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For the developing player, ball control is the most essential skill to learn in foosball. Most beginners have trouble keeping hold of the ball, stopping it, passing it to another man, or even hitting it. These things come hand in hand with ball control, and usually determine whether a player is good or not. This is because the more ball control you have, and the more comfortable you are with the ball, the easier it will be to execute shots and dictate the pace of the game. Not all foosball tables allow for good ball control, so getting a table like one of these best foosball tables will be a requirement to develop ball control and skills.
The first rule you must keep in mind before you even think about playing foosball: no spinning. The first reason not to spin is that it is prohibited in all serious foosball matches. The second reason is that spinning can be easily blocked, and that the ball control you have while spinning is minimal. If you are able to defeat other people by spinning, this will never happen with more advanced players. The reasons not to spin will become clearer as you develop your foosball skill.
1. Strength
Besides having trouble making contact with the ball, many beginners have trouble hitting the ball with strength. To do this, practice swinging the bar without spinning it. Try to maintain control of the bar without letting go of it. Practice hitting the ball over and over again, and make sure to do it with a flick of the wrist, and with a firm grip on the bar. The strength of your shots will improve when your wrist gets used to the movement. Practice hitting the ball around the table. Blocking the goals so that the ball bounces back to you is also helpful.
2. Pass the ball
You will want to get used to hitting the ball hard around the table without spinning it before practicing the next drill. After you are proficient in hitting the ball squarely and with strength, cuddling and passing are the next step. There are several drills to improve these ball control skills. First, try passing the ball from one man on the 3-bar (the 3-bar is the bar that has 3 men on it) to an adjacent man. Try passing it once and catch it with the other man. For the pass to be effective, the ball should be beside the man, and it should be directly below the bar. To pass the ball, gently tap ball sideways with the man. Then, use the other man to catch the ball. Simply let the ball hit the adjacent man. Practice this several times until you get your pass as horizontal as possible.
3. Cuddling the ball
Many times, you will find that the ball will go backward and out of your reach. When the ball is moving back, the solution is to place the man behind the ball, with its feet pointing backwards slightly. This will cuddle the ball and stop its movement. Do not rotate the man in any way when doing this. Many people will tap the ball slightly to stop the movement. This will merely cause the ball to go forward and out of reach. If the ball is going forward, a similar technique is applied. Place your man in front of the ball, with the feet pointing forward slightly. This will also cuddle the ball and stop its movement. Remember, you are merely placing the man there. You are not hitting the ball in any way. The objective is to create a barrier to keep the ball from going through.
This technique can be used to bring the ball to a stop under any circumstance. If the ball is moving around wildly on the table, you can observe the movement and place the man in the ball’s path. Remember that you have to tilt the man appropriately in order to “cuddle” the ball and stop it. This skill will prove to be essential if you plan to gain possessions.
4. The tic-tac
When you are able to pass the ball once from one man to another, and keep the ball from going beyond your reach, you can now pass the ball, stop it, and then attempt another pass. You should try passing the ball from one man on the bar to another, and then passing it back once again.
Later on, you can pass the ball without stopping it after each pass. This will make a tic-tac noise when you pass it non-stop. Therefore, the foosball community has defined the consecutive passing between two men as the tic-tac.
Practice tic-tacking on the 3 bar until you can do many consecutive passes non-stop. After this, you can move on to practicing the tic-tac on the 2-bar. This is more challenging because the men are farther apart. Apart from doing it on the 2-bar, you can practice tic-tacking between two men on the 5-bar, or the middle bar. The distance is much shorter and you will find that it is different. You can pass between non-adjacent men as well. For example, you can practice tic-tacking between the near man of the 3-bar (the near man is the man that is nearest to you) and the far man on the same bar (the far man is the one furthest from you). You do this by skipping the middle man.
After practicing tic-tacking in many different combinations, you will want to practice passing the ball between different bars. To do this, you must lift up the men of the opposing player. Try passing the ball back and forth between the 5-bar and the 3-bar. Then, you can try different combinations like 2-bar and 3-bar, or the goalie bar and the 2-bar. This drill will not only improve your ability to catch the ball as it is moving across the table, but it will also increase your familiarity with the range of movement of the bars. It is very useful to get familiar with the range of the men of the 5-bar, because these men have very limited movement. After practicing this, you can begin practicing further ball control skills.
5. Pinning
When you press the ball against the table with the feet of one of your men, it is called a pin. When the ball is pinned in front of the bar, it is called a front pin, and when it is pinned behind the bar, it is called a back pin. You should try to pin the ball manually at first. Try placing the ball under your man with your hand, and then pin the ball against the table. When you have done this, try to memorize the position of the ball and the contact point between the man and the ball. The ball must be pressed on the center in order for this to work. Otherwise, it will slip forwards or backward.
When you are familiar with the ball’s position, you can try pushing the ball forward and then pinning it at the precise moment when it reaches the right location. This can be rather challenging. However, constant practice will make this task much easier.
The usefulness of pinning is debatable. This is because on many non-professional foosball tables, the ball can be quite slick and the task of pinning is very difficult and has no practical application. The main application of pinning is the development of pin-based skills, such as shots on goal that start out with a pin position, and also some passes. However, with commercial and low-quality tables, executing these shots can be difficult. Despite all this, pinning should still be practiced because it improves your ability to grab the ball when it is almost beyond reach. Proficiency in pinning limits your chances of losing the ball to the opposing player.
Conclusion
For these drills to be effective, you must practice them on your own and frequently. Skill comes with practice, and ball control is no exception. You will find that despite the efforts involved, these skills are worthwhile. After having practiced this sufficiently, you will be ready to develop your own powerful shot and other advanced techniques. The best of luck on your foosball development!
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