Topic: Change of speed

[Old Meister]

I hope you guys don't get tired of me reminiscing. One of the ways to get to a good goalie is setting him up with either fast or slow moves in the shot set-up. Even a slower shot creates the need for incredible time reactions if it should be shot in a surprising area and angle. Case in point; I used to do a tap tap dance between the close and far man on the 3 line back and forth and then mix the middle man almost like setting a rythm and then doing a quick double time only to then do a dink push from the side. How much time do you have to react and how fast does the ball get from man to goal? If the goalie is keeping up to your moves he has a problem slowing down for the dink. And the opposite is true. When I moved to Oregon in 1979 my wife(my goalie) and I went looking for some action and finally found where the weekly tournaments were being held. I played my herky jerky style with fast back pin reversals  while my wife, God bless her, shot a 3/4 speed control game of picking angles and switches from in back. Our first game was against the two guys that seemed pretty good but we skunked them, er SHE skunked them. They tried to keep up to my stuff and she picked them apart because they over reacted. These boys had won all the tournaments for the past two months and they were pissed. I never did get them to warm up to us. Oh well,,, But the point I'm trying to make is setting up a shot can have so many variables. Make them think your a rowdy power player and finish them with finess or hide your power until you need it. One thing I've learned in competition is to make your opponent guess who you are. Never say anything to make them think you are second guessing your skill against theirs. Don't give them anything unless it is on your terms. Control is what this game is about and there are many levels of control. If you can make your opponent start guessing you can beat him.

[B,inSA]

I cant speak for everyone, but i love reading your old stories, or anticdotes, tips , tricks and knowledge. Keep it up , please! BTW im gettin pretty good with that pinch -to-the-middle shot. its really not that difficult and it looks sweet! maybe sometime you will have the time to better explain that shot you used against those kids fer  a buck last week. Some kinda whip right? first we should start with what exactly a whip is.

[Old Meister]

Ah, terminology,,, I have to admit you guys leave me behind with today's lingo and I have no doubts about it better describing shot or techniques. I can only describe the shots and play as we called it in those days. The 'whip' was simply a pull with the far man on the 3 bar. Done correctly you actually compressed the rubber bumper on the rod so it went farther than seemed possible. It pushed the limits of what that shot could do as far as how far behind the bar the ball went before being shot and it was sometimes set up with actually being pushed towards the far wall in a lazy fashion over and then in front of the rod slightly before being picked up in a reversal move that was huge in it's length and power. It was a thing of beauty when done to the max. An exclamation point!

[B,inSA]

thats how i pictured it. kinda a pull with the far 3 man or a push with the close three man, but the ball moves just a little bit closer twards your own goal than usual, right? then by the time you hit it, the defense thinks its too late for you. but its not, is it O M

[Old Meister]

You got it. It pushed the limits in every direction, front of bar to back of bar, compressing the cushion and feel was your guide. Now I'd like to ask you a question being that I admitted my lack of knowing about today's terminology. What is a Euro pin? And what is a roll over shot? Is it a back pin 350 degree spin(like a snake) on a lateral movement or what? In what I've noticed about the Tornado tables and the shots that are used, it seems that the men are longer so that the ball is farther away from the bar on the pin thus making it much more difficult to play a back pin for a shot. If this is true what were they thinking? To take away so much of the possible variables in the game, it seems a crime.

[B,inSA]

from what i know, yes the roll-over and snake are the same. i dont yet comprehend the back-pin. just cant picture what you do after you pin it in the back position. and i still have yet to play on a tornado.

[Old Meister]

A back pin is simply pinning the ball to the table with pressure by the man on top of the ball when the ball is in back of the bar. Then a forward move or backward move with man contact on the ball you can execute a shot. That shot can simply be a pull and the hit or a push and hit but these are easy to block. That is why the rocking of the ball is used to make your opponent react and then the shot. But the shot might also be a pull to you and then a change in direction in the form of a push or the opposite. By keeping contact with the ball you draw the ball inline with the bar and can do these shots.

[hacker]

yes, roll-over and snake are the same thing ... ball in a front pin (ball in front of rod) with wrist on the handle. The Euro is the ball in a front pin also, but your hand on the handle as you would with any other shot (push, pull, etc.)

[Old Meister]

So a player with big hands has an advantage it would seem. Since Tornado has done so much to direct the play by table design maybe they should make one more change by making the handles easily replaceable so players could customize their own handles. Now wouldn't it be interesting to take that one step further and allow you to install your own bar and men? I wonder what would be the final configuration should that happen. Any type man within a certain width limitation, and different weights  of bar. The ball would have to be standardized though.