03-Dec-2008, 03:54 PM
(03-Dec-2008, 03:08 PM)Paul Wrote: So I read this on some foosball forum, can;t remember which one but I've been trying the past few days and I think it's a really good/challenging way to practice.
Basically you're playing vs yourself. you get the ball on your 5 to start. You must make a pass up to the 3 successfully, then setup your shot and make it, scoring you a point. any other scenario scores a point against you. Games up to 5.
If you are able to beat yourself 2-3 times in a row, I'd say you're pretty damn good. I beat myself for the first time in about 15 tries yesterday. huge moment.
give it a shot if you haven't already.
Anyone got tips on how to practice defense? hire a friend?
Prior to tournaments I practice defense in the same manor as a boxer would prior to a fight......what a boxer calls shadow boxing......I call shadow defending.
Essentially its how I was taught to defend from the beginning but without the use of a forward.
1. Go about your normal routine as if someone was setting up on the 3-rod (shooting snake, pull, push, etc..).
2. Begin moving your D around but pay close attention to what is open and what is closed.
3. You will immediately notice that you are leaving one or more holes open to long a period or too short a period.
4. You will also notice that you might be favoring a particular side. Understand that favoring a side when Shadow defending is a fault not a bonus. In actual playing time, you may favor a side if your opponent can not square off a long push or pull.
5. Pay close attention to crossing over during your D, if your goalie crosses over with any of the men on the two rod you have what could be a major problem. Many highly skilled forwards await the opportune moment when you cross over, this gives them everything from 1 dot push or pull to long on both sides. Crossing over can be very beneficial if you are using it as a bait. Baiting your opponent with a cross over takes some practice but can be very effective when playing skilled forwards.
6. "THE BAIT" The bait is essentially the ultimate Jeidi Mind Trick....if you can make your opponent believe a hole is open or is going to be open when he releases than you've sold the sucker. Baiting is very successful once you have felt the reaction of your opponent. It does no harm in a tournament game to use a random D and throw a bait in there and sense how your opponent reacts. There have been times where I have played a doubles match against highly skilled Pro's and they would score the first goal or two but be blocked 20 times in a row.
To practice a bait, go about your regular D and pick a hole that you would like to bait your opponent with. Whichever of your men ends up on that hole should be the man you use to bait, move him in two ways - very slow and react back to that hole or very quickly and react back to that hole. Practicing the bait is essential in critical moments of a game, you may choose not to use it until the very end of the 5th game!
7. Try to memorize at lease 3 different D's. Each D should be for a type of player. For example, I find that fast players like Merv feed off fast Defenses. I like to give Merv a slow D with lots of baits as he is very dependent on exploding to the hole when its open. For Taha I use a medium speed D with baits on his favorite side - pull - and for slower shooters, I like to use a quick D.
8.Mindset, there is no forward better than a defender. The forward is at the obvious disadvantage, he has to shoot around or between moving men and time the next opening. Your confidence should be relayed through your D, once you have given up, any and every forward will score on you easily. But once you have blocked a skilled forward consistently, you do more damage to his image and esteem than anything else.
Hope this helps!
Omar