Topic: Teaching foosball to kids?

[kayko2000]

Hey all, I've been so busy in Taiwan promoting foosball and I'm going to be doing a few foosball workshops in Taiwan's biggest mall in a couple of weeks.

I've taught a lot of adults how to play in the past, but I'm not yet sure how to go about turning kids on to foosball.

The random kids (well, there might be adults too) will be participating in the workshop more to get the free huge ferris wheel coupons we'll be giving away than to actually learn about foosball.

So, any suggestions on how to run a fun workshop for kids to capture their attention and leave a great impression about foosball?
It'll be 1 hour long, and needs to be more interactive than technical, I think.

Thanks!
Kevin

[snake eyes]

Can you bring a new ot of the box T3000 with you? If I was a kid it would be love at first sight;0 just a thought. Make it hands on and not so technical. Kids like the sound of the goal just like us old codgers.   Snake

[ClearScreen]

I've been teaching my kids for a while now.  They are 7 and 5.

I've done a few things to make it fun and keep them wanting to play. 

First, I let them serve or foos the ball through the serving hole.  They think this is a really cool thing to do.

Second, I have them practice whacking a stationary ball into the goal so they can hear the loud smack it makes.  I tell them that is the sound they want to hear when they shoot.  This gets them the feel for a good hard shot, works on their strength and encourages them to follow my only real rule:  No Spinning!  (I also make sure they are being careful not to stick their hand in while a ball is in play and to watch that they don't get hit with a rod).

After that, it is all about having fun.  I'll have them practice little tic-tac moves, make a game of how long they can keep doing it without losing the ball, etc. 

Finally, I keep stressing the fun part of it.  They love to shoot a ball hard and hear the sound so I always give them high-fives when they score a goal, especially if they hit it hard.  They love to keep score and slide the discs over, so that becomes their job and they love it.

Just my two cents.

ClearScreen

[Old Meister]

Make sure they play others at their same skill level so as to make it competitive. They don't need to be "wowed" by super skills of others, they just need to feel the fun of playing and scoring once in a while. Nature takes over from there. Oh, and a little praise goes a long ways too.

[alaris]

Kids love Goalie Wars!

[deadbarfoos]

teach them to move the ball from man to man and kick it to score , and a simple D for blocking .u dont have to teach them yet how to do a brush-stick weave ,etc ,just keep it simple to the "green" new player ,,they will learn all that later once they get those basic skills down

-B

[bbtuna]

good job Clear Screen, love the ideas and involvement with your kids...I started with mine but didn't keep at it and I am disappointed now...keep at this long term and your kids will be great second gen players

[ClearScreen]

Thanks.

[foosdragon]

This is something that we should expand to adults that want to learn the game. The Russian Foosball Federation holds regular clinics to indoctrinate beginners and allow amatuers to tweak their games. If we schooled beginners in a clinic atmosphere, instead of "schooling" them at tournaments, we might promote a wider base of players.

[bbtuna]

great point foosdragon

[kayko2000]

Thanks everyone.
I'll see if I come up with a plan here.  Actually, I don't know for sure that the people coming to the workshop are kids, but I'm sure some will be.  I have to play it by ear.

[juliachilds]

What you are doing sounds like a lot of fun. I wish you all the success possible while in Taiwan.




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[wildcard]

Thanks everyone.
I'll see if I come up with a plan here.  Actually, I don't know for sure that the people coming to the workshop are kids, but I'm sure some will be.  I have to play it by ear.

Remember that adults were kids once too, and inside we all still feel like we did when we were young (now our aches and pains get in the way). If that adult has never played before and you turn them on to how fun it can be they will light up and treat it like a kid with a new toy, so be nice to them as well. We were all noobs once...

[kayko2000]

So I held the first workshops on April 17, with one timeslot from 11am - 12pm, and another at 2pm - 4pm (before taking my 5-hour bus ride home).  Each 1-hour slot was broken down to 15-minute segments, which was repeated -- you won't hold a mall-goer's attention for long.  So, each 15-min segment went like this:
 - super brief intro to foos and why I'm doing the workshop (to promote foosball)
 - how to stand at the table
 - how NOT to spin, how to turn your wrists to a bit of power - then allowing 2 pairs to practice hitting the ball forward (with 4 balls) for a few minutes
 - simple tic tacking between players, again all 4 people getting to practice
 - then putting the tic tac motion with the hitting to create a rudimentary push-kick or pull-kick (+ practice)
 - then how to serve
 - and finally, the 2 teams play against each other to win 2 tickets on the mall's massive ferris wheel (provided by the mall's marketing team)

Timing-wise, I think it was good.  Lots of people walked by and saw what was going on.  Some stayed to watch for a few moments.  I think exposure's really all I can ask for.  There are follow-up events, so at least they know there's this thing called "foosball".

Age-wise, it was a wide range -- from 8 years old to 50+.  Mostly highschool students and up.

Doing it all again next week and 2 more weeks afterwards.