Hi, I'm a foosball player from belgium, and i would like some nice trick shots with the 3 man rod, or the 2 men rod to add to my arsenal. So if somebody would like me to tell some nice, maybe self invented trick shots, i will tell you some of mine...
A few common trick shots I know of are:
1. Scorpion, shot like a very fast push-kick but instead of shooting with the middle man you pull it back so it hits the near wall HARD and slam it down as it bounces of the wall. A very, very fast flashy shot that angles into the near corner of the goal, but difficult to execute consistently. Also called a slingshot when shot from the 2-bar out of goal, where it's a little more of a "real" option as a zonebreaker.
2. The "Alamo" or "John Wayne" where you set up as though you're going to shoot a pull, then pull your men over but leave the ball stationary and hit it straight in with the far man (after the opponent has jumped out of the way thinking you're pulling the ball).
3. The "Texas T", where you pin the ball under one of the wing men in front of the rod, then essentially swing the rod down, chipping the edge of the ball so it flies over to the middle man who swings forward and hits it into the goal. Can be executed extremely fast.
4. The aerial shot out of goal where you put the ball between the far men on the goal rod and the 2-rod with the two-rod angled backward, hit it hard with the goal rod so that it pops into the air, swing your men up to catch it, and then fire it in an arc over the table toward the goal.
5. The eclipse shot, like a slower slingshot where the goal is to hit the ball when it pops up off the side strip into the air and have it fire above the rods toward the goal (almost impossible on Tornado but very doable on Garlando).
6. The 3-to-5-rod smash for catching the opposing forward sleeping
7. The "fake an Alamo, but instead of hitting it straight in shoot a pull-kick" useful when you've just shot the Alamo and have them pinned on the straight.
8. Back pin fakes into push-kicks or pull-kicks
9. Any reverse-off-the shot options (e.g. set up a pull, pull the ball, but instead of shooting you do a push-kick back to the starting hole).
10. The bank shot off the far wall from the pull setup.
11. The bank shot off whichever the close wall is on a long pull-kick/push-kick setup.
12. Any dink options, the slower the more embarrassing
13. Any hesitation options where you fake the dink and then hit a long shot.
14. The rolling straight off the pull setup where you move the ball only about a quarter inch and then brush it back to the straight hole
15. The "Alien" where you shoot a push-kick but slam the rod HARD with the left hand for the shot (illegal but LOUD and fun in pickup games)
16. Set up the snake and then have your partner shoot it with his foot or reach over into the field and tap the center man's head, spinning him around for the straight (also illegal but amusing).
17. The helicopter options on the front pin where you orbit around the ball a lot and suddenly fire it one way or the other
18. Any sort of quick-set options (rolling pull, shoot a front-pin quickly in the middle of setting up the snake, etc).
19. Real slow tic-tacs where you read for a lazy defense and hit the ball straight (or brush it at an angle) into a hole, a la Lazlo Teke.