Topic: Rebirth of fooseball for me

[BenJammin]

Hey folks,
   When I was between the ages of 15-19 me and a friend dove in head 1st into the world of fooseball and got rediculously good. Now at 51 my friend and I have played about6 times in last 3-4 months and soon to be more often than than (much more) since he just got a Tornado 3000. We didnt learn on tornados back then, in fact we played on Million dollar game (Tourn soccer) coin ops. Ive finally just started (a glimpse of speed) to win some games now and wrists starting to loosen up BUT there are some things I do remember and miss from the million dollar tables the T3000 doesnt offer that I think If I was (am actively looking for a mill dollar) on a mil $ table would help my game. The few things I miss that the t3000 doesnt have are and this is most important "Solid steel rods." They are heavier and i remember the speed and force my shot had. So much so U may be in place to block the shot, but so much speed and force would often score my shot if you didnt have tight grip in your handles, 2nd thing I think I really miss were those thin plastic handles, combined w heavy rods also had a lot to do w the torque and english i used to have, and 3rd the more rounded men. Now I understand Im not the player I once was, but determined to get good again. I like the T3000, but if it had the solid rods (the grips are ok) I believe my game would improve. Does Tornado Offer an option of solid rods for the t3000 or the T3000 is what it is? Plus I know Tornados come w 1 goalie which is what I like, but most seem to have 3. Any insights?

[hackjob]

I'd suggest you get a good set of ttr wraps and learn most of this video... I think you'll adjust quickly and be happy... It's a great table... just different... I survived the transition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA5oWri-RZk&list=PL32C2818A77DC5F60&index=21

In my experience, customizations are generally frowned upon in the tornado players world.  Experienced players whine about imaginary table roll and day old balls, so introducing solid heavy rods is not a good idea for a few reasons.  This includes shot timing, arm strain, rod figure spacing, and guest handicap.  And the one man goalie... well your tornado foos friends will feel naked, lost, and stoned in a field each time the ball stalls at the ramp.

As another example, over the years Tornado itself has periodically introduced small manufacturing variances that lead to different play characteristics.  Playfield, rods, handles, sidestips, figures etc each resulted in endless chatter, and years of debate and some disappointment amongst finely tuned players.  Now for you to conciously revert to solid rods and a one man goalie...well that's crazy 70s talk! 

If you still need the TS love, you could buy an old one for a few hundred bucks, pick up the newer warrior (yes it plays like a TS a bit), or if your lucky get hold of the itsf fireball 1man goalie model.  If you can find one of Dennis' blue dream machines...

Oh ya, my suspicion is each table is engineered with quite specific figure spacing.  Substituting different rods may introduce serious playability issues unless spacing and playfield dimensions are reviewed very closely.  I have heard wasted $ stories about dead bar holes and bearing slipouts.  The only rods I would consider over tornados would be the shelti qpq's or fireball qpq's.  Besides both being made of unobtainium, they are both too expensive and totally unnecessary as the matte finish tornado rods are really good and "the standard".
yo yo foos!

fyi:
http://www.kickerkult.de/epages/61190833.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61190833/Categories/20000/Stangen

http://shop.foosball.com/setof8tsrods.html

[BenJammin]

It is def 70's lol no doubt. I wasnt actually talking about making any customizations to a ts table at all, just restore to the feel they originally came with. My buddy has a T3000 I am starting to adjust too and at the same time work on reaquiring my speed. Difficult but it will in time come back w steady play. Its just Im mentally tuned to the heavy rods and the physical whip that was part of it. The T3000 is more finesse and less physical and I have no choice but to learn a new approach. How and why did tornado take over the scene? Those heavy rods back in the day lol, I would tell an opponent exactly the pull shot was coming, where it was going, and there was nothing they could do about it. I was 16-17, they were in mid 30's and didnt like the fact they knew what was coming but helpless. Back then I fed off the heavy rods. But I guess as life goes, everything changes and I will make the transition. At least the table Ill be spending most of my time on is tournament calibur. Im gonna watch the video now, Ill keep ya posted on my progress and not shy to seek help or advice to improve my game. I want to be damn close if not as good as I once was..
70's LOL well it was 78-81 or 82 i lived on a mill dollar table! 

[Old Meister]

Yours is a familiar story as it was my own too. I hated how my 70's game wouldn't work well on a Tornado table.  I now have a Warrior table and it bridges the gap nicely.

[man caveman]

Benjammin , I think you should start looking for a retirement home that has an old foosball table.seriously I'm in my 50s and remember playing on old dynamo tables. It was mostly tic tac + push and pull shots . I rember the bank and power shots too. The thing I miss the most though are limber wrists and arms.