Hi Killah,
I just lost 2 matches against a work mate who has no clue about foosball. The only reason for not being able to completely destroy him was that my rollover didn't work at all. I had a ton of balls on my 3-rod, and NOT A SINGLE ONE WENT IN! Completely frustrating. When I switched from Sleeping Dragon B to a more standard grip, I was able to score 2 points or so, but I might have been just lucky.
You have to find a stance and grip that allows you to naturally hit at least 1.25 inch (32 mm) or so, to either side of your original set, or the center point of your front pin. You should be able to hit this (which I call a POST on a Tornado) from a standstill, a rocking motion, even a hesitating rocking motion with stops and starts.
That's something I don't understand. What do you mean by "rolling the handle"? With my shot, it's only toss and spin, without any rolling in between. Or did I get that wrong?
By "rolling the handle" I do mean the torque or spinning force you transfer to the handle at the very BEGINNING of the shot. During the "toss" or "pitch", I concentrate on accelerating the spin of the rod only for the first 45 to 50 degrees of turn, out of a total of 360 degrees. By that point, I should have imparted enough torque on the rod to let the rod complete the spin and hit the ball, and very hard. I do not continue accelerating the spin all the way to my right fingertips. Trying to do this, which is what I call OVERCRANKING the shot by forcing the rod to spin ONLY as fast as one can keep applying force to the handle, is very tiring, can be wasteful, and does not make use of inertia. An example would be continuously holding and deliberately turning a toggle light switch on or off. Most people just push or pull the spring-loaded switch just far enough for it to snap to the other position.
The exceptions, of course, are those players with "Popeye" or huge, thick and heavy forearms, who can can keep cranking that rod consistently all the way to the fingertips. These players BRUTE FORCE the shot, continuously and completely OVERRIDING the resistance of the rod, while at the same time having a heavy enough forearm to keep contact and control laterally at the point of contact with the handle. By this (in a Sleeping Dragon B position) I mean the transfer of the point of contact from below the handle to the top front of the handle as the shot is fired.
After the "pitch", I found that using the rod's rotational acceleration to complete the shot, and the weight to start inertial lateral motion, was the best way for a consistent shot to just past either post.
Would you mind describing this more specifically? cheerz Pat
As I'm sure a lot of players have mentioned before, the rollover's success in delivering an explosive shot, either straight in front or after moving laterally to either side, depends almost completely on the initial "pitch" or "toss" from the central starting position. For the lateral push or pull rollover, it's a combination of "tossing" the ball laterally to either side, and also at the same time beginning the firing motion by rolling the handle to spin the rod. As I described above, I practice torque'ing the handle for ONLY the first 1/8 turn or 45 to 50 degrees or rotation, at which point I simply concentrate on MAINTAINING the rod's spin all the way to my right fingertips. At the same time I am concentrating on moving the rod laterally and continuously concentrating on keeping good contact between my wrist and the handle. Because I don't have to keep cranking the handle after the initial toss, I can make sure the lateral motion doesn't go too far, and I can naturally go back to the center, or my original starting position. This "no worry" start, relying on gravity and rotational velocity to continue and finish the firing motion, allows both the middle or shooting player figure to already be returning to the center position when it hits the ball in either a push or a pull rollover.
I started by shooting push and pull rollovers for hundreds of times, adjusting the angle of forearm with the rod to find the best combo of enough "skin" on the handle to get a good grip, after which I figured out the most consistent part of the wrist (mine was the upper part) to be in contact with the handle. I tested different stances and how much pressure to put on the handle, right at firing time, to see which ones allowed the quickest, smoothest lateral motion of the ball. I shot a couple more hundred shots, and, with the right wrap on the handle, I could consistently do shots from a standtill to either post, then I worked on adjusting the takeoff to make the ball go further, laterally, past the posts for deadbar push and pull rollovers. Not that you have to shoot past the posts for a deadbar rollover all that often, but it's really useful as an "automatic" for a defender sitting just inside either post with the 2bar, because you know the goal figure behind will never go outside that post.
You must, however be able to easily hit 8-9 out of 10 shots to either post. It's easy to quickly check if the defender is regularly leaving both posts open during whatever motion he/she is doing. I immediately shoot the most natural of all rollovers at either post when they're both open. The easiest side would be the side defended by the 2bar, of course. If the defender is neglecting the push post, with the 2bar just inside, that's an easy visual guide, compared to the goalkeeper side, and an easy square push or slight spray. Same thing applies for a defender neglecting the pull side, with the 2bar inside the post. Goalkeepers that do a vigorous shake but do not switch around, and eventually have to slow down, showing either or both posts are particular suckers for this. But like I said, you MUST HAVE ALREADY practiced/perfected hitting either post beforehand.
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