Topic: shooting practice

[elfman88]

How often does everyone practice their shooting? every day? multiple times? a few times a week?
Also, when you do, how many reps of each shoot is satisfactory for you? how about the pro's, how many do they usually do?
I know this could be different for a lot of people, but i'd just like to get an idea of a practice schedule put in place before i decide to go to my first tournament.

thanks

[SumnerH]

How often does everyone practice their shooting? every day? multiple times? a few times a week?
Also, when you do, how many reps of each shoot is satisfactory for you? how about the pro's, how many do they usually do?
I know this could be different for a lot of people, but i'd just like to get an idea of a practice schedule put in place before i decide to go to my first tournament.

IMO, if you can put a few options on goal most of the time then it's never worth it until you're at a very high level of play.  You will get plenty of practice with the shot in game circumstances, practice time is better devoted to ball control first and passing second.

If you're just shooting a snake for the first time it's worth an afternoon of practice to get the idea, but your shot will improve more quickly if you spend time working on passing in practice than if you spend time working on shooting.

The most important skills in shooting are only learned shooting against live opponents.

If you practice passing, you then get to use that skill in live games against real opponents, and then when you succeed you get to shoot against live opponents.  If you don't spend most of your time working on passing, you will get fewer chances to shoot the ball against live opponents, and each possession there reading the defense and picking the holes is worth loads of alone time going around deadbars.

[Chase Pennell]

I disagree with Sumner a little....i practice about 2-3 hours a day on average... all around the table shooting, passing and fun stuff, I am a rookie and have had success at tournaments i practice alone alot..more often then with other people around...This allows you to make a ton os shots and know where your ball will travel (back to your question) On a good day i will take about 40-100 shots just because i like the sound the ball makes when it hits the goal!! Given that sounds kinda dumb but it works for me just dont "burn your arm out"  At tournaments there is alot of foosball to be played and if you dont have the stamina you wont last the whole weekend!
i feel the key is to be comfortable on the table...just having you hands on table moving the ball around i think is a huge help! The only time that i like living competition is when i want to see if the things that i have practiced are going to help my game at all...Just b4 a tourny i like to practice as much as humanly possible just so i am comforable on the table 4-5 hours a day...The key to success at tounrament is the 5-bar becasue if you cant get the ball then you cant win!!

[DeadMan]

Wow, I see both Chase and Sumner's points. I would say that if you're a beginner then you need to make sure that what you practice is correct. You play how you practice. If you use bad form when practicing then you will surely do it at the tourney. Learn to hit the ball squarely and then learn the different holes. WHether it's a rollover or a pull you need to be comfortable with the variations of the shot. Practice until it's just as easy to hit a middle or short as it is a long. Then you can go out and learn when to shoot what.

As far as how long to practice, that would really depend on your ability to pick up the game. My coordination is not great so it takes more practice for me to develop passing skills.

[snake eyes]

I have been playing competitively for about 5 years, The first year i was diligent about praticing a couple of hours a day. The more DYP local tournaments i signed up for the less time i spent honing my skills. If you are playing against solid players you WILL pickup good passing and shooting habits. We have a weekley DYP in the town i live in and thats the only practice i need to stay sharp for larger tournaments sanctioned by USTSA. Be sure not to burn yourself out.

Snake

[justanotherhacker]

How often does everyone practice their shooting? every day? multiple times? a few times a week?
Also, when you do, how many reps of each shoot is satisfactory for you? how about the pro's, how many do they usually do?
I know this could be different for a lot of people, but i'd just like to get an idea of a practice schedule put in place before i decide to go to my first tournament.

thanks

All of the previous posts are very good.  You should try to practice everything, passing, shooting, setting the ball in the shooting position, etc.  How to practice would really depend on how proficient you are at certain things.  I would recommend practicing your shot every day to help develop muscle memory. 

Try this:

Practice your shot for 15-20 minutes
take a break
practice your 5-rod passing for 15-20 minutes
take a break
Then practice your shooting some more
break
then practice more passing

A couple of notes:
when practicing passing, especially if a newer player, drop the ball to yourself from the serving hole each time you practice executing your pass.  You cannot reach in and place the ball on your 5-rod in a game so don't do it while practicing

when practicing shooting, always practice setting the ball up(not with your hand) before shooting.  for example of shooting a rollover, put the ball on the near man of the 3-rod and kick it to the midle man to set up the initial pin, then shoot.

also vary your timing when you practice, as if it were a real game situation.

many players shoot to quickly during games because they shoot quickly when practicing.

The last drill of the practice session could be as follows

drop to your 5-rod, (take your time), pass the ball to the 3-rod, set up the shot, (take your time), shoot your shot, mark the point (if scored).

If the ball doesn't drop to your 5-man, start the process over
if you drop your pass, start over
if you lose the ball off of the 3-rod because your phone rang, start over
if you don't score the shot (even if the bal bounces back to your 3-rod), start over

Each time you successfully, drop-pass-shoot-score, then mark the point
every time you have to start over, mark your invisible opponents point.

practice this drill and set a goal for the session.  Start with I want to win (5-4 would do)

next time I will repeat until I can win 5-3
continue to set the goal higher, make the goal hard to achieve but not unattainable for your ability.

hope that helps.

Pat R

[marty]

thats got to be some off the best advise i'v read yet , i'll try