This is just my opinion so take it for what it is worth. The reason there were so many shots back in the day is because foosball was in it's infancy. People did not have a map to follow. People would come from out of nowhere and win open doubles, or open singles and noone even knew who they were. That never happens anymore. The pull shot was met with the same kind of skeptisism and ridicule as the snake because it was a more consistant shot. THE GAME HAS EVOLVED! If people were still playing on TS tables the pull and snake would still be the most shot shots today. Consistancy is what wins period! There is nothing wrong with kicks, or back pins, or any other shot, except that they dont score a high enough percentage to compete, never have, never will. I know im gonna have people disagree with that statement, but if you add up all the shots that have won just majors, it is greatly against shots other than pullshot, or a front pin even from the ts days. Not to mention you also have to be able to shoot a shot that will allow you to be able to make it till the 3rd, 4th, or 5th day of a tournament. The only thing that is even a plausable argument is the bankshot from goal, and it can be done on a tornado table, but the extra men in goal do get in the way on blocking it. Defenses today are better, and fiverow offences, and defenses are definately better. The overall level of play has definately improved over the past 15 years, so I'm sure it has improved over the past 30. The Dynamo table banked just fine, and you could shoot multiple shots on it, and it became a primary pullshot table because people wanted to win so they went with consistancy. The one man goal is a bad design because of being able to use the back wall for rebound passes. the game will get more offensive without the wing men. Players are definately not ready for YET ANOTHER TABLE REDESIGN.
Scott Liley