Picking Your Holes

By Gregg Perrie

Reprinted with permission from Inside Foos The newsletter of southern California foosball 1991

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|One of  the most difficult facets of the game of foosball is knowing which shot to shoot and when to shoot it. Obviously there is no definite set rule when to shoot your straight, middle or long. It depends on a variety of factors, the most important, of course being what the goalie is doing.
I have a fairly basic philosophy about shooting f rom the three-row that I would like to share with you. As a forward, I believe it is vitally important that you "set the goalie up" as opposed to the goalie setting you. You the forward must take charge and set the ground rules. For example: . f the defender is giving a race defense, it is imperative that you find out if you can beat him to the long. If you can do so.
Let's say you've shot six longs in row and made four of them. The goalie must be focused on getting to your  long. You have now set him/her up for the inside shot. If you are stroking your long and the goalie is able to race you to the hole, rest assured that as long as your take off looks the same, an inside shot will have to be open
A major key in deciding which inside shot to shoot, is to observe what happens to the goalies men as they race you out to the long hole. Are the men Slitting up to any noticeable degree? If they are, that would indicate that they are trying to cover the long and the short hole and it would be time to think middle.
Another big key to scoring is timing. Most goalies, with few exceptions, end up moving their men in zooms sort of pattern while defending the shot. They float in and out of the various holes and a definite pattern can usually be spotted. Timing your shot is simply "feeling" when your opponent is going to be the farthest away from the hole you have decided to shoot. I like to try and start my shot just as the goalie is about to vacate my hole of choice. What that means is that they must Complete their defensive pattern in order to bet back to the hole they have vacated. For example: lets say that the goalie is camping on your long and at the same time is circling madly on the straight and middle. I have decided to shoot a straight. I sit and use the clock in order to get the feel of their men. As the goalie man moves out and back, out and back, I wait for that precise moment that his man starts to move towards the middle hole and I bang the straight. The goalie in this instance must move out to the middle and then back to the straight in order to block me.
As the great foosball master Obi Wan Kanobi once said "feel the force", become one with the defense and you will automatically know what to shoot.
Aside from deciding which hole to shoot from your three row, there are a number of other factors to considered when thinking about your shot The most important aspect to any shot, is the takeoff. I have touched on this subject before, it is so important, that we are going to discuss it again.
The initial thrust, the beginning of your stroke, has ago the same motion, for each and every shot you do. If you dip your shoulder before you shoot you better make darn sure that your shoulder also dipped for your straight and your middle!
Let's talk about stance for  a minute Everybody has there own theory of how you should stand to shoot the ball. Mine is a simple one. Make sure that it is comfortable for you. you must be able to freely pull or push the rod without your body getting in the way. You should find the stance which you can shoot your best long and then learn how to shoot all 4 insides from that stance.
Remember, a good goalie is looking for any type of giveaway when you start your shot. If he, can spot something, they are way on you, being able to get a jump on your takeoff. That translates into the goalie being able to block you, better than they should.
Another critical area for you foosers to work on, is your lateral speed. Your pull or your push, needs to be as fast as you can possibly make it. The faster your lateral speed is, the better the shot is. A trick that sometimes works to improve your lateral speed is to put the ball on the table, where your long stroke goes, then using a pull shot as an example, set up like you were going to do a normal pull, and see how fast you can get your man over to that ball that is just waiting for you to smash it into the long hole.
Another tip for shooting is to always make sure you have the ball set up where you want it. If you are having trouble setting up the ball and you are running out of time, use your time outs. That is what they are there for. You never know how many shots you are going to get in a game, make every one count.
Where to look as you are shooting your shot. This is a personal thing and I am not sure it matters a whole lot if you are doing everything else right. I can only tell you what works for me, and that is watching the hole while I’m timing the goalie. To me it only makes sense to watch the hole, because if the goalie changes what he/she is doing and you are looking at the ball when you shoot, you might miss that change, and that might cause you to switch your shot selection.
Lat but not least is of course, execution, which comes from practice, practice, practice. Every shot has to be on goal. Don’t make the mistake of trying extra hard on an important point. This will cause you to miss. I like to pretend it is just another practice shot. Visualize the shot in your mind going in where you decide to shoot it.
Remember, if you are doing everything else correctly, there is always a hole open. If you are being "bricked" by someone, it means you are doing something wrong. Ask the person who is blocking you to help you. Chances are that they will.
 

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