Topic: Offensive and defensive

[ComebackKid]

I've made a few posts on the Child Boards and would like some feedback on what I posted. There are some really good posts in the "Mental Attitude" thread about that side of the game, but I think everyone can use practical skills knowledge and practice guidelines.

Paul

[foozkillah]

Paul,
#1. Ball-control.
#2. Power-long and speed.
#3. Finess.
#4. Mix power, speed & finess in practice.
#5. Next, practice shooting on different times. (1,6,13,8).
#6. Take the show on the road.
#7. Have fun.

#8.Then realize that it's just a game and it's all vanity anyways!

JH

Can't boil it down any sweeter than that, H!

And that's exactly how I've structured drills and evaluation of how well they're executed by the unlucky sorry newbs who make the mistake of wanting to learn foos from their elders. LOL..

ball-control drills, long-shots drills, finesse passing & shooting drills, then cross-training. Perfect!

But wait a minute... I know of a legendary Johnny H who's one of the greatest defenders and counterpunchers of all foos time.  What about D?

Hawaiian Brian

[deadbarfoos]

sometimes i use the hard grip stiff arm moving D ...makes you less likely to jump (using the stiff arms) and you stay rigid to covering your holes , works well when you seem to get drilled using the normal routine of grasping the rods lightly

just a tidbit of advice to share

-Ben

[Old Meister]

I'm going up against some good push kickers nest weekend at the NW Regional's.  The last time I got schooled a bit and would like to hear thoughts on how to slow  them down.

[ComebackKid]

I'm going up against some good push kickers nest weekend at the NW Regional's.  The last time I got schooled a bit and would like to hear thoughts on how to slow  them down.

For me  1st.  Determine if I can race them.  2nd Try to watch them in a match before you play them. What are their favorite shots? Long and middle, short and long, or short and middle. Take away their 2 favorite options and race the other. I will even just hang out in the middle. and race what they shoot. If you are playing on a Tornado with a 3 man goalie, if you pull it all the way to the wall, your far wing man will block the short and your middle man is in the long. mix it up and confuse them. Be random and they will have a hard time reading what hole to shoot and when. The most important thing is to commit to a hole to block, and be there when they shoot. Don't get caught in between. If what you are doing does not work at all, make small suttle adjustments, sometimes that's all it takes.

Hope this helps! Let us know how you do.

Paul

[BillV]

A good push kick with a good dink used to drive me up a wall. Then I realized that I have to leave that short hole open somtimes too. A random defense has to include all the holes sometimes.

Bait it and close it a few times and then both men are available for the short, middle, and long squared off shots. The shot still gives me fits, but it feels like a fair fight now.

BillV

[ComebackKid]

I'm going up against some good push kickers nest weekend at the NW Regional's.  The last time I got schooled a bit and would like to hear thoughts on how to slow  them down.

Hey Old Meister, how did you do against the push kickers? 

[Old Meister]

They didn't make it to the tournament but I had a few good pull shooters like Jack Lenty and Justin Shaw. I got the first game on Shaw and went 4-4 the second game before he got the point and then he got me 5-3 the last game. That was singles. Lenty got me pretty good, both those guys are great players. I've decided I need back up front, it's time to get real again. We won amateur doubles and I have a few semi-pros giving me crap so I know I got their attention in open doubles and the pro-am. I played 12 years, then took a 25 year layoff and now have played another 3 and loving every minute of it.

[Old Meister]

Yeah Johnny, you can always tell if Jack has been playing a table much as all the balls are turned to prunes. The way he stares at the ball, well his concentration would wither anything. But you're right, he's a good guy. Did you know he is a commercial fisherman? I asked if he might like some company on one of his tuna trips which he promptly refused. Likes his time on the big blue alone. Pretty unique breed, that guy,,,It would be fun if you surprised us all on one of our bigger tournaments sometime. A lot of the NW players would really get off on meeting and playing a legend.

[ComebackKid]

Yeah Johnny, you can always tell if Jack has been playing a table much as all the balls are turned to prunes. The way he stares at the ball, well his concentration would wither anything.

Never saw the movie but it reminded me of "The Men Who Stare at Goats"  I never met Jack, but if he likes fishing and foos I'm sure we would get along just fine!