The official table in the US for most tournaments (including Texas States, Worlds, and Nationals) is the Tornado table. It has a 3-man goalie and is an evolution of the German style tables into what is the modern American hardball style of table (also found on Dynamo and Shelti tables). It's just about the only table used in tournaments from Maine to Washington, DC, and then across to Louisiana--and west from those points through Chicago, Dallas, Denver, etc out through California and Washington state. If you want a tournament-style table, this is the one to get in the US right now, they're built like a tank so aside from the occasional broken man (quite rare, really) you just need to keep it clean and maybe lubricate the rods once in a while. Shelti also has an excellent quality table, it does play differently from Tornado (grippier, wider feet on the men) but it's also a rugged, well-built, good-playing table.
A few parts of the US have tournaments on French-style Bonzini tables, which use 1-man goalie rod and have banks in the corners of the table. This is mostly limited to southern Virginia down through northern Florida, but throughout most of that area Tornado is still more common (Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina are some of the strongest Tornado bases on the east coast). States like VA and NC have 2 state tournaments, one on each table. The Bonzini table plays a more clay-court style--slower and grippier, more cuts and angles and less lateral speed. The men are metal and have very narrow feet. It's a very rugged table as well, but the cork balls do need to be replaced regularly as they get bent out of shape.
http://www.bonziniusa.com for more info, last time I checked they were pretty pricey.
I think the last common single-goalie table for US tournaments was the Tournament Soccer table which went out of fashion in the early 1980s (maybe Jim or someone can correct me if the early Dynamos were single-goalie). You can still find used TS tables, but their men are pretty breakable so be prepared to do a lot of maintenance work. They're somewhere between Tornado and Bonzini in play style. To go with the tennis analogy, maybe the Rebound Ace of foosball tables.
There was one big tournament on Warrior tables last year (a new single goalie table) but they seem to have failed to survive in the marketplace. Those tables felt flimsier anyway (still better than the standard fare you'll get at Sears, Harvard or whatever...)
3 Replies
9873 Views