Topic: I own a Shelti but play on Tornado...adjustments?

[DeMarco]

I had a long post here but instead of boring you all I'll just get to the point.

I bought a used Shleti Foos 300 in order to play at my apartment with friends. Now I'm getting better and have started to play more pick up games at bars with Tornado tables.

I'm sure most of you know where I'm going with this. Clearly the two tables play much different than one another. Despite people claiming that snake shots on the Shelti were very difficult to learn I feel like I've got them down pretty well. If I can pin the ball on a Tornado I can definitely get a good snake shot.  However, when I go play on a Tornado I'm having trouble gaining control of the ball, and even catching my own passes. I assume it has something to do with me missing angles that aren't needed on a Shelti table.

So, does anyone have any advice for me on adjusting to the Tornado over the Shelti? I'm eventually going to upgrade to a coin-op Tornado but that's just not in the cards right now. There has to be a couple of things I can do when playing on a Tornado to use the skills I've learned on my Shelti, I just haven't spent enough time on Tornado's yet to figure it out.

(Also, I should mention that the Tornado tables are MUCH faster than most of the tables I played on in Europe, so that throws me off my game as well. Any tips for controlling the speed of a game?)

[SilentSam]

I've played on both tables quite a bit... Had a Shelti in the house, and played Tornado DYPs, tournaments etc... I no longer own the Shelti, I remember the differences clearly.

The main difference between the two tables is grip. When transitioning to Tornado, your brush passes have to be set further back, your rocking in a pin position has to travel less (or you'll squirt the ball out), you have to be a little more precise in your pin position (or the ball will squirt out), and you'll have to absorb your stick passes a little better.

The side profile of the Shelti foot is thinner, but the front face is wider. This means that tic tacs are harder to do on a Shelti, but connecting shots is a little more forgiving. I have no advice except for be consistent in your shot execution on both tables, and you'll be fine. If you can do fast tic tacs on a Shelti, you'll be laughing on Tor.

Main Advice: Play on your Shelti with Tornado balls, the balls are quite different.


Edit:
Who told you snake shots were difficult to learn on Shelti? If anything they're easier to do than on Tornado.

[DeMarco]

Thank you! Exactly the info I was looking for. It is greatly appreciated.

I definitely noticed having to absorb passes better in general so I'm glad you brought that up. It seemed like my passes were solid but they'd bounce off my 3-bar more often than I'd expect. I'd guess more time on the Tornados and the fact that I'm aware of this now will help a lot.

I bought some "Tornado/Shelti Foosballs" on ebay before I found this site and have been using those. I've got a couple of the yellow and a couple of the orange Shelti balls from this site I was going to try out soon as well. Looks like I'll need to place another order for some red Tornado balls, they did seem to play different but I thought it may have been more the surface than the balls. Thanks for the tip!

I've had some frustrations with tic'tacs on my Shelti so again I'm really glad you brought that up. I've figured it out a little bit now but to know that it'll be easier instead of harder on a Tornado is a great advantage next time I play. I used to play a lot of tictac shots but this table did not lend itself well to that, I figured I had just lost my chops.

[DeMarco]

Sorry to double post but I forgot to add one thing.

I read on a couple reviews of Shelti tables that snake shots were tough. I've kinda gotten into a groove on my table and really put a few nice ones away last time I played on a Tornado. It seemed easier on the Tornado but that's probably because it's a newer table worth twice what mine was when it was new.

[DeMarco]

Hey everyone, I didn't want to make a new thread for this but hopefully a couple of you will jump in.

I'm not going to make any of you explain all the little details that makes each foosball different from one another, but I am curious what the consensus is on the best foosball to train with. As mentioned above, I should be using the same Tornado balls that are at the bars in order to eliminate as many variables as possible (the table will obviously still play different).

So, on this website I see there are 2 different types of Tornado balls. Which would best fit my needs on the Shelti? If I use one will there be much difference if I go play at a bar and they use the other? Thanks again for all the great info on this site, very informative and fun to find some guys who are more into this than I am!

[alaskan thunder]

Just the standard pink Tornado balls. Not sure why there would be 2 (maybe the blacklight balls?). Just email the seller and confirm that they are the regular balls. I feel that slick tornado balls are very good to train with. I keep a few in my table. If you can hit and catch solid stick passes w/ those slippery suckers, you can do it with anything. JMO

[DeMarco]

http://foosdirect-store.stores.yahoo.net/fts-110-005.html

So there are red and pink ones apparently. One of them comes with most Tornados and the other goes with the T-3000 tables. Anyone know any huge differences between the two?