Subject: What Shot to Shoot?!?! Author: Bruce Nardoci Date: 1998/12/13 (revised 6/99) Forum: rec.sport.table-soccer Wong wrote: > > Hello, > > I need some advice here. I started foosing about one and a half months > back. I consider myself as a fanatic because I played nearly everyday > usually for about 4-5 hours since I started. During the first 3 weeks, > my game improved rapidly from not being able to hold the ball with my > 5-man rod to being able to make some passes. It was such great thrill to > see my game game just going so well, improvement is easily seen every > night. Then comes the problem on my 3-man rod shooting, I was told to > try a variety of shots before settling for my main shot. I tried almost > all the shots that I came across, except the rollover. My best shot now > is the pull. The problem is that it doesn't seem to be improving at any > rate these days. It is so inconsistent that I want to give up on it. > Recently, I started using a front pin, and now my game is getting worst > because I am going from pull to front pin, I can't make any at all. > Should I stick to one shot even if it does not to seem to be heading > anywhere? What kind of criteria should I be looking for when choosing a > shot? Practice one shot or a variety of shot? Help! > > William Wong > Foos On! This is a repost (slightly revised) of a message I put in the newsgroup several months ago, which may help new players such as yourself decide what shot(s) to shoot as you main shot series. It is my opinion on what shot a beginner should learn to shoot to be successful, based on my 25 plus years of playing/watching on both German and French style tables, in both the USA and Europe. There are of course some other shot series besides these, but these are the main ones used as far as I can tell (except for # 10 ;-). I didn't take the time to list all the advantages/disadvantages I could think of for each shot, just some of the main ones that popped into my head. Also, they are ranked in the order I'd put them if the player was planning to play on all types of tables, not just limiting himself to either German style or French style tables. 1. ROLLOVER (aka snake, monkey, wristrocket, etc. Note: This is the version where you rock the ball back and forth in the middle). Advantages: o Easy to learn o Easy to execute well o Unreadable (if done well) o Unraceable o Will work effectively on virtually any table (the only one I can think of where you might not be able to do it is the glass top Garlando with the rectangular box feet and very slick balls - I doubt you could keep it pinned while rocking it. Also, the heaviness of the brown top TS tables bars may make it difficult to shoot fast and wide enough to be effective) o Can be set up in shooting position quickly o Can vary rocking motion to "create" holes Disadvantages: o Not many options to shoot o Limited range on shot (but not needed if the ball is kept near the middle of the goal) o Scorn of rollover hating foosball purists 2. SLIDE PULL (i.e. ball beside man - standard German style shot) Advantages: o Will work effectively on ANY table (but can be difficult to shoot with cork balls) o Unraceable (if done well) o Unreadable Disadvantages: o Can use much of your 3 bar time limit setting it up o Can be boring to watch o Difficult to learn a "deadbar" o Years of shooting it can cause arm pain/damage o Takes endurance to shoot it well over a long tournament o Difficult to "create" holes with fakes 3. FRONT PIN "PULL SERIES" (this is where the ball is set up on the far side of the goal in a front pin position (i.e., ball pinned in front of the bar) and then shot similarly to the regular slide pull series except the bar is spun or hit with the far man on the 3 bar to hit it straight of cut it between a crossover defense). Note: A more detailed explanation of this shot is contained in APPENDIX A at the bottom of this note. Advantages: o Easy to learn o Easy to execute o Easier to pull cut the ball between men on a standard defense o More options than the slide pull (e.g., can do a front pin pull-push, or a pull-pull, etc to mix in additional options) o Will work effectively on virtually any table and ball (similar limitations as the rollover, although slick balls eliminate some of the options and range) o Although generally not as fast as a slide pull, effective use of fakes and cuts/options prevents racing from being effective o Can be set up in shooting position quickly o Unreadable Disadvantages: o Can be difficult to do as well with slick balls (limits range and options) 4. PUSH-KICK/PULL-KICK (tie - pullkick is easier to do, but pushkick is easier to see holes in defense with) Advantages: o Will work on ANY table/ball o Additional options (cuts, dinks) o Can move ball a couple inches on shot and still shoot in the close to the ball side hole, making it difficult to race just by watching to see if the ball moves. Disadvantages: o Is somewhat raceable o Medium difficultly to learn/do o Hard to shoot a deadbar hole o Execution can be inconsistent 5. FRONT PIN "WALKING SERIES" (This is where the ball is walked around european style in the middle/side-to-side of the goal) Advantages: o More options than any other shot o Can use fakes to "create" holes o Easier to hit "cut/angle" holes o Fun to do and watch (more analyzing involved) o Can be set up in shooting position quickly o Unlimited range on shot/fakes Disadvantages: o Is very difficult to learn/do well (probably the hardest series to learn) o Is somewhat raceable o Is easy to "read" if not done well (due to subtle differences in the "walking motion" or ball position etc) o Difficult to do effectively with slick balls or heavy TS rods 6. SLIDE PUSH (i.e., the reverse of the SLIDE PULL shot discussed above) Advantages: o Easier to see the cut/angle/dink holes o Defenses not used to defending it o Will work on ANY table (although can be harder to do with cork balls) o Unreadable Disadvantages: o Difficult to learn/do o Very difficult to shoot deadman hole o Is somewhat raceable o Can use much of 3 bar time limit setting it up 7. BACK PIN SERIES (This is like the FRONT PIN WALKING SERIES, except done with the ball pinned behind the bar) Advantages: o Can use fakes to "create" holes o Easier to hit "cut/angle" holes o Fun to do and watch (more analyzing involved) o Can be set up in shooting position quickly o Unlimited range on shot/fakes Disadvantages: o Same as disadvantages of the FRONT PIN WALKING SERIES, except for the significant additional disadvantage of not being able to hit the ball straight without first having to move it slightly to one side and then bringing it back to the straight hole a little farther forward so it won't "pin" again when you swing at it. This extra maneuver necessary to hit it straight (which isn't necessary on the FRONT PIN series) slows the straight shot down enough to where the straight hole is somewhat raceable, which a good goalie will use to his advantage when defending that series. 8. TIC-TAC SHOT SERIES (This is hard to describe, but is the shot series where you kick the ball between the various men on the 3 bar in various ways, causing holes to open up - John Short and John Zoller use this series a lot) Advantages: o Defenses are not used to it o Can "create" holes o Will work on ANY table/balls o By design racing is useless o Is fun to do/watch Disadvantages: o Can use up a lot of your 3 bar time limit waiting for a hole in the defense to appear o Is inconsistent 9. WALKING ROLLOVER (this is where the ball is shot like a ROLLOVER SHOT, but it is "walked" around the middle/side-to-side of the goal similar to a FRONT PIN WALKING SERIES). Advantages: o Can use fakes to "create" holes o Fun to do and watch (more analyzing involved) o Can be set up in shooting position quickly o Unraceable Disadvantages: o Difficult to learn/do o Easier to lose the ball while walking it with the "wrist" rather than the hand o Limited range on shot (which can be a problem if walk to one side of the goal) o Can't walk as fast or wide as FRONT PIN WALKING SERIES without losing the ball o Won't work on tables with very slick balls o Can be "read" if not done well 10. SCORPION Brad McWaters is an idiot - nuff said :-) APPENDIX A -The Front Pin Pull Series The FRONT PIN PULL SERIES is where you set the ball up with the 3 bar as far as it will go to the far side and the ball front pinned with the left half of the ball pinned under the right half of the foot and the right half of the ball sticking out past the foot towards the pull side of the goal (this 1/2 and 1/2, rather than fully under the foot, is important, as I'll explain later). From there, you can do a regular front pin pull to the short middle hole or to the long pull side hole, similar to the holes you'd shoot at with a regular slide pull, and in addition you can pull-cut it back between the men (on a standard defense) fairly easily. There are also some other options like pulling it to the middle of the goal and quickly re-front pin catch it and doing a front pin push to the push side hole (a "reverse"), and a few other similar "fake" options (pull-push-pull, pull-stop-pull, etc.). In order to hit the ball straight, you can lift the man off the ball and quickly pull the bar all the way to the pull side (to where the bar's bumper hits the wall) and hit the ball straight with the 3rd man on the 3 bar (with the ball in the 1/2 and 1/2 position discussed above, it makes it line up so that the 3rd man will hit the ball straight into the top corner - if it wasn't in this position, you'd miss the ball or cut it back into the wall unless you "manually" limited the bar not to go too far). Another important reason for the 1/2 and 1/2 position is that if they use a crossover defense, they can just spin the bar (or come around the ball to hit it) - the 1/2 and 1/2 position causes the foot to "automatically" cut the ball at a 45 degree angle between the men, which makes playing the crossover defense much less effective. Finally, the 1/2 and 1/2 position makes it easier to pull the ball to the long hole since the man can stay pinned on the ball longer as you pull it (try to pull it long with the ball directly under the foot and with it in the 1/2 and 1/2 position - you'll see how much easier it is to pull it long that way).