There is a book,"Zen and the art of archery" that really helped me when I competed on the national level in archery competition. Those lessons certainly apply to our game of foosball. We can learn all we want on the mechanical level but the game certainly goes beyond that. Whether you set up on a pull or rollover or whatever, the way you approach that discipline is what really determines how effective you are. In yoga there are breathing techniques that calm and invigorate you, I used them alot in my set-up in archery form. Visualization of your performance is certainly a wonderful way to preprogram a shot. As a repetitive action sport we should use those disciplines and mind skills that have been identified as essential to help in our endeavor for a winning performance. Too often the problem seems to be lack of physical skills when in truth it is lack of mental discipline. If you can explode a pull shot effortlessly in practice then it isn't skill that keeps you from doing it when it counts. We are playing a game of wits. So why not always PLAY? It's fun to play, use your imagination, use fakery, trickery, power when it's least expected, and then reduce the game down to it's simplest, elegant form. In Zen, ego has no place. Actions are taken on there own merit.
Each shot has a life of it's own. At the conclusion of a shot a new life begins. It is the joy of the art which is why we indulge. Foosball is best approached with the realization that it is a whole lot of fun to do, show your art in the game and let it come out as it will.
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