Foosball Trip to France - Long Post Author: Bruce Nardoci Date: 1997/04/30 (revised 4/99) Forum: rec.sport.table-soccer The following is a LONG post about my recent (April '97) trip to France to play in a foosball (called "babyfoot" there) tournament, that I think will be worth your time to read, as it contains several things that will be UNBELIEVABLE to American foosers. Please be aware that when I'm quoting years and numbers etc in this, I'm doing it from memory and thus may be slightly off. Enjoy. Rene Pierre tables (French-style/manufactured, with metal men/telescoping rods/cork balls) are very different from the "German style" (plastic men/solid rods/plastic balls) tables that are most common in the US. I have been playing on RP tables in the USA for over 25 years, and have always wondered about how good US RP players were as compared to the French players (who have had the tables much longer than we have), and what different styles/shots etc they may have developed, since the RP game in the US developed independently of any French player influence - we "invented" everything we do in the US on RP tables, because there was no one to copy from. I have been wanting to go to France for years to find out, but I didn't want to go over there unless I knew about a large tournament, since the odds of running into the best French players in a tavern on any given night would not be good. I finally found out about French tournaments early this year, and made plans with my long-time RP partner, Alan Cribbs, to go to the 2nd largest tournament (the largest, the French National Championship, is essentially open only to French players). We also made plans to visit the RP factory, considered "Mecca" by us. We visited the RP factory on Friday (the tournament was on Saturday), and met with the marketing director and also Claude Pierre (the son of the founder, Rene Pierre, who is now retired). They took us on an interesting tour of their factory, showing us how the tables were manufactured, their different table models, etc. They create everything for the tables from scratch at the factory (including casting the aluminum men), except for the handles and balls. The faces of the RP men are hand painted, and have been painted by the same woman for something like over 20 years. Since I've been told in the past that I look similar to the men on the RP table, I "modestly" suggested they start painting mustaches on them to match mine ;-). We saw pictures of the various table designs RP has had over the years (they've been in business since 1952), including what I believe was the first "electronic" table (about 1978), as well as a "banana" shaped cabinet table. The handle and men design/composition has also changed several times over the years, as well as the cabinets (although their flagship model has remained basically the same design). Most interestingly, they showed us concept designs for the next version of the table, and asked our opinions. The designs were fascinating, though some had some obvious flaws from a players perspective. If they decide to build the table we agreed was the best, it will be one of the, if not THE best, tables (appearance wise) I have ever seen, and I've seen over 50 different tables in my career. In fact, a friend of mine used to "collect" tables, and keep them in a warehouse his family owns. At one time, he had over 30 tables, EACH one of them different - made for some interesting tournaments :-). We also suggested some changes to the rods, men, and balls to make the table's playing characteristics better (and more acceptable to the American market which is mostly German-style table based), which hopefully they'll consider. They also took us out for a very nice French lunch, with wine flowing as usual, although I couldn't watch Alan eat escargot (snails), and gave us souvenirs. Unfortunately, most of the pictures we took at the factory did not turn out due to a problem with the film. The tournament was played in Strasbourg, a very ancient and lovely city. The prize $$ was about 12,000 Francs total (about $2,400 US). They don't have any manufacturer backing/sponsorship over there, so it's basically the Federation organizing tournaments with payouts depending on entry fees. Although the French Foosball Federation (called "Federation Francaise De Baby-Foot Sportif" in France) is partners with the table manufacturer (Bonzini) and the cork ball manufacturer (Cave Balle Liege), the extent of the manufacturer's involvement in the Federation's tournaments is that Bonzini loans the tables to be used in the tournaments, and they also supply about 6 tables to be given away as prizes at the French National Championship tournament that ends each year's playing "season" (I'm not sure what, if anything, the ball manufacturer does for the Federation). The Federation has to buy its own trophies, etc. It was held in a restaurant/tavern which for some reason had a large empty room (similar to a small auditorium) attached to it. There were 10 Bonzini tables (which are very similar to RP tables, and are more prevalent in France than RP - Bonzini has been making tables for much longer than RP). The first thing you noticed when you walked into the tournament room was that NONE OF THE TABLES HAD HANDLES ON THEM, OR BALLS. The first thing I thought when I saw the tables with no handles on them was an old joke that has been going around the U.S. Rene Pierre circles for awhile now. The first RP tables in the US had handles that were about as long as Tornado handles, but fat at the end half farthest from the table, and tapering to a smaller diameter on the half closest to the table. Then, about 10 years ago, they came out with handles that were smaller (not nearly as long - about enough for 3 fingers, and smaller diameter with very little tapering). Then, about 2 years ago they came out with even SMALLER handles (about 2 inches long, and shaped something like a doorknob). The joke was that the next RP tables wouldn't have any handles at all. Perhaps my fears had come true... It turns out that, in France, everyone brings their own handles (similar to pool players bringing their own pool cue), and balls. Even in taverns, if you don't bring your handle, you have to "rent" them from the bar. Further, the handles don't have to be the same - anything that you can screw/attach to the rod is acceptable. I've never seen so many different types of handles in my life (including one type of handle that was fairly common which is a small triangular thing about 2 inches long resembling a doorknob that I couldn't begin to describe how they gripped and shot with it). There were handles made of plastic, wood, METAL, rubber, etc., with most of them being different shapes. They also used all manner of wraps etc to put on the handles. I liked the differing handles idea. It's something that doesn't affect the table's playing characteristics (unlike the differing balls and "hats/heads", which are discussed later), although I wondered how the constant screwing on/off of handles would affect the threads on the handles and bars. In addition, there were many different types of balls. The only rule regarding balls was their size - between 32 and 35 mm (although they wouldn't let me use a "ball" I quickly made out of a wad of aluminum foil :-). Some had hard plastic balls (in white or a neon glow red), others had cork (both white painted and pure cork without the paint coating). Most players had their names or some other identifying symbol written of their ball too, although what was on the ball couldn't be so much that it was distracting (like a ball beautifully painted like a dragon that someone gave to Alan). The way the ball selection for your match went was, if you wanted to use one type of ball (e.g., me and Alan wanted to use the white painted cork ball we were used to on RP tables), and the other team wanted a different ball (e.g., the neon-glow hard/slick plastic ball), you had to alternate balls on every point. Since the tables in the tournament were free play (no coin to flip), you determined who got the first serve (and who got to use their ball first) by one team taking each ball and hiding one in each hand (below the table). Then, the other team would pick a hand and whomever's ball that was got the first serve (with their ball). It occurred to me that if someone was devious, that with a little practice they could undetectably throw the ball from one hand to the other (after the opposing team had made their selection) while their hands were still hidden by the table. After the chosen hand ball had been scored, the other team served their ball, and so on. They would keep up with which ball was next by placing the ball that had just been scored on the ashtray while the other ball was played. In addition, some players put things I can best describe as rubber "hats" on THE HEADS OF THEIR MEN. With these rubber hats (called "heads" there), they could turn the men upside down to pin the ball. They could also pass the ball from hat to hat, hat to foot, etc, as easily as we pass from foot to foot. The hats were not as long as the men's foot, so instead of pinning the ball at a angle like a normally front/back pinned ball is, it was pinned almost vertically. They would use a mixture of foot/hat on the ball, and could do some fascinating control/passes/shots with it (the passes/shots with it were done similar to a rollover shot motion, but only a half spin was needed instead of a full spin). Typically the front player would put a hat on the middle man on his 3 bar (and sometimes the close man on his 3 bar), and the first 2 men on his 5 bar. The Goalie would typically put the hat’s on both his 2 bar men. However, I did see other combinations (more and less) used. Also, although the hats appeared identical to me, when the players on a team would switch positions, they would generally switch their hats too. I asked why they did this, and they explained that each player liked the height of his hats a little different (unnoticeable to me), which affected the angle of the pin on the hat. They would also have to lick the inside of the hat to moisten it, or they wouldn’t be able to easily get it off when they were through playing. I was told the reason for allowing people to use the different balls and hats was because they each were used predominately in different parts of France and they didn't want to exclude certain types of players by not allowing what they are used to. Therefore, plastic balls are mainly used in southern France, the players with the hats played on a different brand table (Stella) in northern France where the man is much longer allowing pins with both the foot and the head (Bonzini makes the rubber hats as a modification for the Bonzini table to make them play like the Stella tables). The cork balls are used most everywhere in France. The rules were also somewhat different than in the US (even from RP rules which are slightly different from Tornado's). The major differences that had the most impact on my and Alan's playing abilities were: 5 man shots aren't allowed (even if the goalie shoots the ball and you stuff it with your 5 man, it doesn't count); spin shots are allowed (more than 360 degrees is OK - you could spin it 1000 times on your shot if you wanted, although you can't spin defensively or with a bar that doesn't have the ball); you can do what would be considered jarring the table up to twice consecutively (but not 3 or more times consecutively) when defending with the 5 bar; and there is a passing rule where if you're passing the ball and it glances off the opposing 5 bar (and you don't catch it on your 3 bar; complete blocks of your pass by the opposing team are OK), it's called a "Rateau" (spelling?)/foul and you get it back on your 5 bar to try passing again. If on the next subsequent pass they deflect your pass again, its a second foul and you get the ball on your 3 bar to continue play. Each time you have a glancing pass deflection it goes back to the 5 bar, no matter how many times it happens on a ball/game, unless they are done consecutively (i.e., no other play with the ball by other rods) where it would go to the 3 bar. I didn't like this rule because (among other reasons) it causes a lot of stoppages in the game. They are considering changing it and the 5 bar shooting rule next year to be more in line with the rest of the world's rules. Actually, the 5 bar "rateau" rule is a similar concept to a rule they use in part of North Carolina where it's OK to deflect passes etc, but any shot (from any bar) that goes in that touches a man other than the one that shot it doesn't count - i.e., all shots must be "clean". Tournaments under that rule also take a long time and are played with one game matches, since probably half of shots scored go off men (even if only slightly). Its interesting to note that both rules cause you to change your normal style of play: our 5 normal bar defense is partially geared to deflecting passes so your opponent can't catch them, but with the "rateau" rule this actually penalized you, so we tried to change our defense to make only complete blocks/stuffs of passes. With the clean shot N.C. rule, I actually spread my defense out more than usual hoping for a deflection rather than a complete block (even if it still goes in the goal, since it won't count, and you can cover more area of the goal). The tournament also had an unusual format (it is the only tournament in the French tournament "season" played in this format - the rest are similar to US tournaments with 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 5 matches; doubles, singles, mixed doubles, women’s events, etc). For this tournament, it was open doubles only, but you could enter with MORE THAN ONE PARTNER (I think the limit on the number of teams you could be on was 3 or 4). If you had to play another team you were also on, your 2 "partners" would play singles to see which team won. The tournament was limited to doubles only due to they high number of "conflicts" that would occur with players on multiple teams. There were over 100 teams in the tournament, although I don't know how many different players there actually were. The multiple partner format made the tournament tougher (I assume) than even the more prestigious French National Championships, since you might have to face the same top players on more than one team. In addition, it did not follow the normal chart format normally used at tournaments in the US (and France). There was a 64 team chart (single elimination), but since there were over 100 teams you first had to "qualify" for the 64 team chart. You did this by playing 5 matches (with a match consisting of one game, first one to 7) against 5 different teams. Each match (game) you won was worth 2 points, and each match you lost was 0 points. After all teams had played 5 matches, the 64 teams with the most points were randomly drawn and placed on the 64 team chart. If there were too many teams with the enough points for the 64 team chart, the teams with the lowest same number of points would play one more single game match to whittle it down to the proper number (this type of match had a special name, which I can't remember). There were 2 reasons for this format (as told to me by the tournament organizer): 1) since the tournament was single elimination, not many players would travel a great distance to play in a tournament where they might play only 1 or 2 GAMES (since a match consisted of 1 game), and 2) by allowing players to play with multiple players, you get more entries (and thus more entry fees) than you'd get if they could only enter 1 time. This is an interesting concept that could be useful in the US where there are small turnouts for tournaments. Me and Alan had no trouble qualifying. However, once you got to the 64 team chart, it was still different than you'd expect. In the first round of the 64 team chart (to get to the top 32 places) a match consisted of a single game to 11, whereas the matches from 32 on were 2 out of 3 games (game to 7), with you having to win by 2 points (no upper limit) if the match went to the 3rd game. One of our matches was against a guy who apparently was born with only a partial right arm (down to about half of his forearm). He was astonishingly good at using his partial right arm to defend and catch passes etc (although to shoot he switched and used his left hand, which he was again very good with - it was also somewhat deceptive since you aren't used to someone shooting with their left hand in doubles). It reminded me of a player I saw a many years ago in South Carolina who had a similar defect, except in both of his arms - he would shoot by using his stomach to roll on the handle (similar to the current palm roll shots). Me and Alan easily won our 1 game to 11 match, and faced the 1994 French National Champion in the first 2 out of 3 match (round where you tie for 17th if you lose, since it was single elimination). We lost this match, primarily due to my extremely poor defense, although Alan was having trouble passing with the very sticky unpainted cork balls. My poor defense was caused by their ability to spin the man an unlimited number of times (if you have to stop the spin before 360 degrees, you can't do it as fast or as deceptively since you have to fix your grip to stop the spin or spin it slow enough that you can catch it before 360 degrees, etc). We didn't have much trouble scoring with our somewhat different US style RP shots (when we could execute them properly). The thing that disappointed me most about my poor defense was that the shots they were using weren't any different than what I've seen in the US on RP and Tornado tables (in fact they generally weren't as good), except for the very fast spin straight/angle shot (which is illegal on RP in the US). I was so worried about covering that that I pretty much let them have anything else they wanted to do. Hopefully the next time I play against that style I will get my defensive head together better. Some general comments of the French style of play: Their 5 bars were not strong by American standards (either passing or defending). In fact, about the only passes they did were a 2nd man (pinned) to first man (not pinned) wall pass, with an angle up as the only option. They played very cleanly/honestly (especially since the "rateau" rule presents many opportunities for disagreements), and like in the US, some players are very vocal, others not. However, they were all very friendly, and gracious in victory or defeat. While there was a large variety of shooting styles (including some somewhat similar to RP players in the US), most of the top players used what I'd call a front pin version of the slide pull series that is so popular on Tornado tables. They'd set the ball up in the far push side of the goal, front pinned on the middle man of their 3 bar, and then do a long front pin pull, a middle front pin pull, very fast spin straight (or spin cut/angle), or pull the 3 bar while leaving the ball in the push corner of the goal and hit it in straight (or at an angle) with the far man on their 3 bar. Once in a while they'd through in a front pin pull- push or something. This style was copied from France's greatest player (Gerard Moullou sp? - I didn't quite catch his last name, but he played in the tournament), who invented the style (and also their main passing series described above). They were not particularly fast or accurate, but were still VERY difficult to block (especially since I wasn't used to the style - sort of like how most players get roasted the first time they face the rollover shot if they haven't seen it before, but with enough experience against it you'd learn to defend it). It was actually harder to defend that the normal slide pull series used on Tornado style tables for a few reasons (besides the ability to spin): 1) since the ball is set up under the foot in a pin position, as opposed to beside the foot for the slide pull, you have more of the goal to cover; 2) the deadman hole on a Bonzini is larger than on a Tornado, making a crossover defense not as effective; 3) they often wind up doing a pull cut (either intentionally or accidentally) between your men in a standard defense, which is rarer on Tornado; and 4) with the ball pinned, they can do additional options not available with the slide pull such as a pull-push etc. It was interesting to note how the shot styles had evolved so differently in the US and France, on tables that were basically similar, due to the difference in rules (without the ability to spin, US RP players do much more fakes and cut shots than the French players, who don't need to create or hit as small of holes with the use of the spin). One interesting thing was they'd do air ball shots primarily when they were using the hard plastic balls, which I wouldn't have imagined could be done (we do them in the US on RP with cork balls, but I'd always assumed the hard balls would be too heavy). Also, they rarely shot bank shots from the goalie (in fact, I only remember seeing one person even attempt them, and that was always the same bank shot). There also is a player in France who so badly wants to win a French National Championship in his lifetime that he has a standing offer to the top French players that he will pay them huge sums of money to play with him. If they get to the semi-finals, he'll pay his partner something like $2000. If they get to the finals (even if they don't win), he pays something like $5000). And it's through the roof if they win the tournament. He's known in France as "The Card" (as in credit card :-). Another interesting thing was that foosball "clubs" are big in France, and many were wearing some very attractive club "uniforms". Everyone pulls for members of their club to win. I also heard (but didn’t see) that players sometimes put little cloth "jackets" (like their foosball club uniform tops)on their foosball men when they play. I can't end this without talking about our hosts while we were in France, Yannick Herve (whom I contacted via the 'Net early this year to find out about the tournaments etc., and who aided us greatly in making travel arrangements); and Semir Palevic (the President of the French Foosball Federation), and his lovely wife Sylvie (spelling?) who is the reigning women's champion in France. Semir insisted that we stay at his home (where we played on a foosball table his wife won) during our stay, and served as translator for us all weekend. He also served as a referee for our matches, calling the "rateau's" for us since we hardly noticed them and almost never remembered to call them ourselves. He showed us the many foosball things he had as Federation president, including a brochure of an interesting piece of art called "Angel Baby" where an artist had created a foosball table with the cabinet made of metal, one side having angels as men (and clouds around the goal) and the other side having devils for men (and fire around the goal), with each man (and handle) being differently designed. I think it was for sale for something like $20,000. He also gave us honorary memberships in the French Federation (with membership cards that put the ones in the US to shame), as well as club uniforms, foosball souvenirs, and other gifts (including a bottle of wine made in Strasbourg). Semir and Yannick drove us to the RP factory Friday (which was NOT close by), showed us around Strasbourg, and we had a very enjoyable multi-course dinner at Yannick's on Sunday (prepared by his beautiful wife). (Sylvie had also made us a wonderful meal the first night we were in France - apparently there's no French law that you can't be a good cook and beautiful too :-). We must've had 5 different bottles of wine and champagne during the dinner, as well as a beer/tequila thing and some excellent homemade liquor made by Yannick's wife (this is in addition to multiple courses of food). Yannick and his wife also gave us a bottle of wine that was made by something like picking only 1 grape (the best in the field) every day... During the dinner, the desert was ice cream shaped like a famous type of cake that is only available in the town where Yannick lives (Benfield - spelling?). On it (as well as some of the hors d'oeuvres etc we'd previously had) there was a plastic medallion with the bust of a man. Yannick explained that this was the revered symbol of the town, a great man. We asked why, and it had something to do with his selling the town to the enemy. Me and Alan were understandably concerned that the great symbol of the town was what we would consider a "traitor". However, it turned out to be a problem in their English and our French. Once they and us realized the miscommunication, we laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes, and Semir had to leave the room he was laughing so hard. Yannick is a fascinating man of seemingly unlimited energy and interests, with many projects going at once all the time. For instance, he is writing a book/encyclopedia on French foosball, coming up with a foosball shot coding system, has hand built 2 "robots" to help him practice foosball (one that automatically serves a new ball onto the table when the ball being played is scored, and another that shoots the ball back at you when you're playing goalie wars or defense by yourself.), and is creating some radical new types of foosball handles (including one with a band you wrap around your wrist and the handle that allows you to do an EXTREMELY fast/powerful rollover type shot very easily). He and Semir also met us at the train station, where we recognized them by a sign shaped like a foosball man that Yannick had made (they got some interesting looks from passers by at the station). This is in addition to his job as a University professor, and many other interests like judo, video games, Othello (he was once the 6th ranked player in France), collecting antique keys, etc. I think we got him another "project" while at the RP factory - creating an RP Web page :-). He has only been playing foosball for 4 months and is one of the best I've ever seen for only having played that much. I hate to think of what other foosball creations he's going to come up with in the years ahead, considering what he's done in his first 4 months! I also want to say something about the French people. They were invariably the friendliest I've ever met. They showered us with gifts, and wouldn't let us pay for anything, not even foosball games in the tavern (I think I spent less than $20 the whole time I was in France). The oldest (tournament) player in France (I think he was 78 years old; his partner was 68 and was the French champion in 1951) gave us a bottle of wine - I have more fine wine from the France trip than I know what to do with, we also got some at the RP factory :-). I can't wait to go back next year :-))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))).