Foosball has, over the years, become a game appreciated and loved by many people. It can also be referred to as table football or soccer and entails playing a table-top game similar to soccer. Improving your skills in the game is an option worth considering whether you play the game professionally or as a hobby. It makes the game more fun for you and competitive for a win; hence, it’s essential to know some hacks on how to become a better Foosball player. Playing Foosball to the best of your ability requires practice, time, and persistence. If you own your own table, ensure you keep the foosball table maintained so you do not experience irregularities.
If you’re interested, see some of the best foosball tables for your home to make practice so much easier. If you’re looking for something that is more of a centerpiece with a foosball theme, here are some of the best coffee/foosball tables currently available.
Playing Defense
The first and most crucial aspect of Foosball is to always be in control of the game. Playing defense is the only way to do it so that your opponent does not get a chance to score. Therefore, you should always keep your men moving in a defensive posture that confuses the opponent. While playing defense, make sure your timing and speed are aligned to intercept any shots the opponent may make. Improving your speed and timing allow you to block your opponent’s shots more accurately and quickly switch to offense. Once you play defense, scoring becomes more straightforward as you control the tempo and become the aggressor on a consistent basis. Ensure that you have lined up your men to allow for scoring opportunities after a defensive block.
Install a Passing Strategy
In Foosball, ball control during possession is critical, just like playing defense. Supplement your defensive strategy with accurate passing for quick scoring opportunities. It would be best if you improved on your passing to take your game to the next level. Foosball being more of a mental game, you must realize where you can score from and what is the best bar to use as your defense. Scoring from the 5 bar is quite hard. Therefore, the 5 bar is best used as a defensive area while the 3 bar is perfect as a quick strike option. A shot from the 3 bar has one less bar to block your shot; hence you must make it count. Know who you want to pass to for the best shot opportunities.
Relaxed Grip
While playing Foosball, its essential that you are always relaxed and no pressure to make the best out of it. Relaxing your grip ensures that you are coordinated and fast enough to switch bars while passing around or making a score. Too much pressure on the handles can make you accidentally spin the rods, which is illegal in the game (see How to Play Foosball by the Rules) and damaging to the table.
While playing, you should stay relaxed and hold the handles with your knuckles on top and a loosely wrapped thumb. That way, defense and shooting become easy for you since you do not use so much time to switch to the next bar.
Serving
The serve is essential to improving your Foosball game. While you should make the thumb serve after you flip a coin, serves that follow a score can be beneficial for the serving player. Once you perfect serving the ball to your players and not your opponent’s, it will be easier for you to pass the ball around and make a score. If you are making a serve from the back, you can backspin the ball to make it come back to the 5-bar. Quick control will allow you to take control for a fast “pass and shoot” combo that could take your opponent off-guard. While it is important to take decisive action, maintaining control of the ball until the proper moment is essential. Don’t waste a good serve by being too eager!
Passing Techniques
Your passing technique is different from your passing strategy in that your technique relates to how well you can make the ball go where you want it to go. Passing the ball accurately is crucial for you as either a new player or a pro. While you are passing, ensure your men are angled to anticipate the passes and use little effort to zip the ball to its chosen location. As a wise and skilled player, you can also take advantage of the walls and use them ricochet the ball to another man or even score.
Passing patterns are easily picked apart by opponents. As you progress in experience, you will learn to become more random in your techniques. Keeping your opponent guessing what your next move will be is paramount to taking advantage of their weaknesses.
