Topic: Hey everyone, few questions.

[iHalo]

I play with friends at school a lot, my school has a Tornado table, but it is treated like crap. Still playable on though.
Anyways...
1. Out of my whole high school, I am the third best player, the two best players are double partners, and the fourth best player is my double partner. I am much better than him though, we have had 7 one on one matches, and I have won 5 of them. Anyways, I don't always get paired up with him, but I do get paired up with sucky kids sometimes, and it pisses me off when people that are much worse than me beat me because my partner can't score and if we switch, they either can't score on offense or can't block on defense. I block 
around 80% of the shots from the players and I make tons of shots from my defense, but we still can't win. Any advice on taking more control to win the game?
2. On passes, I can pass often, but not enough usually to my three bar. If I get the ball to my three bar, then against pretty much any goalie in the whole school I score, because I have a fast and accurate pull kick, push kick, pull shot, push shot that they can not block. Is there a good way to pass so I can get it to my three bar say, 90 percent of the time? My passes usually go slow from the 5 bar because if it goes to fast it isn't accurate.
3. When I play goalie, I tend to keep the 3 bar blocking the two sides, slightly slanted back, and the 2 bar in any position. Is this a good set up? I also do pull kick or push kick shots from the 3 bar pretty much everytime, but if they start to catch on, I occasionally pass to the three bar or do a tick tac shot. Is there a good shot for when you are playing goalie?
4. Our school will have a tournament soon, and I am hoping me and the 4th best player could beat the two best. The problem is, thw two best have one year's more experience then us and although my partner and my shots are fast, they can often block them unlike all the other kids. They also have amazing accuracy and extremely fast shots. I try to take control of the ball, but they stop my passes. Any recommendations?

Answers appreciated.

Thank you very much.

[justanotherhacker]

iHALO,

trying to describe for you the things you are looking for would be very difficult(well, much more so than showing you on a table).  There maybe some videos or diagrams on foosball.com somewhere (Jim/Artie, help?).  The consistent passing from the 5-man rod to the 3-man forward rod is definitely the key to winning. 

Out of curiosity, when are you located?  There may be some better players in your area that can show you these things, if you are interested.

Pat R

[justanotherhacker]

try the tips and advice here.

http://www.foosball.com/content.php?page=3

I would recommend reading and trying the "Stick" pass series for starters, pretty easy to learn and execute at a basic level.

Also review some of the tips on Defense for the goalie.

If you have further questions after reading, just ask, I'll be happy to help any way I can.

Pat R

[Yags]

iHalo,

Pretty much everything that Pat said is pretty much the jist of it.

Really if you want to take control of the game, you have to get your oppenent to do certain things that you want them to do. Like speed the game up, slow it down, show new certian types of shots or passes that there not familiar with.

When your asking help for the 5 bar to the 3 bar. That takes an enormous amount of practice. In all, you have to practice a lot on the 5 bar. I have been playing for about 3 years, 2 years solid and I am recently getting my 5 bar to an area that I like. But I need to keep working on it. Basically if you want to know more, try to pass it off the wall, or use angles to get them past. You do not have to go fast in order to get it past. A lot of pro's do it to me.

For the back to rods on defense. That refers to what Pat was saying on watching a video. Foosball The Basics 101 is a really good video. I know you can get it here, or www.insidefoos.com . I know on there they do have some sample videos including a sample of Foosball The Basics 101.

Always remeber, don't do the same passes over and over on the same oppenents for there going to know what your going to do and basically take you out of the game no matter how much of a percentage you block them. Keep trying new things, new passes, new shots. Foosball takes patience and if you have that and love the game like a lot of us. You'll get better as you keep playing. Find someone that kicks your ass so bad. Learn what they do and keep going at it and you will get better.

Happy Foosing Holidays

~~Yags~~

[iHalo]

Yeah, if my opponents start blocking my shots consistantly, which does not happen often except when I do a pull shot or push shot from the 2 bar, I start to mix it up tons and I just get it to my 5 bar, then I attempt to make a shot if there is an open area or I pass it. I also tend to shoot much harder from the 5 bar, and about as accurately as the 3 bar

[grandmaster]

What you need to learn is a technique called  the "strategic switch". Make sure your partner knows you are trying to achieve TEAM succsess not indivdual glory. Play back and defend and obtain the ball. Pass the ball to your partner. Upon completion immediately have your partner call time out. Switch positions and score. Switch back and defend again. Repeat the "SS".