21 Foosball Tricks & Tips That’ll Make You A Foosball Master!
Love playing foosball? hi, we get it! We’re absolutely addicted to foosball, its one of the best games ever made by man, in fact just writing these lines makes us want to drop our mac and go play some foosball.
But don’t worry, we won’t do that, because we have to help you improve your foosball gaming skills.
We’re about to give you awesome 21 foosball tips and tricks that’ll make you a MASTER in the game of foosball.
QUICK TIP: First, if you haven’t read, read our post about the rules of foosball.
Wether you love playing foosball in your office at work, with buddies at home, or even professionally, we’re confident that this post will help you improve your skills.
Remeber, knowledge is NOT power, its power in potential. Meaning, if you won’t actually practice these tips and take some action, just ‘knowing’ them will do nothing for you.
So make sure you read this post a few times if you’re serious at getting better at the game of football table (foosball sounds so much better…)
HOW TO BECOME BETTER AT FOOSBALL : 21 TIPS & TRICKS
TIP #1: BE UNPREDICTABLE
This is the worst mistakes newbie foosball players make. They are too predictable. Be creative, and your opponent will never see it coming. See a clear path? kick with your goalie all the way to your opponents goal, you’ll be surprised on how many easy scores you’ll get that way.
TIP #2: BE ON THE MOVE
remember, your opponent has 15 seconds to do his move. You want to be constantly moving your players, don’t stop. Look at the players hes moving and react accordingly.
TIP #3: PLAY AGAINST THE BEST
If you’re anything like us, you dont like losing. That being said, if you were a new soccer player and you had the chance to play and learn from Christiano Ronaldo, would you do it? of course you would!
Well, same applies to foosball. You might get frustrated losing to a foosball pro, but you’ll learn so much and improve your skills fast!
TIP #4: BE LOOSE WHEN HOLDING THE HANDLES!
Another common mistake is beginners make, is having a very tight, hold grip on the foosball tables handles. Don’t do that.
You will want to keep a pretty loose grip on the handle, the reason is youll be able to shoot and spin the handle faster that way.
You will also be able to move your hands between handles faster, but if your hands are “stuck” on the handle, it will take you an extra second to loosen the grip, which can cost you the game!
TIP #5: STRENGTHEN YOUR ARM MUSCLES!
Want to be a pro foosball player that beats everyone, everywhere? You must do some arm exercise preferably with weights.
Work on your forearm, wrist, biceps and shoulders and you will be able to spin the handles faster, and even play foosball for a longer time, which will make you a strong and in-shape foosball player!
TIP #6: WANT TO SHOOT FAST? USE THE ‘OPEN HANDED’ SHOT
When performing a ‘open handed shot’ in foosball, the speed of the shot will increase dramatically.
To shoot a “open handed shot” simply spin the handle on the wrist.
It won’t be as accurate as if you would close your hand and grip harder on the handle, but it will be extremely fast.
TIP #7: MASTER THE FOOSBALL SERVE!
Just dropping the ball into the hole is a terrible foosball mistake! You’re basically giving your opponent a free possession, where he or she can score easily. Why would you do that?!
Learn to spin the ball and control the angle when serving the ball. It will take you time to master, so you’ll need to practice your serving technique.
Once you master this, you will increase your winning odds significantly, so don’t underestimate the serve.
TIP #8: KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE
Stay focused, we cant stress this enough. Many players get over-whelmed as theres a lot going on in a foosball game. However, you must stay focused if you want to win.
Keep your eyes on the ball and glance to your opponents hands from time to time, that’ll help you better focus on the game progress, plan your next shots, and predict your opponents next move.
TIP #9: GET BETTER AT DEFENSE BY HOLDING 2 RODS TOGETHER
This tip is powerful, so read carefully. Learn to move two of your defense handles (rods) together, as a small defense unit. That will make it extremely hard on your opponent to score.
Make sure your players don’t over-lap, spread them out with small gaps between them, and you’ll have the defense of a premier league soccer team.
TIP #10: COVER YOUR GOAL – EFFICIENTLY (5 BALLS RULE)
Did you know that your goal has the width of 5 foosball balls? well, you do now.
Understanding that will help you cover your goal efficiently, and you won’t have to spend extra man-power covering the entire goal, you just dont need to do that.
You want to spread your defense players, so they defend 50% of each hole, and not the entire hole. Meaning, X player defends 50% of hole 1, and 50% of hole number 2, that way, if your opponent will shoot to hole 1 or 2, he won’t be able to score!
Look at the figure below to better understand this tactic
TIP #11: BEWARE OF RICOCHET-GOALS!
Have you ever got a ricochet goal? they suck! Especially because avoiding them is extremely easy.
Heres what you want to do: simply tilt your defense players backwards whenever you notice a shot is going to hit a wall that is close to your goal.
By doing this simple technique, the ricochet ball won’t cost you a point!
TIP #12: DEFENSE IS CRUCIAL IN FOOSBALL!
Again, when playing with many beginners we noticed they forget to play defense. In foosball, we would say you want to focus 70% on defense and 30% on offense.
Having a good defense will prevent most of your opponents goals, and will be so much easier on you to score.
So focus on blocking easy shots from your opponents, and then use the blocks to your advantage and go on the offense. But never forget to play defense!
Also, make sure your eyes are on the ball and your defensive players are always on the move, like we suggested in the tips before.
TIP #13: PLAY 2 RODS WITH 1 HAND!
If You’re playing one on one, try mastering this technique as it can be a game changer!
Try using your pinkie and thumb on your left hand to play with your entire defense unit (meaning your 2 defense handles).
It wont be easy to master at first, but when you get used to it, you literally become a foosball behemoth.
TIP #14: DON’T FORGET TO BREATH!
You will be surprised at how many players forget to breath during a foosball game, and then they faint and die!
Ok, we lied, you won’t faint and die but you definitely want to pace your breathing during an intense foosball game, so your body will able to function and you won’t run out of breath, letting your opponent beat you with ease.
TIP #15: CREATIVITY IS KEY
Usually, the obvious play is usually the worst possible play. Because your opponent will be able to predict it, and prepare his players to react!
When you become creative, and play with the right mindset, youll take advantage of situations and score easy goals.
Dont be afraid to mix things up, and bounce the ball off of the walls in order to score. Try scoring when your opponent less expects it.
TIP #16: BE CONSISTENT, BUT CHANGE ANGLES
Don’t get into this “circle of stupidity” of you hitting the ball, your opponent blocks it, you try the same exact shot again, and guess what? you get blocked again.
Consistency is important, but doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, was defined by the great Albert Einstein as ‘insanity‘.
If you know your opponent is good at blocking a specific type of shot, why not try a different angle or shot instead ?
TIP #17: THE MORE YOU PLAY – THE BETTER YOU WILL BECOME
This one seems pretty obvious but we wanted you to remember that. The more you play, the better you will get at foosball.
In fact, if you haven’t yet, we highly recommend getting a foosball table for your own house to practice on. We recently picked the 10 best foosball tables ever – click to read the post.
TIP #18: ROTATE YOUR WRIST AT 180 DEGREES FOR A BETTER SHOT
When you rotate your wrist while holding the handle, make sure you rotate fast and make a 180 degrees movement.
Dont get lazy and make the entire movement that way the ball will gain more speed and momentum when your players hit it.
TIP #19: CELEBRATE WHEN YOU SCORE!
Scored a goal? shout “YES!!!!” or “GOOOALLL” or whatever you want to shout, but do celebrate.
Wonder why? 1. its fun and will boost your moral. and the second reason – it will discourage your opponent and get him out of his game even further, which will increase the odds of you winning. And you like winning, don’t you? 🙂
TIP #20: LUBRICATE YOUR ROD FOR A SMOOTH, FAST ACTION
You have to lubricate your rod with some oil so everything will go smooth and fast.
Another great tip is to slide the rubber bumpers along the rod and to the end of it, to clean the residue and dust build-up, that will help the rod slide better.
TIP #21: DONT FORGET TO HAVE FUN!
Foosball is a very exciting fun game, don’t forget that!
While winning is important for your confidence, and finances if you play professionally, if you stop enjoying the game you won’t play with enthusiasm and lose anyway.
WATCH A SUMMARY OF THESE TIPS [SHORT VIDEO]:
THE BOTTOM LINE
We hope this post helped you learn some new techniques, and improved your understanding of the amazing game of foosball.
Foosball is an extremely fun and exciting game, and its usually played at home with friends and family.
That being said, being a better foosball player will enhance your gaming experience and to be honest, nobody likes to lose!
None the less, there are professional foosball tournaments, where you can compete for serious money. To see the entire tournament list, click here to go to the official IFP website.
Some of our readers told us they play foosball for money and bet with their friends, so this post can literally make you money if you do that.
We said it before and we will repeat it again, don’t forget to enjoy yourself. If you’re not having fun (unless your a pro playing for money) than your missing the point.
We’re trying to grow TableGamez.com and we write our content to help folks out, we hope you appreciate that!
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