The Day of Games – Leagues, Gear, Awesome times.

PART VII of the series… “Should I Apply to Become an About.com Guide? No.”

Playing 2-person foosball requires a real focus on strategy if you really want to win. Many people jump up to the foosball table at bars and don’t quite know what they are doing. If you want to actually notch some W’s on the foosball table, check out this collection of tips.

Teamwork:
It’s imperative to communicate with your teammate while playing the game.  The defense can move the ball up in one of two methods.  There is the full-field-kick attempt or the deliberate-passing style of play.  If the defense has decided to go for full-field-kicks, then the person controlling the offensive foosball players should turn the rod so that all of the players have their legs facing their own goal.  This will prevent them from blocking the ball moving forward and it will allow the players a quick 90 degree rod turn in order to get them back into position.  If the defense wants to try passing the ball forward to the midfielders, there needs to be some sort of verbal communication to achieve a completed pass.

Strategy for Offensive Play:

• Controlled ball movement is the best way to play the game, but it also requires the most amount of skill.  If your opponent never has the opportunity to touch the ball, then they will obviously be at a disadvantage!  As you get better and better, you will slowly move away from full-field-kicks and focus more on a controlled version of foosball.

• Take many shots on goal. The goalie usually cannot retain the ball so it will slowly dribble back toward the forwards.  It’s OK to have a happy trigger when it comes to shooting in foosball.

• A successful tool for goal scoring is to angle your shots. As mentioned above with the wall passes, you can use the corner of the player’s feet and take shots that will be very difficult for the goalie to stop.

Strategy for Defensive Play:

• Aligning your goalie and one defender to block the goal is a standard position for your defense to remain in as long as the ball is up toward your offense.  This provides the best chance to block a long shot that could come from your opponent.  Believe it or not, goalies score in foosball all the time because defenders are not in position!

• Once the ball is in your defensive zone and the forwards from your opponent are about to take a shot, revert from your standard position and try and keep your players in front of the ball.   Aimlessly sliding the goalie back and forth will not help you win.

• Keep your defenders feet to the ground! Too many goals are scored because the defenders bodies are parallel to the table.  It’s impossible to kick the ball if the defenders feet are not down.

• Angled passing is a great method to get the ball out of the defensive zone. Just like wall passes, and forwards attempting shots on goal, the defenders can use the angled pass in order to clear the ball.
If you can employ even half of the tips mentioned above, you should have a leg up on your opponents. Foosball tactics are easy to learn and even easier to execute. Go out there and win!