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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!

************************************
FAQ 2  Guide to Passing  v 2.4
Rec.Sport.Table-soccer
************************************
Rob Uyeyama (uyeyama@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu)

The latest version of this file is available at the table-soccer FTP site
at conrad.harvard.edu in /pub/table-soccer/foosball.

This FAQ is divided into three sections.
        I:   5-3 bar passing, advice for beginners
        II:  5-3 bar passing, guide to brush-passing (for beginners and
                  intermediates); the most important chapter.
        III: 2-3 bar and 2-5 bar passing, preliminary guide.

Five bar in defense and in doubles play zone-defense will be covered in the
Guide to Defense FAQ-- for a quick review, see the "learning-foosball" faq
(#4) as well as the definition of zone-defense in the glossary file (faq1).

       v2.2 Added a short paragraph on 2-5 bar passing options in Chapter
       III, as well as a few minor corrections in Chapter II.
       v2.3 Added the paragraph "two more options" on the brush pass series,
       and Chapter II was "cleaned up".
       v2.4 More clean-up

       This file is not intended to limit posts to alt.sport.foosball.  This
       file is not a "complete answer" to passing, so if you have questions,
       please feel free to post directly to a.s.f. for added help.

       If anyone would like to write a chapter on the stick-pass series,
       please let me know.

Introduction
       The reason for this file's existence is its Chapter II, describing
brush-passing.  You do not need to read Chapter I to learn the brush pass
described in the second chapter.  My recommendation is to simply ignore (or
skim through) Chapter I, which has some basic concepts and a few tricks. 
The brush-pass, however, is a very important technique for competitive play,
so freely skip to the second chapter and go to the first Chapter only for an
occassional quick-to-learn trick.  Chapter III on 2-5 and 2-3 passing is
only intended as a very general guideline.
       Regarding table brands, the brush-pass can be adapted to most types
of tables, although this file was written with the hard surfaces and
toe-shapes of the Tornado table in mind.  If your table (for example a
Dynamo) is much "stickier", you may find that the brush-pass attempt simply
ends up in a pinned ball.  In this case adapt the technique, starting the
ball not quite so far back, and it should work fairly well.  With the
Tournament Soccer and similar tables (e.g. Premier Soccer), the men's toes
stand further from the playing field, so again, the answer is to move the
ball slightly forward (from the recommended near-back-pin distance).  Among
almost all types of tables, the strategy of being able to shoot a quick wall
_or_ lane pass from the _same_ position (and having the skill to catch such
a fast pass) is universal.  Note that the alternative stick-pass series is
not described here, and probably will be included in a later version of this
file.

I. 5-3 bar passing, advice for beginners
        At first, when seeing players much better than yourself for the
first time, it seems most tempting to concentrate on learning their
seemingly awesome shots, and how to defend against them. However, eventually
even this sort of knowledge will be insufficient, especially in any level of
competitive play; for even if you possess an unstoppable three bar shot and
your opponent a medicore shot, but if you cannot get the ball from the five
bar to your three bar, and your opponent can, you will lose the majority of
games.  Of course, without ball control and a fairly high-percentage (i.e.
"good") shot on the three bar, passing it here will do little good.  So once
you've developed enough ball control to set the ball where you want on the
three bar, and once you've learned a pretty good shot, you should cease most
shooting from the five bar and concentrate on getting the ball to your
high-percentage scorer, the three-bar.

       The easiest pass, especially for use against other beginner
opponents, is the "wall-pass."  This pass can be done either on the near or
far wall.  The near wall description follows:  Pull your three bar all the
way to the wall, and DO NOT move it off of the wall: the ball will be
travelling near the wall to the three bar, and if your three bar comes even
a hair off of the wall, the ball may roll past you between your near man and
the wall-- remember the bumper on the wall prevents your man from actually
being in contact with the wall, so that "on the wall" actually means almost
a full ball-length away from the wall!
        To facilitate catching a fast pass, angle your three bar forward,
about at the angle at which you would be able to front-pin an imaginary
ball, i.e. head backwards, toes forward.  This way the man absorbs more of
the impact of a fast moving ball, instead of causing the ideally fast pass
to simply ricochet out of reach, probably to your opponent's five-bar
region. 
   Note:  (For a more advanced catching technique, see part II "Guide to
Brush Passing", which explains a wrist flick that is done with the catching
bar at the same time as the pass, so that the maximum extension of the men
is at the forward angle I have just described in the previous paragraph.)
        To pass a wall pass, position the ball an inch or two away from the
wall along the five bar (but don't put the ball ON the wall, since your man
is _not_ on the wall), and "shoot" it straight and hard to pass to the near
man on your three bar.  Note a few points:  1)  this pass, if done
correctly, deposits the ball squeezed in the space between the near man on
the 3-bar and the wall; 2) but even if passed directly onto the man's toe,
the pass is easily caught;  3)  However, if passed into the space described
in 1), it is possible to EASILY catch a pass that is as fast as your fastest
five-bar shot! (although such a high-velocity pass may also be caught, with
more practice, directly on the toe of the man); 4) also note that this
"wall" pass can be done with the ball's starting position even up to and
past a full ball-length away from the wall; 5) Note: with most beginner
level opponents you can wait until they flinch away from the wall, and if
you can do the fast version of the pass, you can pass it through that
fraction-of-a-second flinch.  7) Note than in a fast-paced game, you will
eventually be able to immediately do a wall pass when you catch the ball on
your five bar, e.g. when your five-bar blocks a two-bar shot.  (However in
competitive play, all tournament level opponents would easily intercept such
an on-the-fly wall pass.)
        Two more things to think about:  1)  You DEFINITELY SHOULD start now
to make it a habit to keep your three bar in the front-angled position at
all times, always ready to catch a moving ball, esp. from an on-the-fly wall
pass.  2)  If your opponent learns to cover the wall pass,your five-bar
angle shot may be open, and if so, you can shoot, or even try to pass
through that hole.  This type of pass is called a LANE pass (i.e. passing
through the space between the first and second men on the opposing five bar
when it is on the wall.)  This is a tournament level option here; if you can
pass both a lane or a wall pass from the SAME position, and if you can pass
the ball at high speed, you have a tournament-competitive pass. This option
is described in the next part, II: 5-3 passing, Guide to Brush Passing.  But
for now, if you are only beginning, practice your ball control, your
three-bar shot, and your fast wall pass.
        One other beginner pass:  Roll the ball down toward either wall.
At the FAR END of the 2nd man's reach (i.e. the closest the 2nd
man will reach toward the wall), pass the ball lightly with the 2nd man,
angling it toward the wall (where your three bar resting).  This angle is
easy, since it is in the same direction as the ball's original direction of
motion.
         Rationale:  Beginning opponents will tend to follow the
ball, and as they also bang their rods against the wall, their 2nd man can
no longer guard the ANGLE-pass you just shot OUT OF its reach; only the 1st
man can guard it and he just banged into the wall as your opponent followed
the motion of the ball!
   TWO TRICK PASSES that are good to know, but taken by themselves are
useless to depend upon... i.e. if you're going to practice a pass, skip this
section and practice chapter II's brush pass instead): 1) begin with the
ball (slightly to the rear of the rod), between your first an second man of
the near side.  In one single fluid motion, pull the rod then flick your
wrist.  This will result in the 2nd man passing the ball to the 1st man (a
"kick" or lateral pass), which then immedietaly passes the ball along the
wall; this can be done VERY fast; practice this fast or not at all.  Placing
the ball slightly toward the rear helps make a smaller lag time between the
kick and the wall pass, and in general is a good habit in passing.  2)
bounce the ball rapidly between the 1st and 2nd man.  On one of the bounces,
lift your man as the ball approaches the 1st man and pass it, either along
the wall, or along the lane.  Practice the wall pass version first, since
it's similar to pass "1)".  This works because with every bounce you are
potentially moving the ball in position for a pass; your opponent can't
react to every bounce effectively, nor can he easily tell which bounce will
be the real pass.  Note that you can bounce it back and forth by mostly
moving the men to meet the ball, rather than bouncing the ball the full
possible range between the two men; note also that this motion can be done
with the ball bouncing in a range rather near the wall, or away from the
wall, or both in unpredictable succession.  This bouncing is the basis for
the "stick-pass" series, which is not described here.
        PRACTICE TIPS FOR EVERYONE: Most beginners don't know the ranges of
each man's reach on the five bar, and don't know very well the _edges_ of
the men's reach on the three bar.  So:  Lift the opposing five-bar, and just
pass back and forth between your five and three, doing ALL angle passes. 
The straight passes are easy to learn and intuitive, but intercepting an
angling ball with the five bar is the part that is the hardest and needs the
practice.  Most people just wake up one morning after practicing the night
before and find that their brain has figured it all out!
        For defending against passes, you can either angle your men
forward and attempt to "swat" at the passes, so that they bounce to
your three bar or back to your five bar... Or you can angle your men
backwards so that you will catch any blocked passes, so that now it
is your turn to pass-- you don't want your opponent to keep regaining
possession of passes you have blocked!  But don't angle them too far back,
because you'll unknowingly be leaving the wall pass _always_ open!
The general motion is an unpredictable back-forth motion done very rapidly
to swat away all slow- and medium-speed passes.  See the "learning-foosball"
faq (#4) for more tips on 5-rod defense.

II: 5-3 passing, GUIDE TO BRUSH PASSING
        I will begin with a disclaimer.  I am a rookie (i.e. beginning
competitive level) player, so my knowledge of brush passing may not
be entirely satisfactory to experts and pros but know the fundamentals well
enough to relate the technique and the conceptual reasons behind them; if
you have any suggestions or corrections, please don't hesitate to email me.
        As I mentioned briefly in part I, the essence of the brush pass is
that you can pass either a wall pass, or an off-the-wall pass (lane pass)
from the SAME position; hence your opponent will not know _which_ pass you
are attempting until too late if the pass is fast enough.  The method I will
describe is only the basic "near-side brush pass beginning from a 2nd-man
pin."  Other variations exist, but I feel this method will bring the
quickest results and knowledge enough to learn the other variations (e.g.
far wall, off near-wall bounce, 2nd man brush-down, etc.)
   Once you feel you understand the concepts, SKIP to "HOW TO PRACTICE THE
BRUSH PASS" at the end of this section; this will give the real meat of
"getting better".  The beginning of this chapter will discuss the
intellectual how and why of the pass, as well as the practical (i.e. actual
game-usable and USTSA-legal) application of it.  The "how and why" section
is so detailed because I have observed many people who have tried to learn
the brush pass but had great difficulty because they didn't understand what
each element of the technique was really doing.  Once the player understands
"why brush the ball", and "why place the ball so far back", and so on, it is
much easier to learn the pass.
       
        First, a commonly used hand/arm posture for the left arm is
with the palm facing up under the five-bar handle, and the elbow pointing
out to your left.  You should lean down slightly so that your upper arm is
almost directly above, and parallel to, your lower arm.  These techniques
provide leverage for the quick push/pull motion required to "brush" the ball
and put a spin on it.  Make sure that when you flick the rod with this grip
that the men follow through to end up at least 45 degrees forward or even
parallel-forward to the table.  Although you may not be able to swing the
man backwards too much, you only need to lift it back enough to just barely
clear the top of the ball-- any farther and you are revealing your
intentions to the opponent as well as compromising the power of your pass.  Try
to avoid rolling the handle along your fingers with an opened-palm when you
are passing.  It will feel strange at first, but keep at it.
        Rules:  Since passing from a stationary ball is illegal, you must set
the ball in motion.  Since passing IMMEDIATELY w/the same man you set
the ball in motion with is also illegal (like a pull-shot-pass), you must
pass it (or at least touch it)  with a different man.  Hence, we will
set the ball in motion pull-direction with the near 2nd man of the
5-bar, and pass it with the near man:
     ***First position your 3-bar on the near wall; make this a constant
habit.  Then on your 5-bar back-pin the ball with the 2nd man from the near
side, men slightly forward.  Adjust the pin (tapping the ball and rocking it
slightly) until it is about to slip out with increased pressure.  Now roll
it laterally and VERY SLOWLY toward your near man.  The near man will then
pass the ball by putting a spin on it using a "brush" motion, to be
described.
   Notes:  1) The ball is placed to the rear of the rod because this
   provides a better position to put spin on the ball once it is moved
   laterally to the passing man. It is the spin which will result in the
   angle in the ball's motion; 2) if the ball is rolled from a really solid
   back pin (i.e. ball too far back) the near man will not be able to put a
   spin on (the back of) the ball, and will most likely only pin (the top
   of) the ball again, or briefly pin then squeeze out the ball
   unpredictably; we want to pass it, not pin it again.  3)  Make sure
   the pass to your 1st man is perfectly lateral, so that it reaches the 1st
   man at near the same almost-back-pin distance it started from.  4)  The
   slowness of the lateral motion is OK, because this is NOT the part of the
   motion which is intended to deceive your opponent; great care in setting
   up the ball position with this motion, and the longer time-window to
   choose among your impending passes are the two reasons for the slow roll
   to your 1st man... keep it _slow_.
       
         Before I describe how to pass the ball with the 1st man,
here is a paragraph of comments on the pass: Remember you want to have the
option of either wall-passing or lane-passing.  Ideally then, you want to
start the pass exactly between the wall and the lane.  So figure this area
out by watching the near man's range of motion as you push and pull the rod
all the way.  The general center of this left-right distance is where you
will begin your pass.  Important note: Here, and on the far man, is the
LARGEST distance guarded by only a single man on the entire five bar; there
is no 6th man beyond the wall to come to the rescue to block a wall pass--
this is why passes are done near the wall; also the near wall is more easily
visible, so we begin with this version, rather than the far wall.  The path
of the wall pass seems simple enough; angle the ball toward the wall, and if
there is enough spin the ball will hug the wall all the way down to your
three-bar.  But where is the lane?  Pull the opponent's five-bar to your
near wall.  See the opposing 2nd man?  He can't go any further!  The ideal
lane pass is just out of his reach; the only man who can block it is the 1st
man, who is also busy guarding the wall pass!
        Okay, now the hard part.  Remember approximately where you are going
to pass the ball from (between the wall and lane).  This is really only
approximate, since you will wait for an opening, and then hit it, and the
ball will be rolling slowly while you are deciding.  CENTER your near man
just behind the rolling ball and follow it.  If you rolled it correctly from
the 2nd man's tenuous-pin, your near man should look like it is about to pin
the ball; it should not be obviously far up in the air away from the ball. 
Since the man is centered on the ball and following it, the opponent can't
tell which pass you are preparing for, since at the center you are prepared
for both!  How so?  From here, you "brush" the ball, either in the push (aka
brush-up) or pull (aka brush-down) direction.  Usually a few fakes are
thrown in for good measure, but let's practice without fakes for now.
         What does "brush" mean?  Try to "scrape", or "brush" the BACK or
BACK-TOP very edge of the ball with your man as hard as you can, while
applying the LEAST amount of pressure possible to the ball, but
maintaining contact and DO THE BRUSH MOTION FAST.  Remember to
follow-through after the brush; don't stop and let your 5-rod follow
through all the way to the near (brush-down) or far (brush-up) wall.
I repeat: always do the the brush motion fast; don't even practice it slowly
just to "get the feel of it", because you won't.  The brush will result in a
SPIN on the ball, which angles the ball in the direction of your brush (i.e.
a brush-down pulls it toward the wall, a brush-up pushes it toward the
lane).
Finally, the two most common mistakes:  1)  none of this will work
unless at the time you brush the ball, the ball really is towards the back
of the rod, i.e. just forward of the line at which you could back-pin balls
securely.  Really.  So if you aren't getting this, try doing a
brush-down to a stationary ball, and begin with trying a pinned ball. 
Then progressively move the ball forward and try it again; the best
brush often works where many beginners think it will actually be
pinned. The ball-positioning to that back position maximizes the
spin resulting from the brush.  2)  the other common mistake is to "swing"
at the ball, as if to shoot it forward; the brush motion is mostly a
sideways motion with very little forward swing-- at first try to err on the
side of too little swing (i.e. _no_ swing while maintaining contact for the
brush), then adjust from there; the ball will move forward if you brush it
right anyhow, and any swinging at the ball, or follow-through, is done near
the _very end_ of the brush motion-- but at first, don't even try to swing
as a followthrough and just try to isolate the fast brushing motion.
          Once you get the hang of it, it is VERY IMPORTANT to always be
aware, especially with Tornado men (with subtly angled toes), of the exact
area of the toe which is intended to brush the ball; it is usually along the
subtle _angle_ of the toe-- you probably didn't even notice this shape
before did you?  If your pass doesn't seem to be working, concentrate on
the bottom of the two surfaces of the toe on either side of this edge.  (The
bottom one is gridded with horizontal and vertical hatches, and the top