Topic: pull shot problems...

[jadam984]

I'm a long-time hack who recently bought a table in hopes of finessing my game so I can have remote chance at victory against my foos-addicted friends. I'm trying to practice my pull shot as described in excellent detail here and elsewhere. I'm getting quite adept at shooting a relatively fast pull shot with one major problem: I  can't seem to shoot the ball anywhere but smack dab in the center of the goal where it's most easily defended. I might get away with it once, but once my friends notice that all the shots go right down the pipe, they'll simply park their goalie there and proceed to annihilate me.

I've learned to set up the shot and fake the pull and then chip it right in the left side of the goal, but if I try to pull and shoot to the right side of the goal, or even back to the left, it almost ALWAYS goes right down the middle or hits the wall just right of the goal. There doesn't seem to be any in between.

I suspect it has something to do with my grip or my stance that's preventing me from having more control over the ball. Should I just keep practicing, or is there a good tip for easily correcting this? My friends are coming to town on Friday and I'm hoping to get at least one win in!

 

[wildcard]

try setting your 2-bar toe-forward right on the middle dot, then set your pull up. Instead of trying to blaze the shot, practice slowly pulling the ball (called "the toss") to just past the jutting toed-out man, then shoot it straight in. Once you can do this slowly, try speeding up a little bit. After you can do it there relatively easily at higher speed, move the toed-out man farther long to the next dot, and start over. Soon you should be able to pull and release the shot to the dot of your choice.

[bbtuna]

wildcards advice is very good...do that...don't move that 2 bar man past the white dot until you can easily go around it at full speed pretty much every time 9 out of 10...then move it like half the width of the man's foot past the big dot (toward the long pull hole or right side of the goal as you face it)...start slow smooth like Wildcard said and keep increasing up your speed until you are going around it 8 or 9 out of 10 , then move it another 1/2 of man and so on...this is the way all my friends learned to shoot the pull and they all got good pretty fast

find a stance which allows your right arm to move without being hindered even if you pull the rod all the way from one side of the table to the other...make sure this stance allows your shoulder to become a pivot point...once you have this stance, use this same stance every time

practice, practice, practice

[foosinaround69]

One of the important things to do as these guys said is get a good stance. I tried many different ones for many years till I actually found one I really like and works.  I  think too  that how tall you are is in conjunction to your pull and stance. Why ? Well, when I stand on my toes I can pull it different then when I normally shoot.( I am only 5'7) You have different leverage on the ball. When I shoot it the way I normally do I tend to lean over the table slightly as to get better leverage. When I stand taller abit I do not need to. I know this might sound strange but try it and you will see as others did too, that it is fact. So, my suggestion is to keep switching until you find what works best.(im not saying shoot while on your toes though) Everyone is different shapes and sizes and just by doing something just alittle different in your stance or moving the toe of the man helps you hone in on what you need to stick with. This friend of mine shoots his pull with the ball way back with a strange stance and I always wondered why, but he shoots it well. I had to shoot it like these guys said to do, real slow and get your timing down then do it faster when you get used to it. I too tried different spots on the ball and on the table and now I can shoot one, even though it took me forever to get the feel of what a good pull should feel like.  Also, your grip has to be comfortable not too hard, not too soft. It's up to you on which is better. I like too envision it like a whip and go fot it. It really doesn't have to be super fast, just accurate. Fast does help though but worry about that later. just my 2 cents!!!  Good luck!!!   as bbtuna said Practice!!!!