Foosball.com General Chat Forum
0701K8: 10:25 PM
This is a very interesting discussion, with all the switch vs noswitch, shake motions to confuse the forward, etc...
We learn D here in Florida, by having watched Bobby and Terry and Tom and Mike Yore, and Russ King or Todd even, of course, over the last two decades. From both sides. It's funny, but it's math, although more like poker or cardcounting math than algebraic equations. It's extremely simple. The honorable Mr. Ronzilla O calls them "Trigger Points", according to Kyle and the other guys who come and visit from Michigan. We call them "Release Points" or "Killshot Lanes".
Most good rookies & low semipros have one killshot and one lane (spray or square-on) that they practice to the point of madness. And perhaps another less practiced lane (same style shot or another, doesn't really matter). DVD's and streaming online championships bear this out. More experienced experts and pros have two solid kill lanes, perhaps a third. Pro masters have three or more, which is probably why their friends and associates think them mad when they're practicing.
From a baseball standpoint, the goalkeeper is like a batter (no RBIs of course) protecting the plate. Whatever the skill level of the pitcher, you cannot let the pitcher get in the groove, meaning the batter is leaving the kill lane/s open. Or fakes covering it and then leaves it open. Look to yourselves when you practice shooting: Do you shoot a thousand times through the first far dot, then shoot the next thousand through the point between the first two far dots, then the 2nd dot, and so forth?
Not at all ... most humans will shoot and practice 1-3 kill lanes or release points. And their body memory remembers better each time they practice or shoot those lanes. What are the five basic lanes? Straight, 1/4, split, 3/4, and long? A lot of pullshooters will pick, say a pump through the 1/4 and the long, whether they square or dbar it, or they spray from the the 3/4 dot. Many snakers will have a very square long on one side and a spray 3/4 to the long on the other side. Or some other mix.
At the higher levels of play, even if the goalkeeper does heavy motion or stands still like Bobby or goes Mr. Smoothie like Todd and Terry, or mixes it up.. if the goalkeeper has done their homework and checked what lanes the forwards shoot almost 95% of the time... (hopefully less than 3) they can brick the other ProMaster or Pro. Even if one blocks at the high level very well for a game, maybe two, an opposing experience forward can shoot the same lanes with the same stroke, just by adjusting their feet, 2inches back, an inch more to the right, etc.. Thus you can have blowouts for a game, then bricks the next.
Better forwards will have a very consistent "automatic" and this is special because if that is open within the splitsecond they are ready, it's gone. The "automatic" can be a "7" from one side of the big dot to the other, or either white line of the small box, or perhaps a 3/4 or a pump. The "automatic" is the ultimate body memory shot (see Michael Jordan shooting blind). Do you really think Tracy or Johnny Horton or even Rico will shoot a lane (angled or square on) they haven't spent over 10-15 years burning into their left brain and their right musculature? Do you see why some motions are so wasteful, blocking points they will shoot through maybe 3 percent of the time or less?
Whether you move, or jump from point to point (you know these guys on video), you just make sure your goalkeeper and either 2bar player is blocking 2 of the probable kill lanes. How? by watching them... as much as you can.. their kill lanes won't change. Michael Jordan never just started shooting hook shots from different perimeter spots instead of his jumper - he never felt like it. At Pedro Martinez' or Rocket's peaks, they didn't suddenly develop a curve ball to a different strikezone corner or a splitfinger to the knees they hadn't practiced for at least thousands of times! Think about it..
The better the scorer, the more consistent their kill lanes are! Against an expert, say with 65 percent longs and 27 percent straights, whatever your motion or non-motion, if you can have your players blocking those lanes at the point of shooting, you have a great chance to brick them. Against a stronger forward, with 2 kill lanes and perhaps a decent third lane, if you can consistently have your goalkeeper player and either 2bar blocking their "favorite" lanes, they cannot consistently shoot better than 33%!
So hang a player (goalkeeper or 2bar) to block the "automatic" during each first half second when the forward is ready to shoot, and also during each "lull" when you can see them reset their waiting series. Use the other player to block the other holes. You yourselves that are forwards know how super it feels to groove to your favorite two lanes! Your passing gets better, your whole game improves! But even on nights that you're mi***ting and somehow scoring on off-lanes, it doesn't feel good at all! Just like hitting your head against a brick wall, again and again. And you know how bad it feels when they just seem to be covering exactly where you want to shoot.
Doesn't matter what style you use or what you try to convince the forward you're doing (who, in their mind's eye, probably doesn't even see or hear you if they've practiced enough). You have to be at two of the release points at the moment of shooting! And you have to sit on their absolute favorite automatic lane, perhaps almost 80% of the time. Wild huh? Just watch (preferably while they're playing others) how many times the forward shoots a shot and at which lanes. Remember the percentages and which is the automatic!
Switching back and forth? Don't know the forward's fave lane or two? Go neutral & cut the goal area into five imaginary swaths. Standard or reverse or far 2bar reverse.. a shaking motion between 4 different areas should basically cover 80% of the goal! Ex. near 2bar going from the near (straight) dot to the pump (2/3rd dot) while the goalkeeper shakes between the big dot (split) and the long. Or whatever combination you want. This is usually good enough against rookies and low semipros. But if they adjust, then you have to remember their lanes and how far sideways they adjust. But know the percentages.. and then it really becomes a game.
That's my 2000 cents, speaking of gas, hopefully some of you will make sense of it.. Works down here! And I still laugh.. its all math and percentages! But then you poker players know all about that, too!
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