Rob Balza on Basics

Rookie Lessons Learned

First of all let me introduce myself and offer what meager foosball credentials I have: my name is Rob Balza and I have been playing foosball seriously for about 2 years in the Milwaukee Wisconsin area. While I have no delusions about knowing all there is to know about foosball, but I have learned many valuable lessons in the past couple of years that have allowed me to win a few rookie and limited events in addition to allowing me to at least compete with the pros. This article is intended to solidify these lessons in my own mind as well as offer this knowledge to other rooks, so that they don¹t have to suffer through the same mistakes that I made (I¹ve made quite a few). This is a work in progress if you have any other suggestions or know a better way of doing something described in this article please pass it along to: rbalza@mcw.edu Shooting tips The most important thing about shooting, whether it¹s in forward-shoot-out, goalie-wars, or any game it to PUT THE BALL ON GOAL. I¹ve seen lots of good players waste opportunities to score by hitting shots off the wallŠ(I¹m not saying I don¹t do this also, I do) but realize that it is far better to have you shot blocked by your opponent than to miss the shot. If your opponent blocks the shot, at least it sets up other shots. A missed shot does nothing but build your opponents confidence, and frustrate yourself and your partner. Make sure that the shot is on goal. Do not shoot with the same timing every time. If you shoot after 1 or 2 seconds every time it allows the defender to bait and close much more effectively. You have 15 full seconds to shoot. The only thing harder than trying to block some-one with a strong push-side, pull-side, and middle shotŠis someone with a strong strong push-side, pull-side, and middle shot that shots on 1, 3, 5, 8, 12, and 15 seconds. NOTE: practice this at home: If you shoot on one second every single time when you are practicing at home you will only shoot one second in games. And surprisingly, I have found that it is very difficult to shoot after 10 seconds if you normally shoot the ball very quickly. Shoot the percentages. If you are shooting on a rapidly moving defense (this happens especially to snake shooters), sometimes the best way to shoot is to look over the defense for 10 seconds and then decide which hole is open most frequently and then let Œer rip. Sometimes you¹ve got to shoot at their guys to score. If you are trying really hard to shoot the right holes and can¹t understand why you are being bricked every single time, you are most likely experiencing a good bait and close type defense. The best way to break this type of defense is to shoot at your opponent¹s man.

Goalie Tips

When it is your serve, shoot the ball as hard as you possibly can. That way, if you miss or are blocked the ball is likely to fly off the table (this is cool because you get it right back to shoot again). When the service possession belongs to your opponents use more finesse with your shot selection from the 2-rodŠthe last thing you want to do is shoot the ball off the table and onto your opponents 5-rod. Take your time. This is especially important in doubles competition. When you have the ball at your 2-rod, both of your opponents must be ready for the shot at any time. By just "sitting on the ball," you are applying constant stress to both of your opponents simultaneously, while allowing both you and your opponent can take a "break" for 10 seconds. I know this doesn¹t sound like a big deal, but believe me, over the course of a long match and more importantly a long tournament it adds up. The idea is to apply as much pressure to your opponents (both physically and mentally) as possible. Force your opponent to shoot what they don¹t want to. This especially applies to pull shooters. Many of them shoot the pull because they love the powerful feeling of stroking that long pull past rookies over and over again. Make them shoot their weak short shot that they never practice! You¹ll be amazed how frustrated this can get your opponent (even if they are scoring a decent percentage of straights. The same applies for snake shooters, even experienced snakers occasionally get "off" on one side or the other, make an effort to notice this and overplay their strong side. Learn a good singles zone to shut down your opponents 2-bar pull shots. Learn a good singles zone to shut down your opponents 2-bar push shots. Learn a couple bank-shots or passes in-case your opponent has also learned a good pull and push zone.

Practice tips

When I was at the Minnesota State Foosball Tournament this year, there was a "Pro clinic" in which Tommy Adkisson (the current #1 player in the world) was asked, "How did you learn such consistency on the 5-bar?" Tommy¹s reply was that he practices with extra men on the defense 5-bar! I have since adopted this practice technique for myself and have developed much more confidence and consistency on my 5-row because of it. -Here¹s how it works: Buy one or two extra foosball menŠ(Tornado brand-name men are not necessaryŠjust get whatever you can find cheapest). Cut a notch out of the extra player¹s chest so that they can just "pop" onto the rod with out having to dismantle your table to convert from practice setup to game time. For example: let¹s say you need to develop more consistency on your up-hill brush pass off the near wall. First pop the extra defender onto the defensive 5-bar in-between the 1st and 2nd man. Then attach the extra guy to the 1st man on the 5-bar with a rubber band and pull the rod against the near wall. Now, only properly executed up-hills with go through (the ideal lane pass goes as close to the 2nd man as possible without actually hitting it), developing greater constancy and confidence. The lanes look huge in tournament play after practicing like this! For shooting practice, I highly recommend the Rod-Lock system available at this website: http://members.aol.com/gj4533/rod-lock.html This is a quality product that dramatically increases the quality of your practice session by allowing you to position the defense once and then lock them into place! For 3-bar shooting practice, I position the goalie rod and two-bar so that I can hit a tight straight, tight push, and tight pull shots all without moving or resetting the defense. Do not teach yourself to do things the wrong way. Accuracy and consistency are learned at a much slower rate if mistakes are repeated. For example: if you want to increase the consistency of your long pull-side snake shot, simply shooting 1000 pull-side snakes every day will helpŠbut slowly. A better practice strategy would be shooting 100 pull-side snakes every day and taking careful note of where the ball goes and then overcompensating for mistakes so that you NEVER make the same error twice in a row. For example if in attempting a long snake shot, you accidentally hit the outside wall on the very next shot make a conscious attempt to shoot the ball too far toward the middle of the goal (3/4 split). This technique is called overcompensation, and has been proven in numerous controlled studies to increase consistency by not repeating mistakes and therefore "teaching yourself" how to do something the wrong way. Please note that this principle of overcompensation can be applied to any aspect of foosball (or life, for that matter). For example: let¹s say that I have a problem controlling my emotions when competing, I get too upset about every little thing that doesn¹t go my way (this is one of my many personal weaknesses). The best way to train myself not to get overly excited or upset is to make an effort to play with absolutely not emotion what-so-ever (I will try to have the same look on my face whether I just got slopped for the 5th straight point by my arch nemesis, or whether I just spiked the ball into my opponent¹s goal on meat-nut).

Mental Aspects

Foosball is largely a game of confidence. This is probably the weakest part of my game and I have a lot to learn in this area but a few philosophical morsels that have helped me are: Don¹t worry about the slop that just went into your own goal (no use crying over spilt milk). If you show your opponent desperation or frustration it serves no purpose other than to give your opponent more confidence. Don¹t give them the satisfaction. For example: Your down 4-0 in a game ~ do not slap a desperation left-hook, instead slow the game way down and concentrate on execution. This may often cause your opponent to wonder; "Doesn¹t anything rattle this guy?" In doubles use your most controlled style of play and "earn" your points, but in singles just let your game just "flow" at least 25% of the time to utilize quick transition shots and keep your opponent nervous and tense at all times. Relax. This is much easier said than done, but the rewards of playing relaxed are great. Any physiologist worth his salt will tell you that the most efficient physical activity requires coordinated muscle flexion coupled with muscle relaxation. This is because all muscle groups are organized into pairs (flexors and extensors). If muscle relaxation is not coordinated with muscle contraction, energy is wasted and any movement is made more difficult because you are fighting against yourself. If you still don¹t believe me, try this simple experiment: set up your most consistent shot on the three row and flex all of you arm-muscles from 10 seconds prior to shootingŠwhen you finally shoot the ball you will find that it is difficult to move your arm at all not to mention, shooting with speed and precision. Often times, stress (the opposite of relaxation) is self-inflicted. This is a problem I have had great difficulty in over-coming. I used to build up so much stress when I misexecuted a pass that it became nearly impossible to execute my next pass, then the whole vicious circle repeats it self until I am genuinely pissed ofŠnot enjoying the game at all. The last thing you want in a doubles partner is some guy that is constantly telling you how much you suck and how his grandmother shoot better than you ­ so why treat yourself that way?

Tricks of the Trade

Here¹s a collection of some of the more interesting "tricks" used against me in tournament competition, I¹m not saying that I use all of these tricks or endorse the use of them, but every serious player should be aware of them: If you know you are playing a pull, push, or push/pull-kick shooter test the sides of the table before the match and choose the one that is easier to set-up your opponent¹s favorite shot on. This will frustrate your opponent (especially if used in conjunction with the next tip). Jar the table slightly as your opponent is setting up his/her pull, push, or push/pull-kick shot so that it doesn¹t set up just the way they want it. Don¹t be too obvious with this one - it doesn¹t make many friends. If you are playing on a table with some new "fuzzy" balls and some smooth ball, and when your opponent is a snake shooter ignore the above tips and choose the side where the balls are released from the coin-slot mechanism, so that you can give your opponent the smooth "marbles," while saving the good balls for your own serve. This is especially effective if your opponent does a steep brush series on the five-row. Call a ref on the rookie. In the Class B doubles final of the Wisconsin Sate Tournament this year, my opponents called a ref on my partner and I. I had never had a ref at the table before (I guess this is probably the case for most rookies), and it freaked me out. Totally threw me off. I spent way to more time thinking about my 10 seconds on the five and 15 on the three, than I did concentrating on my own game. I imagine this will affect different players differently, but it may be worth a try against a lot of rookies ~ especially if you just got blasted for the first two games and need a momentum changer.