Topic: Passing 2-bar to 5-bar

[FoosFan]

In what situations do you attempt to pass from the 2-bar to the 5-bar in singles play? 

Do you take into account
a) the score?
b) your opponent's tactics or strategy?
c) table conditions?

Which criterion is most important to you and why?

[B,inSA]

i struggle with that.cant help but shoot it

[B,inSA]

although i unfortunately play on a harvard. i have the long bank as an option.

[gitablok]

Will comment later after work

[Sniffler]

OK, I can speak to this a little bit. I have a fairly decent 2 to 5 series. I always open with it, reason being because the risk to reward ratio can be very high. So I want to  figure out early if my opponent is good at blocking it. If they are and they take it from you early you can still recover, if it happens late it could be over for you.

So the score I don't really take into account it's more about the momentum and if they can D up on it at all. My opponents strategy has nothing to do with mine so - no on that one.
Now table conditions could be a factor for using it more. If the 2 rod is a noodle and hard to shoot with I will prolly start passing to my 5.   


 Also it saves your arm BIGTIME. Shooting from goal tends to wear on my arm more than the 3 rod so I save it for when I really need a point.
I completely recommend everyone making a 2 to 5 series part of your singles game.

[FoosFan]

...it's more about the momentum...

So you would consider passing 2-5 if you had momentum but not if your opponent had momentum?

[bbtuna]

this depends on how good you are at it and how good they are at blocking whatever you have

if you are good enough, like Fred, you pass every time because it works out in your favor if you can do it sucessfully 95%+ of the time

if not, you need to consider what Sniff has said

try it in the beginning to know how well you can do against the other player
do it often as long as it is sucessful
don't do it if you don't get a high % through
especially don't do it if there is doubt and Mr. Mo is not on your side or you are coming down to the wire

[pinalyzer]

If you are not beating them on the 5, you might want to consider hammering from the back.
What I mean is...Rico beats so many people on the five that it makes sense to get it to his five which in turn means getting it to his 3.  Which also Rico beats so many people on.

If you are not shooting well from the 3 and even though you are beating them on the 5 you would want to put pressure on their defense and try scorring from in back to loosen up their defense against your 3 and 5.

Myself...I would like to try a 2 to 5 series, however, So many people have pointed out to me that I score quite a few from in back.  While I can beat most people on the five and can even score on the 3, I seem to end up scoring more from in back. 

I have noticed that people post that PMs like Terry Moore and others seem to win their matches by scoring from the back.

So... in the days of 2 out of 3 matches can you risk losing a few posessions, maybe points, when trying to establish a 2 to 5 series.  It just comes down to what is working, if you think you can score from in back then fire away, if you have trouble with a certain zone defense, go to the 2 to 5. If you can pass 90% or so from the 2 to the 5 then that would be a risk I would take and might during the next tourney in the early rounds to see how it works,
Experimenting
The Pinalyzer

[Sniffler]

very good point - I was taking for granted that you are successfuly completing your 5 to 3 passing. If not what's the point? Your better percentage is to shoot. I haven't seen too many people who are good 2 to 5 that aren't at least decent on the 5, but I'm sure they are out there.

[Will17]

In theory the best way to make the decision is weather your scoring percentage is higher shooting from the 2 or completing a pass from the 2-5 then 5-3 then scoring from the three. The other things to take into consideration are how often you give the ball to the opponents 3 bar. If your shots consistently get blocked but always come back to you then you haven’t lost anything(except a bit of arm). If your passes get through but he intercepts the next pass or blocks and controls your shot then shooting from the 2 bar seems worth it.

[grandmaster]

Remember it's a steal world and livin' with the ball is the way to be. If they're a sucker for the 2-5 pass then fine, otherwise stick to basics like shoot and rebound. And what about the 2-3 pass? As long as the only turnover you make is when you score a point you will win. Give them the serve, take it away and score. Repeat until you reach 5 points. PU it's a skunk.

[Steve]

That will be the norm in the future Tony S has saet the Bar for singles.

[foosinaround69]

I never used to do the 2-5 bar series but now I use it almost everytime I play. It is a challenge for some to block. Also I do a 2-3 bar as well. This way if they block the one series I have the other to rely on as well!!! On the same note if they think I'm going to pass to my 3 bar I can quickly pass to my 5 bar and catch em off guard!! It's a nice rewarding series The way I do it is when I'm hitting the ball back and forth from goalie to the 2 bar, I look to see if they are in front of it, if they aren't,  I'll smoothly go to the five row(from the goalie man)...If they are,  I'll set up the series where I go back and forth to find my opening, of which the far wall is open usually or pull the ball from the far man stop it with near two man and pass it straight to my three row about an inch off the wall

[FoosFan]

Do Bonzini players prefer passing 2-5 since the men are not counterweighted?

[grandmaster]

What about the 3-5 or 3-2 passes? Very embarrassing to the opponent if executed correctly.                                             See you- across the table!