Fooskiller, I really like your writing, I wish I could spend a few months with you, I am certain it would improve my game a ton. You are obviously a teacher and I really respect that.
I haven't seen your method of teaching a pull used and you seem to have had some success with it so I won't argue with you about that.
I have real emotion behind having the right technique, because I've had so many dear friends and partners who shot pulls, but have all fallen by the wayside because their technique wore down their tendons and destroyed their foosball careers. They all started with the same 3finger, 2finger, 1finger and this turned them into yanking pullshooters who, when they needed that square long, eventually blew out their wrist, their elbow, or even their rotator cuffs. Several of them now just watch.. because their arthritic calcified wrists and shoulders won't let them play anymore. I came from a couple of years of frontpin and backpin Euro's in junior high.. so I respected the pull, but realized how effective shooting from outside the hole through larger holes was.
I will defend the other method with what I experienced in developing my own shots and the people I played with...I have seen some really fine pulls that were developed this way. When Kurt Timmel was in his prime, a good friend who I saw develop from scratch, I would have put his long up against anyone I have ever seen and I was 19 when I atteneded 1977 Worlds so I got a chance to see all the greats of the early TS game.
now, this is just anecdotal and isn't proof of anything, he, me, and others I have known and the Pros who taught me, could have learned what they needed despite the training method but it isn't possible with where the game is at in its evolution (very young compared to most sports/games) to say in absolute terms what is best
Your method wants to work from the outside-in and mine wants to work from the inside-out
I would love to try your method out, I am always looking for new ways to learn and new methods of development
Perhaps some kids or beginners see the light of keeping all options open, but I kept seeing 19 of 20 kids that developed only a spray pull, would all turn into "yanking" "cranking" pullshooters. Great one night, awful the next, which is why I started looking out for a better way. The spray from inside out is just as valuable to any shot, including the pull and even more the push, but I had to figure out why Todd Loffredo & Tommy Adkisson and other elite forwards showed they could pull around anything, again and again, without hurting themselves. And no, i rarely saw inside shots that weren't squared or 7'd off (pumped). The closest thing to an inside to out game I saw on my collection of Stevens' Inside Foos tapes (I got a ton, now being replaced by DVD) was when the forward sold the long and I saw a slight spray behind both players defending.
Clue 1: best pull shooters initiated all pulls from the wrist.
Clue 2: best pull shooters hardly ever threw their elbows and shoulders more than 2-3 inches.
Clue 3: best pull shooters practiced a set to maximum (furthest away) and tictac'ed or shuffled 32 to 31 and back to see how much they could get the ball to spin.
Clue 4: best pull shooters had no thumb to mess up the shot, only a hammer grip giving maximum area (kinda like racing tires theory) on the handle, no matter if they held it "choked" at the handle/rod or middle or butt end.
Clue 5: best pull shooters started slow to check for a jump, and then accelerated, giving that illusion showing the ball the first 1/2 inch at takeoff, and then disappearing.
personally, I was never a pull shot shooter...I started with a push, like so many beginners, then when I got serious went to the Backpin which has been my primary shot for the vast majority of time. A couple of times in my early development I thought I should learn something else and I learned a pull-kick and push-kick during these foreys...I would always go back to the pull but I had serious mechanical issues and would hurt my wrist and not be able to get around the ball
I have learned since then, this was mainly due to the fact that I learned to shoot with my thumb up on the rod...I finally abandonded that this year and retooled some things and can now shoot long squared off pulls and cut-back pulls without pain...I always had the inside game and a strong spray but I can now do all of it just not as consistently as I would like but at 51, I am not going to abandon my backpin for the pull even though I totally love shooting the pull
I'll wager you enjoyed your first deadbar around either post on either side with your backpin. AND the inside out internal shots on the splits, too! Yes, and did you have difficulty switching to frontpin and trying to go hard and square on the push side, too, didn't you?
oh, and by the way, no one learns to shoot in basketball from outside the 3 point line and in...you develop a good stroke/mechanics and move your way out...i am not to say it proves my point, I am just saying
No it proves my point, you can have all the mechanics you want, but never practicing those mechanics from outside the 3point line (you know the 3pointer shooters have shot those a million or more times!) is the same as telling a kid to never try shooting against a 2bar "post" deadbar or goalie deadbar post. The deadbar 2bar and then later the deadbar goalkeeper set is important for the kids or beginners to measure the shot and train their eyes hand, wrist and arm and to burn it in their muscle memory. You can have perfect mechanics but if you never practiced shots from outside the line, you'll never become a good 3point shooter. I have personally never seen the specialists warm up inside the line ... at least in the NBA or college hoops.
Pull shooting a square or 7 long: (the Florida way)
1. Hammer grip - tight or loose thumb off or with no effect on the handle.
2. Take off - "pitch" at the start is the ABSOLUTE vital feature same as a rollover.
3. No recoil, except the natural recoil from the wrist returning to position.
4. No over crank of the wrist... back of the wrist goes from a V to a straight line with the forearm, no more than 180 degrees or straight, and then back to the V, like revving a motorcycle right handle.
Try tic tac'ing or passing between your 32 and 31.. see what mix of longitudal and lateral spin ends up with the ball at the long or even beyond.
A. The harder the initial longitudal roll (vertical) towards you, the faster the ball accelerates to your inside wall. You can easily figure out how much before you can hardly catch up to the ball at the long.
B. The harder the initial lateral roll (spinning like a top) the more return force you get when you shoot through the ball, and you can figure out (especially for 1/4 pumps) how much you snap the foot backwards before even shooting a spray square or reverses the ball at release.
C. Mix the two at the pitch until just touching the ball with a consistent stroke at the long or anywhere, (1/4, middle, 3/4, long, 7) makes the ball "kick" at the touch.
D. A consistent hammer grip means no veering or other unneeded forward motion. Add forward followthrough to taste (for the loudness). The longer you can stay on the "kicking" ball dictates how much power you put into the shot.
No brawn needed, just practice.
Principle is exactly the same as a long pullkick. mix the the spin at takeoff and just go through the ball at the long or 7... The longitudal spin brings the ball as fast as any yank towards you.. the lateral spin squares or even imparts return motion to the shot more than any shoulder punch can do.. No jarring.
Principle is also exactly the same as the acceleration or tictac square wall pass.. Proper pitch the 52 player results in the 51 only having to barely touch the ball before it explodes along the wall to the 31 player.
Tie your elbow to the fooshole or left near rear leg to prevent your elbow from going back more than 2 inches, experiment with footwork to allow you to do this in doubles, and practice this a couple of hours a day for a week or two. You should be getting that feeling of the ball thwacking into the front of your player's foot at the long or the 7, like a perfect baseball mitt catch. And you can actually feel you can land on that ball at that instant and direct it to the 7 hole the 3quarter or even way inside.
If you get this, you will realize why snakes that seem so slow get to the last dot so fast, and why deadbars and 7's on either side from the best rollover shooters seem so good and consistent. They use the physics of the ball and table, just as pull shooters who wish to match up need to do. And yes you can practice those inside to out shots too, using as much longitudal spin possilbe only, with no lateral spin to screw it up by squaring it.
When playing goalkeeper, set the 32 defender to exactly between the big dot and the first dot closer to you( goalie pull deadbars). Getting the pitch down to hit this gives you the option to go deadbar or wait a bit longer and hit with your 21 (near player) for a 7 pullkick to either corner of the goal.
That is the equalizer, physics and speedwise, to the rollover.
You listening, Will17 ?? You wanna go nuts on this? Train your kid to shoot the 1/4, middle split, 3/4 split and longs blindfolded. A thousand shots each should do it. Then teach the inside to out takeoff only, no lateral backkick at the start, blindfolded, too! Another thousand shots each. Nothing encourages a kid more than those loud hard shots.. Then train him/her the basic 50=50 defense on the five. But that and the 5bar are another story.
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