El S,
Now I wouldn't go on the warpath too quickly now and firebomb the former owner's house, as Nate "Syronis" suggests, especially since whomever you bought it from probably was just as unaware of how different those tables are from "tournament" quality boxes. I've known quite a few foosers who started on their recroom or cousin's or friend's tables like these, as well as at a lot of the old local teen centers, who graduated to playing on "tour" tables. Didn't seem to hurt them .... welcome to foos, brother!
If you just want to have this table for some fun at home, with some friends, it should be good enough. Light-duty as the table may be, if you don't have too many big "bruisers" playing on it, it should be passable as a recreational table. Looking for a good, "sticky" ball would probably immensely help playability. Are the rods solid, or hollow? Solid rods would probably help the weight of the table, but also increase the wearing or rubbing away rate of the bearings.
Basic pull and push shots, pull and push kicks and the palm roll versions of these shots should still be executable on the table, now that you have it. Not knowing your skill level, these basic shots are where the ball is set below the rod, not pinned. And practicing these shouldn't hurt you too much with using these shots on other tables like a Tornado, TS, Warrior, Dynamo or Sportcraft.
Executing pinned shots, however, whether using open or close-hand, including the standard rollover, or "snake", would really depend on your ability to stay on top of the ball with that "ugh!" squared toe, and the ball's ability to be pinned. So find yourself some good balls that you can pin either on the front (heel toe) or the back (back pin with the front of that "ugh"! square toe). I've always recommended practicing bank shots from a front (heel toe) or a back pin, so being able to pin would be paramount if you wish to practice these slightly "fancier" but fun shots.
Practicing classic brush down, brush up, and square wall passes will probably NOT transfer readily to the "tour" tables you'll see at bars and poolhalls, however, because of the figures' toe shape. Practicing "stick" or "lane" passes (perpendicular to the rods), however, as well as bounce passes off either wall, should carry over pretty well, and won't hurt your game on the other tables.
Hey! It's your first, and if you didn't pay too much for it, what the heck...have a ball. Keep those screws tight, and replace the men and fastening nut and bolt the moment they start loosening or breaking, because that's one lowlight of that old 70's TS & German table design. And be sure keep those rods lubed with good hobby silicone oil, to minimize wear on the bearings and rods. When practicing by yourself, you might want to rotate and practice evenly on both sides of the table.
I actually used to play a bit on similar outdoor tables with an even slicker glass surface at local movie drive-thru concession arcades in Eastern Ohio, Western PA, and Southeastern PA. Bringing an old yellow Dynamo or similar "sticky" ball to replace the hard plastic miniature soccer balls really helped the playability and fun of the tables, way back in the day, 78/79/80/81. Learning and adjusting to shoot both back pin and front pin shots on those square toes made switching to pin shots on a bar TS greentop or a student union Deutsch-Meister so easy, it was pretty much a joke! And learning to pass, as a lefty, mind you, on the 5bar from a backpin with those toes really helped later on the tournament tables.
6 Replies
7625 Views