Topic: Playing Newbies

[Syronis]

Ok, this may sound like a strange question. I'm by no means a master of the foosball craft, in fact I probably rank somewhere in the beginner/amateur category of play. I'm well versed in defense, but my offense is still lacking. This is neither here nor there. I'm trying to spark some interest in the game I love, foosball. I have some friends who have wanted to play a bit and I'm thinking of inviting some people over to play on my new cherry coin-op which I just picked up. As far as I can tell, none of them have any foosball experience. (except for maybe the young kid spinning violently in an attempt to hit the ball). I started this thread to look for any suggestions on the best way to spark some interest for new foosers. I didn't learn in a very good environment... I basically got pummeled repeatedly when I first started playing, but I'm the type of person who really hates losing over and over again. I eventually built up enough skill to hold my own at the bar I played at back then, however most people don't have the determination or willingness to take beat down after beat down.

Any suggestions on the best teaching method, or should I just try to play them as if they were a kid... expose weaknesses in the defense, don't hit hard passes, and try to show them proper methods? I don't want to lecture people... I think to some extent being able to see a higher level play is the best way to improve.

[Daniel]

Teach them slow you can easily over load them try and give them one tip a day.  Make sure they can play someone at there own level or just a little better.  Don't get frustrated if some people just never get into it.  Remember that teaching someone is a great way to improve your own skills teach them your weakness so they can give you a good game.

[Syronis]

Thanks for the tip, sounds like a good way to do it. I should clean my house and just have a party, and set the table up and try to get some people to play... Set forth my "house rules" just to make sure the table stays safe, as well as people learning the basics of foosball.  If anyone has any other suggestions based on their experience learning the game, or how they taught a friend, I'm all ears. I've probably played about 100 balls today by myself, and frankly I can practice all I want... but nothing compares to real people.

[ClearScreen]

I've been teaching my wife and kids to play.  I started with the basics (no spinning, 5-rod, 3-rod, etc.) and moved onto simple passing and pull/push shots.  That is where we are at right now.  My kids are getting into it and my wife is slowly coming around.  I bought a basic foosball DVD (Phil Schlaefer - Winning Foosball, which is good and hilarious by the way) and I will watch it with my wife while standing at the table.  We'll pause it, she'll practice a bit and move on.  This is what I do when I can't find anyone to play and I'm sick of practicing alone. I came home from work today and found my wife playing the kids.  Eventually, I'll have some serious family competition going on.

As for real competition, I invite friends over for other reasons (watch football, playdates with the kids, etc.) and sure enough, there are ex-college players (like me) and we get a game going.  Surprisingly, their wives get into it as well and pretty soon, we're having a blast.  I will usually play defense to make it more fair. 

Just my two cents.

ClearScreen

[papafoos]

Just play ball control.  Don't hammer them with any "real" shots.  Shoot nothing but moving kicks and dinks.  Don't teach them a zone until they learn to hawk the ball.  It's better to let them learn to react to the ball.  Keep the action slow enough so they can see and understand what happened.  A really good snake or pull will intimidate them because they probably won't see what happened.

You'll get the benefit in that it will sharpen your ball handling skills and they'll benefit by seeing the ball handling.  Be willing to play with them if you can convince them to venture out into other foosball hangouts.

[MrBasso]

Hey Syronis
I certainly would encourage inviting a bunch of friends & family over to play - and make it somewhat organized. That is, make up a schedule of games.  A little round robin and then an elimination round.   I've done this myself over the past couple of years and its starting to pay off - nothing happens overnight but the group are now looking forward to the tourneys and a few are improving greatly, in fact - one has bought a table.

I think the "teaching/learning" part has to wait a bit - you have to get them interested first and make it easy for them to participate.  Here's my recipe:

1) Make some good food
2) Have some beer on ice
3) Play doubles - you should make up a schedule that ensures the teams are competitive - Try to pair a weak and strong player together - that way no one has to "Play Down" their skills. 
 
And - my secret weapon:

4) Have a theme!! I know this may sound patronizing and you may not want to go this far but my for my first get-together everybody had to pick a "French" name because I had just bought a Bonzini (you know - the toy - lol).  It turned in to a great running joke and people had fun!  The "theme" thing has turned into a monster but it gets people to come out! (check out "Wroxeter Babyfoot Foosball" on Facebook).

For me the point of it was to GET PEOPLE TO PLAY THE GAME I WANTED TO PLAY.  And frankly its working.  Like I said, the learning and teaching part comes later.  I'll show those who are interested a palm roll or pin shot or give pointers on strategy but I mostly just let them play and the skills start to develop.  The group has grown because one friend always has a friend of a friend who has played before and wants in.

Oh ya 5) Give out trophies. Do you realize how many people out there have never won a trophy for anything!!  I'm not talking about a huge silver cup - but get something for the winners.

I guess it depends on what you are trying to gain from it.  For me it was
(i) sparking interest in a game I love and trying to do my small part to increase the player base
(ii) improving my own skills (I'm no Rico)
(iii) having one hell of a great time with old friends, new friends, neighbours that have become friends
(iv) justifying the presence of a foosball table taking up the majority of my living room

[melissa]

I have always had the most luck with playing brand new people by not using any rules unless they ask to be taught.  First I always try to hook them with the fun of foosball!   I have found that, like you said, having a party and letting people just whack away at the ball really gets people laughing and enjoying themselves.  Then a few of them will say...how do you guys control the ball like that?...and then I can show those few a real quick pass lesson or defense lesson...but then quickly go back to the hilarity of free-form foosball. 

The key I have found is that you have to let them come to want to learn more on their own...otherwise it is just work...and who wants more boring work in their life?  Also, I have found that people don't want to feel dumb or inadequate, and having a friend telling them what they are doing wrong all the time can do just that. 

As for how to play a newbie...I take the chance to work on my weaknesses...unless they ask to see what I do best.  I don't want to pound on them and make them feel bad, but I also don't want to act like I'm not trying.  So it works out perfectly if I'm trying my best to do my worst parts of my game, we all benefit!  I improve on my weaknesses and my friends have fun feeling like they are in the game and I'm not holding back on them.


It's great to see you are trying to bring some new players into the game!  Are you anywhere near a state or regional tournament?  It is a great experience to bring your friends to a bigger tournament...split a room between the bunch of you for the weekend...and hang out having fun and playing some pickup games...enter the beginner events or even go for the open events and pit your skills against the best players!  Check out the schedule of tournaments at the following link:

http://www.foosline.com/schedule/2008_schedule.htm

The 2009 tournament schedule should be out soon!


Melissa

[JimWaterman]

Consider "Forward Shootout"  or  "Goalie War (perhaps with alternate shot format).

Perhaps the most frustrating part for a new fooser is getting a hold of the darn ball!   The forward shootout game can let a new player get the satisfaction of executing and occasionally scoring a decent shot from the offensive 3-rod even if they Don't have a clue about the 5-bar yet.   A few addictive "thuds" into the goal can help hook 'em.

Likewise Goalie War is great for simplifying the game down to just 2 rods for the new player to worry about.   Tie the middle 4 rods up out of the way and consider taking turns "cranking" shots on each other.     Coach slowly and don't drown the new player with tips if you see their eyes start to glaze over! 

[Syronis]

I'm in a bowling league, tomorrow pre-bowling I invited the team over to play some foos and have some beers in preparation for bowling. This will put 5 people here, I'll probably play a game or two, but will probably sit out and let them play eachother and have some fun. Thanks for all the suggestions, I think they're all great tips on sparking interest in other people without demoralizing them.

Melissa, as far as playing with no rules... I think the only rule that I'd probably like to enforce is no spinning... pretty basic rule if you want to actually play a game, as opposed to playing kickball.  If I can spark any interest in any friends, I might try to get some people to car pool up to the quad cities, where I know they do a weekly tournament. I actually plan on buying a beginner package for MO State, and will probably also try to attend the Foozin for the Heart tournament that Hollywood (Neil) is having in STL in October. This will be a great opportunity to play someone better than me, as I'm sure I'll get stomped. I actually like getting sufficiently beat from time to time... it makes me realize that I have a LONG way to go.  If any of my friends want to start playing foosball, I might try to drag them down to MO State, just to play and have a good time...  When I bought my table, I realized that everything I had learned had disappeared, after shooting about 140  balls yesterday my wrist is shot... but my form is slowly coming back. Now I need to decide whether or not I want to shoot a snake or a pull shot. I shoot a good push snake, but can't seem to get the rhythm for the pull snake.

I actually thought about moving my foosball table to my work place, (I manage a restaurant) but I knew that it would become a great distraction to me in the work place. I would sit there and play foosball instead of getting actual work done, however other people might play after or before a shift for fun, but now that I've moved the 350lb beast up a nasty flight of stairs I have no desire to move it for quite some time.

Once again, thanks for all the tips, and I'll let everyone know how it goes!! We all know there need to be more foosball players.

[wildcard]

The only rule first time beginners need to know is that there is to be NO uncontrolled spinning of the rods. I don't enforce the other rules in my beginner group until they start getting a little better, then as they get the hunger to know how to play better they will usually want to know how to play by the rules. I have one friend that I refer to as my young padawan "Obi-Wanna-Pullshot" because he is really taking to learning a pull series from both the front and the back rods--he is doing really good on the no-tell straight and no-tell one inch pull, and mixes it up with a 3/4 pull. I bait and take away straights to help him get his timing down to really jump on a goalie that tries to cheat a little, getting him to understand that if he can establish a deceptive straight, he will find out that the longer shots naturally start to open up. I've also given him pointers on hitches and fakes to help disguise his pass intent on the 5 bar. Not super fast yet, but he is concentrating on ball placement and hitting his mark rather than crushing it. The thing that impresses me and keeps me helping him is that he truly wants to learn and get better, he is very hungry for the game right now! I'm trying to get his confidence level up for MO states, I think he'll end up doing OK...

[Syronis]

Yeah, sounds silly, but I've been watching some five rod passing series on youtube because I have no one to play against. So I've been taking these passing series and trying to break them down with ball placement, and location. I figure since I can't watch people play live, I guess video will have to do.

I've never played in a big tournament, or a bar tournament, but I do love to play and it keeps me practicing and wanting to do better, so I can go to these tournaments and have some fun, and maybe learn a thing or two. MO state is hopefully going to be the first tournament I play in. I'll probably have to take a train, and a bus to the hotel, but it'll be worth it if I can get in a solid weekend of foosball.

[rios820]

The main thing about getting new players to not only start learning but to keep with a very difficult game/sport/hobby/whatever you want to call it is their desire to learn. It takes a competitive person to keep up with the many butt kickings they will no doubtfully recieve when they first start playing. I have introduced the game to many noobs we have around my area and the one thing in common with them all, is that they are fairly competitive people.
Start slow with them, and show them basic shots. Just use the basic rules, no spinning, no jarring the table like a caveman. And definatly encourage them when they hit a good shot or make a good block.
When they start to understand the game, then you can get more into the stratagy of defense, zones, passing, shooting, etc.
Be patient with them, and hopefully other players around your area will be patient with them as well. Nothing will deter a new player from playing more, than getting paired up with someone who yells at them or acts disgusted with them during a DYP.

[Syronis]

Hmm... Tom Rios?... I think I talked to you on the Foozen forums about Quad City foosball. I still need to shoot up there sometime for your thursday night deal. Unfortunately, I have bowling league on Thursday nights at the moment, so I don't know when I can make it up there. I did however finally go get a table.

[wildcard]

Syronis, I'm not sure where you are coming from, but if you take a train/bus to downtown St Louis, you can then catch MetroLink light rail system that will take you to a stop in Clayton that is only a few blocks from the venue. Or if you can make it to Lambert Airport, the Hotel has a free shuttle service to and from there. Another thing to try is to post on foosworld.com or foosballboard.com for a ride with someone that is going from your general area (maybe meetup with them to ride the rest of the way).


http://www.metrostlouis.org/MetroLink/MLtimetables.asp

Good Luck

[Syronis]

Yeah, I registered on foosballboard.com quite a while ago, but was never put in the system as a registered user. Not quite sure what happened. I may actually have a vehicle by then. Just have to go buy one.... so I've been putting that off. I've got another month to figure all that stuff out.