intercept, but the angle passes are the
ones which teach the range of motion for each man on the 5-rod; it may
be frustrating but even a few 10-15 minute sessions will help vastly.
Once your "intuition" for the 5-rod is improved, you will block more
shots from the opposing defensive region. Also, by using this
intuition, you can begin using your 3-rod men to block the "holes" in
your five-bar (usually the spaces between the 2nd & 3rd and 3rd & 4th
men). "Meshed" in this way, both your 3-rod and 5-rod can contribute in
the most effective way.
    The second point, blocking passes, will be improved just by the
intuitions developed while learning the brush pass; also you can block
slow-medium speed passes by moving your 5-rod back and forth rapidly,
so that you "swat" away any passes. Moving unpredictably back and
forth can also make it more difficult for a good passer to choose the
open pass. Remember that your wall pass is very open because the
bumper on the five-bar prevents your men from actually touching the
wall; against very good brush-passers, you can "twitch", pretending to
move the five-bar off of the wall (or lane), but actually keeping it
stationary-- mix your "twitches" and back-and-forth movements. This
advice even should be applied to on a standard moving-defense in the
defensive-region!
    Finally, if you have practice your brush-pass, a consequence will
be that you will habitually keep your 3-rod angled forward, making it
much easier to catch loose balls. If the defense is shooting, you can
angle it backwards to try to catch a blocked shot. When your 5 and 3
rod are both lifted for any reason, they should swing to the
horizontal, the 5 rod clockwise, the 3 rod counter-clockwise. In this
way, your 3-rod is ready to catch an incoming loose ball, and the 5-rod
is ready to block a bounce off of the opposing 5-rod.

STRATEGY:
    After you learn your chosen shot and the brush pass, you must do
two things with these: learn to execute these consistently (19 out of
20 times) and religiously use them in real play.
    In addition to your shot, pass, and shot-pass strategy, there
are
additional points 1) _never ever_ accidentally lose a ball you have
possession of-- practicing pinning hard any ball which is about to get
away from you; 2) learn to _always_ foos the ball to yourself--
practice this; 3) _never_ repeat bad strategies; 4) _never_ shoot the
ball from the 5-rod; 5) learn ball control & pass-catching, and when you
lift
your 3-rod up swing it up counter-clockwise/toes-forward-- this is so
you will learn to catch loose balls like velcro.
    In more detail:
    Your shot options (long, middle, straight) should be practiced to
at least 9 out of 10 consistency, and preferably 19 out of 20. The
same goes for each of your brush pass options (wall-pass/brush-down,
lane-pass/brush-up). Once you're this consistent, don't even dream of
using a less effective trick shot or second shot in a tournament. The
same goes for hacking from the 5-bar-- sure, you may sometimes score,
but since your pass and shot are so consistent, your scoring percentage
_per 5-bar possession_ will be higher if you brush pass and shoot from
your 3-bar instead! Maximize your percentages! Ditto goes for losing
the ball; a lost ball on a 5-rod possession may mean one less point for
you; losing the ball from the defensive region may give your opponent a
3-rod shot opportunity, which is _bad_ if his shot is as good as yours!
If you can't serve the ball to yourself, that's as bad as losing a
5-rod possession!
    Learn to keep your 3-rod either swung up counter-clockwise and
horizontally with toes-forward, or down with the toes still slightly
angled forward. In either case you are ready or almost-ready to catch
a loose ball or quick pass. On a Tornado, this forward-angle can also
"auto-stuff" defensive shots when the ball bounces hard off of the
3-man's toe. The uncommon exception to the rule is when your
opponent's defensive shots are weak, you can consider angling your
3-man backwards (in this case only) to try to "catch" the shot by
blocking it.
    But when you lift your 5-rod, lift it by turning the rod _clockwise_
. And when it is down defending against a 2-rod shot, angle it
toes-slightly-forward so that any hard shots will bounce hard off the
toe, and perhaps into the opposing goal (i.e. "auto-stuff") or at least
to you 3-rod which is waiting angled-forward (if you read the last
paragraph) and automatically ready to catch any such rebound; hence
when you lift both rods, the two lines will "swing away" from each
other, 3-rod counter clockwise, 5-rod clockwise.
    Never shooting from the 5-rod was explained above. Also, a blocked
5-rod shot may mean a 5-rod possession and therefore a point for your
opponent! Of course, there are some exceptions to the rule. These
exceptions will be discussed next, but remembers they are only
exceptions to fine-tune your strategy, not excuses to have lapses in
your strategy.
    The most difficult point is the one about not repeating bad
strategies. For example, let's pretend your chosen (and best) shot on
offense is the pull. If your opponent blocks your first attempt, you
should probably stick with the same shot. However, if many more pulls
are blocked, you may consider going to your second-shot, or even a
trick shot; in this case, although your pull is your best shot, it is
not the best shot to use _against this opponent_. You may find the
snake works better; you should experiment and find what your best shot
is, and stick with that. An unexpected one-time trick shot may also be
worth one point here, but no more than that.
    The same goes for a 5-rod shot, or a shot or pass immediately upon
foosing the ball. If it's unexpected, and you think your chances are
high for scoring, it may be justified. Try it once. Remember it's all
percentages: repeatedly using these tricks or hacks will only make you
score less.
    The same goes for defense. Suppose you use a stationary
race-defense and it usually works, but if one day you should run up
against someone who always scores on you, you should drop the race
defense, and experiment with a moving-defense; although if you're not
familiar with a moving-defense, you may still block 50% or 25% of the
shots, while previously you were blocking about 0% with the
race-defense. Now, instead of a hopeless race, the burden is now on
the shooter who has to guess which holes you are opening, and when.
     Remember, you can also vary the _type_ of moving defense that you
use; if the opponent is always scoring on your moving defense when you
use your far 2-man, switch to your 1-man periodically-- if the opponent
scores too often when you bait the long shot, bait the middle or
straight. So switching the 2-man that you use is good, just as long as
you don't do it too often-- if the shooter can count on you switching,
he can wait for the switch then shoot it in. Also, to increase the
unpredictability of your defensive motions, remember to experiment with
your mix of several techiniques: 1) a periodically standstill rod, 2) a
moving rod, (push/pull movement), 3) back-forth circular movements of
the men, 4) "twitching" movements to give the appearance that your men
are going to move to another spot in the defense, but actually stay
put; 5) switching your 2-man; 6) leaving the straight-shot open.
    In summary, when you are using a moving-defense, _think_ about what
areas you are blocking-- don't get caught just moving your men back and
forth across the front of the goal without being aware of which holes
are being opened most, and which hole is likely to look most enticing
to the shooter. A moving-defense is _not_ strictly a random defense;
there is a lot of subtle "baiting" to be done along with the
unpredictability. Be able to adjust your defense for different
opponents as soon as possible.
    You get the idea: figure out what works, then stick to it. This
means using your brush-pass and "best"-shot sequence. Keep the
exceptions infrequent, and make the exceptions work toward your scoring
and blocking percentages.
    Summary: use the tools you have practiced to your advantage!

_____________________________________________
Chapter 3
So You Thought You Were Good...
But Then You Went to the First Big Tournament
_____________________________________________

    This chapter will be short, but will also be on the topic most dear
to my heart. The chapter title describes me a few years ago, and the
only difference today is that I'm still not good, but now I know it...
    My only advice is that if you're beating all the players around
you, you _have_ to go out and find players who can beat _you_. Then
you'll see what great foosball is like, and then you may be motivated
to practice that brush-pass, that moving-defense, and all those other
techniques that seemed like sheer nonsense to you before.
    Probably the easiest way to find good players in your area is to
find local Tornado tournaments. Call the Tornado Promotions Hot Line
at (817) 561-0511, and they will be able to tell you the phone number
of a "promotor" (i.e. tournament-organizer) in your area. Then call
your promotor, who will give you all of the details. The Striker
foosball tables are starting to make inroads in the foos-world, so you
can also contact them at Dynamo at (800) 527-6054. Also, you can find
many tournament listings in alt.sport.foosball's FAQ 3: "Playing
Locations." And of course you can pipe up on alt.sport.foosball to see
if any other players are in your area. Finally, if you're suspicious
about these Tornado or Stryker tables you've heard of, give them a good
try anyways: go to these tournaments for a few months, then decide what
you think... I can almost guarantee you will eventually be a "convert"!
    The other advantage to playing better players is that you learn
faster... _much_ faster. You'll learn what a good moving-defense for a
pull shot or a snake is like; the subtleties are hard to figure out on
your own! You'll learn new options from regular shot set-ups that you
never knew existed. You'll learn the importance of ball spin, and how
quickly you will lose if you don't have a brush pass or stick pass
series. You may even learn downright useless things such as how to set
up and shoot the flamboyant Rainbow (aerial shot), or the Alien. You
get the idea.
    So, whether you're the current college champ, bar champ, or a
former addict, go ahead and find those better players... although you
may lose more games than you're accustomed to, you will probably have a
new drive to become better at the sport. And once you attend a Tour
event, you'll be hopelessly hooked, and the entire sport will benefit
from the widened base of competition players.

As a final word, please read Chapter 2 of this file. It contains
some general advice which is valid and useful no matter how good you
are at the sport. The sequence of choosing one shot, then learning and
always using the brush-pass are key, as is the advice on strategy; even
following these instructions will immediately improve your game (i.e.
stop hacking from 5-rod and pass, and concentrate on one shot). The
one thing I would add is to learn a good moving defense, since you
_will_ find that most players have 3-rod shots which can't be reliably
raced-- even if your moving defense is still letting shots through,
you'll find that the shots-against percentage has at least decreased
compared to your stationary race-defense; unfortunately there is not a
faq (frequently-asked-questions) file on this topic yet, but it should
be forthcoming. There are however, faq files on the brush-pass (faq2)
and the snake (aka rollover) and pull shots (faq6) that are worth
reading. Happy foosing!

Snake & Pull Shot Guides by Robert Uyeyama

1995-05-18T16:12:00Z

***************************************
Rec.Sport.Table-Soccer FAQ 6 (v 1.2-1.3)
Snake and Pull -- Long instructions
***************************************

Robert Uyeyama (send comments/corrections to:
uyeyama@hawaii.edu)
Snake shot: 12-06-96 (1.2) Pull Shot: 12-06-96 (1.3)

The latest version of this file is available at the table-soccer FTP site
at conrad.harvard.edu in /pub/table-soccer/foosball and at Rob's Foosball
Heaven web site at http://www2.hawaii.edu/~uyeyama/foosball.html

This FAQ is organized as follows: There are two sections: Part I
describes the Snake shot and Part II describes the Pull shot. In each
section, there are two sections. Part a) Is a description of the shot
for beginners. Part b) Includes more details for intermediate players
trying to perfect their shot and learn the different options of the shot.

This FAQ is _NOT_ intended to limit posts to R.S.TS; there are many
players on R.S.TS who undoubtedly have good (better) advice above and
beyond what is described here. If anything, you may find this file to
generate questions, such as clarifications of ideas. This file is
intended as a reference from which to _begin_ learning the shots, and you
will find it helpful to have a hardcopy with you at the foosball table.
Questions may also be mailed to the author. Corrections and suggestions
are always welcome, esp on the Snake section, which is still rough.

Happy Foosing!

********************************************************************
Part I The Snake Shot (alias - Monkey Shot, Wrist Rocket, Rollover)
********************************************************************

a) BEGINNER SECTION: If you haven't seen this shot before, you should
know that it's currently the second most popular shot in competition; the
shot is very fast (unraceable), and can go deadman in the push and pull
directions. Although the shot is less effective on many non-Tornado tables, it
can still be a hard-to-stop shot. If you are playing on a non-Tornado, make
sure the 3-rod has recently been _well_ lubricated, or else the shot may
be nearly impossible to execute. Also consider using a "rubber" or a
"grip" to increase the catch on your wrist to reduce soreness.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE SHOT: Front pin the ball with the middle man in
the center of the table. Then hold the rod's handle on your inner wrist.
From here rock the ball back and forth. When you decide to shoot, roll
the ball to either your left (push direction) or right (pull direction).
Pull up on your arm, rolling the handle until you catch it in your
fingers-- this will spin the man backwards (counterclockwise over the top of
the rod), striking the ball into the goal. The shot is legally not a spin because
from the last point-of-contact to the contact point of the shot is just _under_
360 degrees; the follow through is legal as long as it too is under 360
degrees and you don't let go of the handle.

SETTING UP THE FRONT PIN in the center of the table with the center
3-man gives many people trouble; often, from a stationary ball in front
of the center man, the attempt is made to repeatedly nudge the ball
forwards by tiny amounts until it reaches the appropriate distance for a
front-pin. This method is time-consuming and you may lose the ball quite
often, especially if it becomes a habit and you don't concentrate every
time. (Note that on some older tables with a natural forward roll/warp,
this method may work fine.) Here is an alternate, commonly-used method:
Bring the ball to either your near or far 3-man. Pass it towards the
center man. Hold your center man stationary in a back-angled position
(i.e. toes-back, head-forward). The ball will then continue rolling and
strike the front corner of the stationary center-man's toe, causing it
bounce off and roll forward, where it may be quickly pinned with the
center man. Adjust the pin so that it is at the CENTER of the field
(center dot) because this shot's key is that it can go towards the push
or pull directions.

THE GRIP: Now change the grip on your right hand so that your inner
wrist is "holding" the handle by applying pressure to the four to five
o'clock position of the handle, if you were to look at it straight on.
Your palm should not be touching the handle, except perhaps the very
outer part of the flesh near your wrist. If using a Tornado, place your
wrist so that the left edge of your wrist is snug with the narrow part of
the handle; this will allow a faster spin and a faster shot in general. For
a push snake it may help to put more pressure on the left (far) side of
your wrist; for a pull, try pressure your right (near) side.
The shot is this: The pinned ball may be rolled laterally to the
left or right, then you will pull your arm up, spinning the rod
counterclockwise so that man will spin over the top and strike the ball
into the goal. Try it!

O.K., you've tried it but it's not that easy, is it? It just
doesn't seem to work at first; don't worry. We'll go through the
motion piece by piece, then put it together into a single stroke. Trying
to do the whole shot at once is usually impossible in the beginning.

     1) First from the front-pin position, practice simply shooting the ball
in straight by lifting your arm up fast (i.e. no lateral motion for now).
Remember, it's important to catch the rod hard in your fingers. This
ensures: 1) A FAST spin (essential); and 2) A legal shot (illegal to
let go of the rod). Just practice hitting the ball straight (no angle)
and hard as possible-- later, even when you practice your Snake slowly,
this spin/shot motion is always done as hard as possible.

    2) The next problem is lack of lateral (horizontal) motion. Many
people learning the shot try to do the entire Snake "fast", and end up
not moving the ball sideways at all, and hitting it straight or missing
the ball entirely. In the beginning, practice this separately!

Let's practice the lateral motion separately: hold the ball in the
front-pin position using your inner wrist as described earlier. Now,
WITHOUT SHOOTING THE BALL, let's see how fast you can move the ball
laterally to the side wall. Choose push or pull, and keep the ball's
path faithfully lateral, and see how fast you can move the ball. Just let
the ball bounce off of the side wall. Also try the other direction (pull/push).
(If this is difficult, first use your regular palm-grip rather than your
wrist-grip and do the exercise; once you've figured out the concept behind
the rod and handle motion with your normal grip, do it with your wrist.)
Now, remember that _this motion_ is what you need to do with your wrist
when you combine it with the spin-shot to execute your complete snake
shot-- don't ignore this part of your stroke; even a lightning-fast shot
can't cheat on the full motion. You'll probably ignore it anyways, but at
least you'll know what you did wrong...

    3) Okay, now you have the "spin" and the "lateral ball-roll". Put the
two together, still in SEPARATE and distinct motions. Choose where you
wish to shoot the ball, and WAIT for the ball to roll laterally there
before you spin/shoot: 1) Roll 2) pause 3) shoot. Don't ignore the
pause.
    Trust me-- especially if you are missing, do it in two separate
motions even if it seems lame to you, because you will learn the timing
and be able to move on to the single fluid motion required for the
final fast version of the shot. This is important, and that's why I've
just repeated it about five times (sorry). When you get the hang of
it, gradually smooth out the transition from the first motion to the
second while keeping the overall timing the same. Work toward getting
the shot stroke into a single motion (with two components):
   Roll-then-Shoot.

   4) But as soon as you have the shot in a single
motion, _always_ practice it fast, never slowly. Overlearning the slow
version may hinder the time it takes to learn the timing necessary for
the desired fast one.

5) Finally, add a recoil as you do your spinning wrist-roll. In other words,
if you are executing a push snake, pull the rod hard as you spin. If you are
doing a pull snake, push the rod hard as you spin. This will eliminate the
problem of your shot going into the wall past the goal.

    6) Remember these points:
          (*) Fast lateral motion,
          (*) immediate hard spin afterwards
          (*) a FAST spin catching the handle with your fingers, and
          (*) recoil as you spin in the opposite direction of your shot.

If you are then having trouble with one side and not the other
(e.g. the pull-snake works, but not the push), think about which side
of your inner wrist you are using: For a pull-snake you are probably
pulling with the RIGHT side of your inner wrist; so, for the
push-snake, be aware of that portion of your wrist, and push with it,
or even switch to the left side of your wrist. Also, be aware of your
shoulder-- the pull snake is easier if your shoulder is further from
the table, and the push snake is easier if your shoulder is close to
above the edge of the table. Also be aware of having the left (far) edge of
your wrist on the narrow part of the handle, and remember your recoil as
you spin.

7) Now, for practice, put a defender on the two-man (lift the goalie
rod and ignore it) directly in front of your front pin. Make sure you
can snake it both ways (push/pull). This is a 1/2 ball-length snake,
since you had to move the ball laterally about a 1/2 ball-length to
clear the defender. Move the defender a ball-length more to one side.
Can you snake around it? Try the mirror-image shot the other way.
Congratulations, you have a legitimate snake-shot!

b) INTERMEDIATE SECTION: So you have a snake now. What follows will
be tips on: 1) mechanics of optimizing the shot 2) ways to practice
the snake shot 3) philosophy toward shooting against a good defense.
    1) mechanics of the shot.
    Remember what was described in b): the fast lateral motion of the
ball, the essential fast spin, the grip on the narrow part of the
handle, the pressure at 3 or 4 o'clock, choosing the left or right side
of your inner wrist. Make sure you do all of these. Without the fast
lateral motion, your shot will easily be raced; without the fast spin,
your shot may not go straight and instead spray out to the wall;
without using the narrow part of the handle, your spin may come too
late, or too slow; without the pressure at 3 or 4 o'clock and choosing
either your left or right side of your inner wrist, your shot will be
erratic and inconsistent. Also, if your lateral motion still isn't
working, remember to to rock the ball slightly in the pinned position
so that you have an idea of how the ball is going to roll when you do
your motion. So, if you have any of these symptoms, work on the
associated points first.
    Experiment with where you stand. In a doubles game, make sure the
defender backs up a little (& even pushes the rods away) to make room for
you to stand in front of your five bar so that you have the appropriate
posture to shoot the shot; If you do well in singles but not doubles,
look where you are standing in singles, and take that space in doubles.
Also, experiment with the direction you face, whether it is straight at
your opponent, almost directly to your right, or somewhere in between.
    Experiment with your elbow angle; try bending it slightly
(maintaining your 3 o'clock pressure on the handle) and pointing it out
to your right (perpendicular to the rods). Try varying the amount of
pressure you put on the handle. Also, find a good position for the
front-pin of the ball; there is a good range of the distance your ball
can be from your man and still be front-pinned-- find the ideal
distance and always use it. Also experiment with your shoulder's
distance from the table.
    Finally, this last point is one of the most important: There
should be a "whip-like" motion to the shot, so that upon execution of
the spin, the center man recoils back to the center dot. This is the
"recoil" and is essential for the execution of a very good (fast & long)
snake. This motion will be explained using the pull-snake as an
example; for the push-snake simply consider the mirror-image.
    The best way to simply the idea (for the pull-snake), is to think
of it as a "shoulder pull-then-push". Roughly, the "pull" corresponds
to the lateral-ball-roll, and the "push" to the rollover/spin.
    As you begin the shot, your wrist pulls the rod, obviously. Notice
too, that your shoulder is also pulling-- exaggerate this motion of the
shoulder. Now the hard part: As you are pulling with your wrist, begin
to move your shoulder in the push direction. Eventually this whip-like
motion will reach your wrist, which will also begin to move (with the
rod) in the push direction. That's all there is to it! The really
hard part is timing it so that the spin occurs just as you begin to
push the rod with your wrist. This is difficult at first because the
spin must also occur where you want to shoot the ball, which is at or
just after the second dot on a Tornado. This motion helps the ball go
straight (not out to the wall) into the goal even with a very fast,
very long (laterally) snake shot. Work on the timing so that the ball
arrives where you want to shoot it just as the push-whip-motion reaches
your wrist. Set up your body before the shot so that your shoulder can
do the pull-push motion, and remember again to catch the rod in your
fingers. Now practice:
    2) For practice, go over everything in 1) as well as the beginner
section. Try to analyze what is going wrong, and then you should be
able to figure out what part of your shot is lacking. Especially
practice the recoil.
    Once you have a good motion, all there is to do, is to see how
fast, far, and consistent you can shoot. Here's how:
    We will set up longer and longer practice shots for you to make.
Once you can shoot a certain-length's shot fast and consistently, we
will practice its mirror image, then move on to an even longer shot.
    Again, we'll use the pull-snake example, but remember to practice
the push-snakes just as much! Lift the defending goalie, since we
won't be using it for these exercuses. Set up the front-pin, and put
the FAR 2-man (from your perspective) directly in front of the ball.
To pull-snake around this man requires a lateral motion of 1/2 a ball
length. Now for the other extreme, pull the defending rod towards you
all the way to the wall. Now, to do a pull-snake around the same far
2-man (i.e. the man not on the wall) requires a lateral motion of about
2 1/2 ball lengths! To do this shot fast and consistently is your
eventual goal. This shot is known as the dead-man shot, since the far
2-man is "dead" and cannot move any further since the near 2-man is
also "dead" against the wall.
    Note than on a non-Tornado, the goals are slightly smaller, so this
deadman shot may be impossible-- in this case, put your finger between
the wall and the bumper next to the near 2-man-- this one-finger shot
should probably be your goal, i.e. going around the far 2-man in this
position.
    Let's begin with a "three-finger pull-snake". Put three of your
fingers between the wall and the bumper next to the NEAR 2-man.
(again, near to your perspective). Pull snaking around the far 2-man
is called the "three-finger" shot for obvious reasons. This is
practically identical to the first example with the defender directly
in front of the front-pin-- you must move the ball laterally about 1
ball length. If you can shoot this fast and consistently, move on to a
"two-finger" shot. Make sure that out of 5 shots, you are shooting 3
or 4 fast and on-goal. The shot should not be cutting back; it should
be shot straight; the cut-back shot may look great, but it's
notoriously inconsistent to do fast, and practicing it may sabotage
your "real" snake shot. If you can do a two-finger shot, move to a 1
1/2 finger, a 1 finger, a 1/2 finger, and eventually to deadman (0
fingers).
    Of course, make sure you can do all of this in the push direction
too, or your shot will be basically useless. Remember to do your
shoulder pull-push (i.e. "recoil); your center man should recoil and
come to rest at about the center dot. To shoot a deadman shot you
should strike the ball at just just past the second dot from the end;
this is very important, and aiming for this second dot is often MORE
accurate than "eyeballing" the deadman defense and aiming to shoot
around it. That's it! Just practice longer and longer shots in both
pull and push directions, and always practice it fast, never slowly.
    3) Trying the shot against a live defense is intimidating at
first. Many people will try to race you, especially at first. The
most common mistake is to concentrate on racing the defense, which
results in shooting the spin too soon, while moving the ball a useless
1/4 or 1/2 a ball length laterally. Remember that your shot is fast,
even though it seems slow when you are shooting on a live defense. If
you are at least medium-fast at shooting the snake, lateral distance is
much more important than sheer speed. Trust me. Also, remember to
vary your pull- and push-snakes, otherwise the defender will learn to
guard only your preferred side. And in practice, practice shooting the
straight snake (i.e. no lateral motion), so that you know an open split
when you see it; sometimes it looks closed but isn't, so practice by
setting up a smaller and smaller split and seeing if you can hit it.
If you hit a straight split on a live defense, you'll find that the
pull- and push- holes will be more open the next time you shoot.
    Once you can race any set defense, people will begin using a moving
defense on you. Decide if it is upredictable or predictable. If the
motion is predictable, time it and shoot it in (straight if
available, or push/pull if not). Have a friend move the defense back
and forth as fast as possible, just to see if you can time it and shoot
it straight in. Many defenses, may be predictable as to when one side
(push or pull) will open up. Get set up to shoot that hole, and just
wait for it to open.
    However, a good moving defense will fool you this way; you will
expect a hole to open and shoot it, but the defense will already be
there, and stay stationary as the ball is shot straight into the
waiting man. A good moving defense may set up your expectations,
predict your reaction time, then offer a hole then close it-- i.e. the
hole will be closed as or before you begin to shoot, differing from a
race defense where the race you to the hole after they see you begin to
shoot-- sometimes you wil be fooled into shooting at a hole that never
opened fully at all! With this kind of a defense, simply sit on the
ball; under regulation play, you have 15 seconds per rod, and if you
took 2 or three seconds setting up the shot, you still have more than
10 seconds before you shoot. This way, the defense will find it very
hard to bait you and to predict your reaction time, since he will not
know which hole you are looking at. Hence, if you just wait out a
couple of "obvious" holes, your shooting percentage will be higher.
    Sometimes a moving defense will be very fast, and very
unpredictable. Here, try to study an patterns in openings-- is the
straight shot frequently open? Or is the pull more open than the push?
Figure it out then try your best. If you get very good at the snake
shot, you will begin to see all of the holes as they open, but most
average shooters pick a hole then simply wait for it to open. Shooting
against a moving defense is very intellectual, and is sometime a
psychological game with the defender. Try to develop these analytic
skills, and try to play a variety of people with a variety of snake
defenses-- go to new playing locations and new tournaments, and as you
encounter more defenses, your shot will become better. Along the way,
you will naturally develop a good snake defense too! Happy shooting!

***************************************************************
The Pull shot (alias the "Hammer")
***************************************************************
a) FOR BEGINNERS: If you've never seen the pull shot, here is the
rationale: It can be shot VERY fast, fast enough to race a stationary
defense to any hole which is available. In other words, if the defense is
blocking the straight shot and any direct angle, simply move the ball around
the defenders, and shoot it straight in. When you practice the shot, you
are practicing to get the maximum speed at maximum lateral momement.
You will even practice the straight shot and a short pull to the middle of
the goal.

However at the very first stages of learning the shot, the most common
mistake, like with the Snake shot, is to shoot the ball too soon in an
attempt at speed without actually completing the full lateral movement.
The speed comes from completion of the entire shot stroke as fast as
possible, not by short-cuts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PULL SHOT:
    Push your three bar *all the way* to the far wall, and place the ball on
the right side of the center man. This is the starting position, or
"pull setup."
    From here, you pull the rod and the ball laterally toward you. As
the ball moves laterally across the playfield, the center man lifts,
accelerates, moves behind the moving ball, then shoots it straight in.
The ball's path from start to finish is roughly "L"- shaped.
    If the defense is covering the straight and angle shots from the
setup-position (the left side of the goal), this L-shape must be long
enough to go around the defense men to the "far" hole (right corner of
the goal).

NOTES ON BALL SETUP: The rod begins from a maximally-pushed
position. Any less than that, and you are handicapping yourself by
giving the defender less goal to defend, and a better chance to block
your shot; this is often ignored by beginners learning the shot and by
intermediates with less tournament experience. To put
the ball in this ideal starting position next to the man can be tough.
One can repeatedly nudge the ball until eventually it is set-up.

This is fine, but in regulation play you have only 15 seconds to set-up and
shoot the ball, so there is a faster method: push the ball with the
near 3-man so that it is lightly passed to the center man. As the ball
reaches the (right edge of the) center man, push the rod gently so you
slowly decelerate and "cushion" the ball to a stop at or very near to
the ideal set-up position. Make any minor adjustments as necessary.

    HOW TO SHOOT:      Right now when practicing the shot, simply place
the ball in the correct starting position by hand, and don't bother
wasting your practice time setting the ball up; concentrate on the
shooting part. Place a defending two-man directly in front of the ball
(leave the goalie rod lifted up). Always begin the shot stroke with
the center 3-man touching the ball; if you start not touching the ball,
your shot will be unpredictable (because of the small bounce upon
contact), especially later when you practice your fast and long pull
shots. Now, do the shot very very slowly in two _separate_ motions:
    1) Pull the rod so that the ball moves past the defender.
    2) Lift your man, and quickly move it behind the rolling ball, and
shoot it in. Do "1)... pause... 2)" with a BIG pause for now.
    Now that you get the general idea, try to do it in a _single_ fluid
motion, so that you are lifting your man AS you pull the ball; still
keep it slow for now. You will in essence be "tracing" the rear
outline of the ball-- you begin at the ball's left side, a you pull
(never losing contact with the ball), you lift your man to trace the
rear curve of the ball, and when you reach the direct rear of the ball,
you shoot it in with a wrist flick. Remember that since the man you
set the ball in motion with is also the eventual shooter, you must
ACCELERATE and go even faster to get behind the moving ball to shoot
it! You may find that practicing with a SLOW acceleration period at the
beginning of the shot makes it MUCH easier to learn the motion.
However once learned, replace eliminate this slow acceleration and
execute the entire stroke quickly.
    POINTERS:
    1) Lift your man as you pull. (described above)
    2) Push the rod as you shoot, so the entire stroke is like a "J",
        or "hook" shape.
    3) At the end of the stroke, always shoot the ball as hard as you
        can.
    4) Once you learn the motion, practice the shot fast or not at     all.
        Eventually the entire pull shot motion should eventually be
        done in the space of a quarter-second or even less! Can you
        even make a "J"-stroke that fast with the rod yet?

[If you don't know how to wrist-flick (shoot hard): You should
have a fairly good wrist-flick to do this shot. In other words, you
should be able to hit a stationary ball hard with your man. If you
can't do this yet, practice this: hold the handle with your right
hand, then ignore your hand, but don't let go. Just think about your
wrist. Try to "throw" it as hard as you can in the down direction
toward the floor past the handle; your wrist doesn't hit the floor
because obviously it is attached to your arm and hand. Since your hand
is tightly holding the handle, the motion will stop abruptly just as
you lock your wrist joint. This is the wrist flick. Practice this
motion fast and hard, and you will notice that the men on the rod will
hit any ball quite hard. Remember to stand a little to your left, away
from the rod, to give your arm and wrist good leverage. Even if it
doesn't seem to help, keep practicing, and you will soon get it by
practicing.]
Practicing a LONGER SHOT: Now we'll practice pulling the ball
farther laterally (horizontally). In the exercise above, you hit the
pull shot by going around a defender sitting directly in front of the
ball's set-up. This time bring (pull the 2-rod toward your right) the
defender toward you an inch or so. Practice pulling and shooting
around this position consistently; your lateral motion must be longer.
Once this is easy, move the defender farther out. Eventually, put the
defender in the center of the table, and practice pulling _around_ it.

Advice on this "longer" shot: Although the shot is one fluid
motion, it still contains two components; remember not to _shoot_ the
ball until it you have _pulled_ it past the defender you have set up.
This seems obvious, but it often is a problem when practicing speed on
a long shot. Try tracing the shot stroke without the ball at the
desired speed. Also try choosing the point on the playing field where
you will shoot the ball from-- then keep your eyes on this point and
execute your pull, shooting only when the _ball_ _reaches_ _this_ _
point_. In other words, keep your eyes on the playing field, not on
the ball nor on the defense (for practice).
"Final advice": The following advice on the pull is very,
very important: At the point when you shoot the ball, the ball should
be slightly behind the rod. Why? If the ball is slightly forward, the
shot tends to angle outwards and hit the wall to the right of the goal.
Having the ball slightly towards the back helps the ball shoot straight
in (by keeping the "angle" in the L-shape 90 degrees or less-- this is
known as "squaring off" your shot as opposed to "spraying" it).

b) FOR INTERMEDIATES: The intermediate pull shot section will be
divided into three parts: 1) mechanics of the pull shot; 2) practicing
the pull shot 3) options against a live defender.
    1) MECHANICS OF THE PULL SHOT, general advice:          Again,
practice everything in a) smoothly and FAST. Remember especially to
have the ball slightly in back of the rod when you shoot. Also remember
to have a shot that the opponent can't predict when it is coming; hence
don't give it away with a slow accleration period at the beginning of
your pull, and don't give it away by always shooting it after a
consistent amount of time has elapsed after you've setup the ball (i.e.
don't do: setup, one, two, shoot... "a 2-second pull"). Always begin
the pull motion as fast as possible, and always practice developing a
faster pull-shot motion, sometimes by tracing your shot stroke without
a ball.
    Other things you can do:   Use your third and fourth fingers mainly
when you wrist flick to shoot the ball. Also, you can experiment with
the starting position (backwards or forwards) of the ball; just
remember if you start it forward to "lift" the ball (by lifting your
man) backwards as you pull it so that it is in a slightly
behind-the-rod position when you shoot it.
    On standing:          Your stance can matter: try standing with
your weight on either leg, and try facing your body to the right or
diagonally between your opponent and your right. Remember to stand to
your left slightly so that the 5-bar is near the middle of your body so
that your arm has the correct leverage; ask your defenseman to step
back and push his rods out of the way if necessary. Vary your
shoulder's distance from the table. Your goal is to find the optimum
way of standing and holding the rod so that your "recoil" for your long
pull is smooth.
    Recoil, the most important thing:           What is "recoil", and
why is it so important? The idea is to train your arm motion to be the
smoothest and fastest "whip"-motion, the end of the "J". The reason is
to improve your accuracy by squaring your shot off when you shoot a
very long pull as fast as you can. This is what happens to the
foosball table: as you shoot the ball after pulling it, the rod is
PUSHED so that your center man ends up near the center dot at the end
of your motion.
    How to develop recoil:          Your entire arm should feel like a
whip and the "crack" of the whip (at your elbow and wrist) coincides
with the shooting of the ball. This means you begin the reversal of the
whip-motion _before_ you shoot, i.e. as you are pulling. You can think
of this motion as a shoulder & elbow PUSH which you begin as soon as your
wrist begins the PULL motion. This push motion will travel down your
arm like a whip and reach your wrist, which will then also begin moving
in the push direction. This is when you should shoot the ball; this is
also the "cracking of the whip." Learn to time the entire shot motion
so that the ball and man are in the correct position to shoot your long
shot just as your wrist snaps the recoil. Thinking of violently
"throwing" your elbow in the push direction as you simultaneously pull
with your wrist may help-- other players think of lifting the elbow
outwards so that it has leverage to snap the arm forward, somewhat like
a karate punch.
    The other important part of recoil is body positioning. You must
be standing so that your arm is free to snap back and forth smoothly.
Hold the 3-rod handle and try the recoiling whip-motion back and forth
repeatedly, without a ball and not even pretending to shoot. The
motion should not be awkward and should be very fluid even if you
continue to whip back and forth. Find a good stance so that your arm
is free to do this. You can experiment with standing lower, or more to
your left, and make sure your right shoulder is not too close to the
table.

2) PRACTICING THE PULL-SHOT-- a list of exercises:
Concentrate on shooting three primary pull options flawlessly. (If
you think you're flawless, try shooting as many of that option as you can in
1 minute and see how you do under the strain. Can you get in a groove? Can
you do 10 out of 10?) The three options are: long, middle, and straight.
Even straight is important, otherwise a smart defender will leave straight
slightly open and bait you long, where you may want to shoot since it's may
seem more impressive to you. The defender is cheating and you'll be left
wondering how they blocked your long and middle. Don't fall for it. Have a
kickass straight, and after you hit it a few times, your long or middle will
be wide open next time.

STRAIGHT SHOT PRACTICE:
You can learn when the straight shot is just a few millimeters open... some
defenders won't even think it's open! You may not, unless you read this: Set
up for a perfect pull by pushing your rod all the way to the far wall. Lift the
defending goalie. Set the defending two-bar as follows: ignore the far 2-man
by your setup for now, and place the near 2-man so that its near edge is flush
with the near edge of the white painted goal line which leads into the goal.

FAR <-------------------------------------------------------> NEAR

|=======================XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX======================|
|                       |                 |                      |
| ---------------------------------------------------oo----------|
|                       |                 |                      |
|                       |-----------------|                      |
|                                                                |
| ------------------------OO-------------@@----------------------|
|                                                                |
|                                                                |
| -OO-----------------OOb--------------OO------------------------|-#####
|                                                                |

Now pull the 2-rod a little bit nearer so that the near edge of the near 2-man is
just past the outside edge of the goal line by 1/8 of an inch. The straight shot is
open. Try it, and shoot slowly and very carefully if you need to. Now adjust the
2-man so it is 1/2 inch beyond the outside of the white line. This shot is
****wide**** open. Now you know. Even 1/4 inch is wide open. Practice
diligently at 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch past the line. You may need to sweep with
a push recoil on your shot to avoid spraying it into the far 2-man. Can you hit
10 out of 10 at 1/4 inch? 1/8 inch? Of course, during a real game, now you
must have a perfect pull setup to take advantage of this fraction of an inch!

LONG SHOT PRACTICE:
Yes, the pull-shot can be done deadman. (or on a non-Tornado, a one-finger
pull should be possible). For this set of exercises, lift the goalie
rod and ignore it. Begin by positioning the _far_ defending 2-man
(i.e. the one on _your_ left) at the center dot, and see how
consistently you can shoot your pull _around_ this defender (i.e. your
shot should be going _between_ the two men on the 2-rod). Once you
begin to hit 4 out of 5 shots fast and into the goal, pull the
defending 2-rod toward you by a finger width or so and try again. This
will probably be a three finger-widths (3 FW) shot. (This means the
distance from the wall to the 2-rod's bumper on your right is about
three finger widths). Practice again until you can accurately shoot 4
out of 5 shots. Then continue progressing to smaller and smaller FW.
Once you get to 2 FW, progressive by 1/2 FW increments. A fast 2 FW
shot is a fairly good shot, and a 1 FW shot is a very good shot, but
continue practicing, all the way up to deadbar (i.e. 0 FW; the
defending 2-rod is up against the wall; the bumper is touching the
wall; the man is "dead" since it can move no farther).

If you don't believe a deadbar pull can be done: Try this
exercise, which is done _slowly_: Set the pull setup with the ball
slightly _forward_. Lift the man against the ball as you pull SLOWLY,
causing the ball to roll laterally at a slight _backwards_ angle;
eventually the ball will roll to be slightly in back of the rod. As
the ball is rolling, lift the man and pull the rod (almost) completely
to the wall. Wait for the ball to reach you. As the ball reaches you
(or on a Tornado reaches the point between the 1st and 2nd dots), shoot
the ball hard as you PUSH the rod-- hence you're brushing the ball in
the push direction with the front surface of your toe as you shoot.
Remember the the ball must be FAR back when you shoot, almost so far
you can back-pin it. Doing this fast is much harder, but this should
help give you a clue how to do it; to shooting it fast, hitting the ball
at the extreme point, and the push-recoil and the backwards ball
position are essential, as is shooting the ball accurately between the
first and second dots.

If you are up to practicing your 1 fingerwidth to deadbar shot, and
working on speed try this method, which is a modified version of an exercise
described by Todd Loffredo. You can setup a 1 FW defense with the 2-bar if
you want. Then place the ball between the first and second near dots on your
3-rod. You will practice shooting the ball in without actually pulling the ball.
Set the rod up for a normal pull except tilt the men back up so that your near
3-man doesn't disturb the ball you just placed by the first two dots. Have a
very loose grip concentrating on your fourth and fifth fingers. Now pull the rod
as fast as you can and snap the ball in as hard as you can, again concentrating
on the fourth and fifth fingers only. Don't worry about recoil, and just hit it
as hard as you can straight in. See how many you can hit in in 30 seconds.
Can you shoot 10 out of 10? Now try the same motion with a regular setup
where you start with the ball on your far 3-man, and use the same loose grip,
extra-fast pull, and hard snap between the 1st and 2nd dots.

PRACTICING YOUR MIDDLE SHOT
Try the same motion from the last paragraph from "practicing your
long shot." Think of your arm and fist, and pull in and push out like a punch in
one motion as fast as you can. In other words, as soon as you've started to think
of moving the ball, you should already begin your hit/push-recoil. This shot
should be absolutely unraceable. Practice going around the 2-man but threading
the shot so that it doesn't spray into the nearby goalie man; set up a tight shot
corridor that you can hit a straight through, and practice it diligently with your
middle pull. Remember that your push-recoil is the most important here...
concentrate on the push-ending rather than the pull-beginning. Continue until you
are 10 out of 10, or can do a decent number in a 60-second "shoot as many as
you can" groove test.

PRACTICING FOR REAL TOURNAMENT PLAY
You must be proficient at all three options. If you can hit any hole
reliably, you will keep the defense guessing. If you burn a long, the straight may
be open the next time around, or vice-versa, as they try to protect the shot you
just hit. Conversely, if your previous shot looks good again (wait a full 10 seconds
to be sure) and the defense just isn't learning, shoot the same shot over and over,
even if it's the straight. Be careful about giving away your shot by tensing your
arm or your shoulder, or dropping your elbow. Also be careful about shooting after
a predictable amount of time has elapsed, for example 3 seconds: setup wait 3 shoot;
setup wait 3 shoot; setup wait 3 shoot. If this happens the defense can open a hole
wait almost 3, and close it, and your fastest shot is blocked by the defense's brains.
Be smart, and vary the time between your setup and shot execution. Use your full
10-15 seconds often to get a good look at the moving defense; otherwise you may
be falling into for a defensive timing bait. Sometimes shoot just after or during
your setup.

3) OTHER SHOT OPTIONS: In general you should be able to race a
moving defense, and especially a set-defense, to the far post. If the
defender begins on the far post, the split (center) or straight shot
should be open. If you can't race them to these holes, you should
practice your shot speed, rather than relying on tricking your opponent
with too many "shot options".
Your main options will be the hairline-accurate straight shot or the
very-long shot, so continue practicing your long-pull until you can
reliably hit the dead-man pull, or more realistically for non-pros, a
one-finger pull. Practicing the straight shot so that you are
confident in shooting it every time the hole opens by even 1/8 of an inch of
the near 2 man past the outside of the white goal line (see above, PRACTICING
THE STRAIGHT SHOT).

These other options are for those times you have a "slow" day, or encounter
a defense which can usually stop you for some reason, or for variety on
non-tournament nights, or a tricky option to show off. The options described
will be: brush-split, the dead-man "straight," and various fakes. Remember
these are mostly tricks and not the essentials needed for tournament wins.

    BRUSH-SPLIT (SLICE): This shot is an angle shot used especially
when the defender uses his far 2-man (the one farthest from the ball's
setup) to guard "long" and the goalie to guard "short". The angle shot
between the two men are open. Instead of chipping a sharp angle shot,
which tends to be inaccurate at high speeds, you will brush-down
(pull-brush) the back of the ball with the front of your man's toe.
The resulting spin will angle the ball correctly, your control of the
shot will be great with practice, and to the opponent the brush
movement looks misleadingly like a genuine attempt at a pull. You can
vary the aim of your angle, but in general you can aim somewhere near
the far post by aiming at the receding edge of the moving two-man who
is guarding long. This is also called a "slice".
    If you don't know what a "brush-down" is: The idea is that you put
spin on the ball which causes it to roll at an angle. The spin is
created by scraping the back of the ball gently but _as fast as you can_
with the front of your man's toe. An _extremely_ subtle wrist flick
will help improve velocity as well as the severity of the angle.
    FAKES AND VARIATIONS: If your pull isn't fast enough to beat the
defense try fakes now, and practice a faster shot later. A "lift" fake
is when you suddenly lift the man, not touching the ball, hoping for
the defense to flinch, opening the straight shot. A "roll" fake is when
you lift the man and brush the ball slightly backwards (but not very
far laterally), hoping for the defense to flinch from the straight
shot; the "roll" fake is often effective if the defense has seen too
man lift-fakes and is simply waiting for the ball to move :). A far-man
fake is like a lift fake except you lift the man and pull the rod all
the way, not touching the ball, and shooting the straight shot in with
the far man. Also, you can do a lift fake then immediately do your real
far-post pull shot as the defender is recovering from flinching; this
is often very effective when the defender is successfully racing you to
the far post. The next fake-variation is most satisfying at the end of
this series: First do a fast far-post pull and "burn" the defense
(i.e. race them successfully). Now, since the defense is expecting a
fast, long pull, for your next shot do the far-man fake, and shoot the
straight shot in with the far man as they flinch. Now, they will be on
guard for this far-man fake, so do this: lift your center man and pull
the rod as if attempting another far-man fake; the defense will not
flinch from the straight shot. But as the far-man approaches the ball,
instead of shooting the straight shot, kick-pass it laterally to the
center man, who is waiting to shoot it into the far post.
    DEADMAN STRAIGHT SHOT: This is for when the defense is using the
near 2-man (from your perspective; on your right) to guard
the short pull instead of the other 2-man. For practice, simply have
the defense pull its 2-rod to the wall (push to your left from your
point of view). You will find that hitting the straight shot is barely
impossible from the pull setup. If only you could move the ball a
little to the left! Here's how to do it: Very gently but quickly
PUSH-brush the back edge of the ball, then immediately PULL-brush as
you shoot. This will cause the ball to move slightly to the left,
clearing the dead man, then angle in toward the near post of the goal.
    Other pull setup variations include: 1) pull the ball, but don't
shoot it. Instead pass it from the near three-man back to the center
man, who shoots it straight in from the original starting position. 2)
pull the ball, go around to its right side and execute a push shot. 3)
shoot a bank shot from the pull set-up position. 4) shoot an unexpected
pull to the far post while apparently cushioning your ball to the pull
setup.

PULL SHOT PSYCHOLOGY: Just consider what the defense is thinking,
and shoot appropriately. If they are insistent on an ineffective
race-defense, stick with your long shot. If you have just hit a split
shot to the middle, they may be more cautious next time about the
middle, leaving the long or straight open again. And above all don't
underestimate the straight shot, for it will be there more often than you
think, especially if you have practiced the 1/8 inch straight.
Also, don't let the defense out-think you. If you are suddenly being blocked
consistently, examine yourself. Are you ignoring the straight? Are you
shooting a pull 3-seconds after your setup every time? Are you giving away
your shot motion by your shoulder dropping? Remember to use your full 15 seconds...

SUMMARY: To begin getting a good competitive "tournament" shot,
simply master the FAST far post pull and the straight shot, and later, the split
shot.. The brush-split (slice) is also moderately important. The roll
fake may also come in handy for a point at the most. The other
variations and fakes are only if your pull shot isn't performing, or
you just wish to show off.