Keeping balls out of the goal.� Sounds easy enough but remember this, there are more the 5 foosball wholes in the goal and you have only 2 men you can get in front of the goal at any time.� If you block even half of the shots on goal you are doing a good job.� Consider this, if you consider a goalies jobs in order of importance, they are like this:� 1.� Clear the ball back down field if you have it in your area (do not give it to the other teams 3-bar)� 2.� Keep slop (loose bouncing balls, rattling balls and that stuff) out of the goal.� 3.� Block shots.� Notice blocking shots is third on the list!

Purpose

Help you feel better about what you are doing on defense.

Basics

Clear the ball:� So, you have the ball in your goal area and you want to do something with it.� Well you have already over thought it.� Hit it hard, don't be afraid to use a crazy angle, and avoid the other teams 3-bar like the plaque.� You simple must clear the ball.� Do not let the other team get it back on the 3-bar.� Smack it hard, down field.� If it even goes towards the goal that is a bonus.� Trying to score all the time from the goal is very dangerous.� The other team will steal the ball way more often then you will score.

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Keep the "slop" out of the goal.� The ball will come at you straight, and it will come at angles and sometimes it will come at you bouncing around crazy.� If you can keep these balls out of the goal, you have a very good chance of winning..� How to do this, first, tilt your man back and slide it against one of the edges of the goal and leave it there.� Second, use your 2 man bar to try and block the ball "away" from the goal.� If the ball is coming from the right, try to block it back into the corner.� Just a touch with the 2 bar can mean the difference between a goal and a block.

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Block shots.� Do yourself a favor, DO NOT LEARN THIS SHOT.� Just skip ahead 12 months to the pull shot, you will switch to it sooner or later.� Everyone starts with the push shot because it is easy, then the regret it because it is worthless.� Everyone can block the push shot very well.�� See the movies. (Never mind, there is no movie because this shot is worthless)

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Pull Kick:� Start the ball on the far man of the 3-bar.� Pull the ball rapidly to the middle man and shoot it.� Also there are several dinks you can add to it.� This is a very powerful shot, but it is so very hard to master.� Even if you master it you can still have trouble being consistent.� We do not recommend this shot.�� See the movies.

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Push Kick:� Start the ball on the near man of the 3-bar.� Push it to the middle man and slap it home.�� This shot is even worse the the Pull Kick.� This shot is harder and slower then the pull kick.� But you can see the goal/wholes in the defense very well?� We do not recommend this shot.� See the movies.

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Euro or Front Toe:� Start the ball under the front toe.� With a whip motion you shoot the ball to one side or another.�This shot is very hard to learn.� The pull side is very natural, but the push is hard to learn.� Now in Europe most everyone shoots it, hence the name.� In the USA we use the pull shot.� You need to learn more about the different table styles and rules of play to understand why.� We have no movie.

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Tic Tack Shot:� Bounce the ball back and forth between your men on the 3-bar at random then "slap" the ball into the goal. �This is a great shot "style".� If you learn to shoot a tic tack you will get better at foosball very rapidly.� I still feel a pull shot or a rollover will score more often, but you will be better at foosball and ball control if you shoot a tic tack.� No movie, I am sure you get the idea about this shot style.

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Shooting-101 will be available soon, for now learn these techniques.