Foosball.com
 
 

Goalie Defense-Basic Level

Defined/Explained

Keeping balls out of the goal.  Sounds easy enough but remember this, there are more the 5 foosball wholes in the goal and you have only 2 men you can get in front of the goal at any time.  If you block even half of the shots on goal you are doing a good job.  Consider this, if you consider a goalies jobs in order of importance, they are like this:  1.  Clear the ball back down field if you have it in your area (do not give it to the other teams 3-bar)  2.  Keep slop (loose bouncing balls, rattling balls and that stuff) out of the goal.  3.  Block shots.  Notice blocking shots is third on the list!

Purpose

Help you feel better about what you are doing on defense.

Basics

Clear the ball:  So, you have the ball in your goal area and you want to do something with it.  Well you have already over thought it.  Hit it hard, don't be afraid to use a crazy angle, and avoid the other teams 3-bar like the plaque.  You simple must clear the ball.  Do not let the other team get it back on the 3-bar.  Smack it hard, down field.  If it even goes towards the goal that is a bonus.  Trying to score all the time from the goal is very dangerous.  The other team will steal the ball way more often then you will score.

 

Keep the "slop" out of the goal.  The ball will come at you straight, and it will come at angles and sometimes it will come at you bouncing around crazy.  If you can keep these balls out of the goal, you have a very good chance of winning..  How to do this, first, tilt your man back and slide it against one of the edges of the goal and leave it there.  Second, use your 2 man bar to try and block the ball "away" from the goal.  If the ball is coming from the right, try to block it back into the corner.  Just a touch with the 2 bar can mean the difference between a goal and a block.

 

Block shots.  Do yourself a favor, DO NOT LEARN THIS SHOT.  Just skip ahead 12 months to the pull shot, you will switch to it sooner or later.  Everyone starts with the push shot because it is easy, then the regret it because it is worthless.  Everyone can block the push shot very well.    See the movies. (Never mind, there is no movie because this shot is worthless)

 

Pull Kick:  Start the ball on the far man of the 3-bar.  Pull the ball rapidly to the middle man and shoot it.  Also there are several dinks you can add to it.  This is a very powerful shot, but it is so very hard to master.  Even if you master it you can still have trouble being consistent.  We do not recommend this shot.    See the movies.

 

Push Kick:  Start the ball on the near man of the 3-bar.  Push it to the middle man and slap it home.   This shot is even worse the the Pull Kick.  This shot is harder and slower then the pull kick.  But you can see the goal/wholes in the defense very well?  We do not recommend this shot.  See the movies.

 

Euro or Front Toe:  Start the ball under the front toe.  With a whip motion you shoot the ball to one side or another. This shot is very hard to learn.  The pull side is very natural, but the push is hard to learn.  Now in Europe most everyone shoots it, hence the name.  In the USA we use the pull shot.  You need to learn more about the different table styles and rules of play to understand why.  We have no movie.

 

Tic Tack Shot:  Bounce the ball back and forth between your men on the 3-bar at random then "slap" the ball into the goal.  This is a great shot "style".  If you learn to shoot a tic tack you will get better at foosball very rapidly.  I still feel a pull shot or a rollover will score more often, but you will be better at foosball and ball control if you shoot a tic tack.  No movie, I am sure you get the idea about this shot style.

 

Shooting-101 will be available soon, for now learn these techniques.