Are We Doing Enough?

Byline: Pietro Felix.

Ever notice how the general discussion at every foosing session or competition usually lands about "there are not enough players", "there are not enough female players" or "there are not enough players who want to play in competition". Sounds familiar. And all of us always talk about trying to get new players to come and play. I must admit that some of you guys actually kept to your word. Kudos to you. But what about the rest of us.

Here is the main thing. We all go out and play foosball and it is a passion to us. Think about that first time when you knew this was the game of your dreams and all the events that lead to it. If we can get everyone to feel that way then awesome. But easier said than done.

I think that some of us started early in the game and therefore are more advanced than most players and some people just give it up after they can't beat you after awhile. SO what do we do?!

The main problem that I personally see is that most of us talk to newbies and try and teach but there is usually no follow through. What is another reason most of us play even though we keep loosing after 2 games? It's called friendship and feeling that you belong to something. That is the key! You can teach all you want to someone you met over a foosball table. You can have a beer with them in a club. Then what happens after the night is over. That person disappears. I think you guys know what I am getting at. The idea here is not just to get that person interested in the game but also feels that they have joined our foosing family. Most of us are not so hardworking to invite people we have just met and ask them to join an existing group of fooser friends. Well if we all think this way then we are screwed.

Secondly, I was looking at our new Malaysian Foosball website and I noticed that it's the same people that are on the foosball.info website. So here is another suggestion.... The moment we see someone playing or even remotely interested in the game, we give them the websites. They may not want to talk to us a lot over the table but if we can make them remember the website addresses and they come in, at some point of their young life, it might generate the interests a little bit more. SO the next time you see someone foosing and  you end up having a word or 2 with them just mentioned the website. I think our webmasters have been great in generating these sites for us. But I think when they created it they had more in mind than just a place for us to chit chat... it should be a tool that all foosers should use to promote the game to everyone they know.

Can we print flyers. Get someone to design a little A4 black and white flyer promoting the website. I can photostat the flyers in my office if you guys want.

I think all of us can do our little part if we try.

It's not how you play the game, it's who you play it with!

Pietro Felix
5/09/02
"foos or lose"

Why do we play Foosball

Newsgroups: rec.sport.table-soccer. Extracted from Larry's reply to FooserX and the "Why we play foosball" threads:

That's what you get for playing in a biker bar in Northglen. Of course, back in the 70's when I first started playing (when I still lived in downtown Chicago and before, thank God, I got the hell out and moved to Colorado), when they still used team names in tournaments, there was a regular doubles team composed of two street gang members, one "Latin King" and one "Disciple" (if that wasn't threatening enough) whose team name was "Kill you for 5 cents."

Anyway, although I think I missed the first replies to the original question, "why do we play this game," most people who know me (or who have read a few of my "Euro-foosin" articles in Table Talk over the last ten years) will already know my answer. Although from time to time I like to say I don't know why I play, because it's really just a dumb game, the truth is I'm in fact obsessed with it.

Sure, I'm no longer an active tour player (I switched primarily to promotions about fifteen years ago), but no matter what, I can't get over the infinite nuances and possibilities the game holds really for anyone, but especially for one who desires its mastery. I've been lucky enough to have played all over the world for more than twenty-five years, on every table imaginable, and yet I can still walk up to a table today, begin to practice control or passing or something like that, and within about five minutes, without even thinking about it consciously, I'll come up with something that I've never done or thought of in that way before. It could be a new feint, a different timing or speed, or a new sequence in a passing series, or any number of things. With this game, the real beauty is that there REALLY ARE NO LIMITS to what you can do. (Okay, I mean within the rules. That's not to say I haven't also witnessed some wonderfully creative cheating as well.)

I've also been lucky enough to have made a lot of great friendships with all kinds of people all around the planet, from Singapore to Kalamazoo, and from some pretty stunning females in California to street gang members in Chicago (and even some stunning female street gang members) and from local bar and game room owners to owners of international amusement distributing companies. And the beauty here is that I met most all of these people, most of whom have treated me better than my own family, solely because of a shared passion for this "dumb game."

As far as bad attitudes and unsportsmanlike conduct, these are individual problems that people have with their own identities. It bothers me only in that it reflects badly on the sport's image. As far as cheaters, I consider cheating by other players a de facto complement to my own skills. If a player cheats to beat me, then he has in essence declared to me, himself, and everyone watching that he cannot beat me in a fair game based on his skill alone. Quad era demonstrata. Unfortunately, getting such people to see, and understand, the error of their ways is like nailing jello to a wall. So, I generally just let it go. For tour events, might as well get an official.

Again, cheating also reflects badly on the sport's image. Most people, outside of the public relations field, have no idea how adversely cheating, bad attitudes, and unsportsmanlike conduct hinder the further promotion, expansion, and sponsorship of foosball as a sport. Then again, who knows--people who conduct themselves in such a manner are often the first to point out that bad publicity is better than no publicity at all. Maybe they're right. It just doesn't impress me. I guess I don't win so much as I used to (between not playing and practicing the way I did before, and my often esoteric, artistic approach to the game). When I play I'm no longer there to win so much as to enjoy myself--if I win along the way then that's pretty much a bonus, these days. I often wish more people would strive to see the infinite beauty and possibilities of this game as I do, but you don't have to be seeking ultimate enlightenment to forget about hostilities, to share a good time, and to play your best game. That's what it should all be about anyway.

My extended two cents. Larry Davis (quantum_foos@prodigy.net)

Budweiser and Foosball

Newsgroups: rec.sport.table-soccer Date: 2002-06-09 15:19:52 PST

I have a very cool t-shirt I got in 1977 with the T.S. rainbow logo and Schlitz logo in the middle.  Schiltz Brewing Co was once a tour sponsor for the 1977 Tournament Soccer pro tour, but it was not a financial sponsorship as most people would expect.  It was more an image sponsorship and like Budweiser explained to you, it had something to do with localized promotions done via area distributors.  Kathy Brainard at NATSA can fill you in on that one.  But Budweiser, no.

However, to the surprise of most players, there is always something being worked on by Dave and Link at Valley.  Unfortunately, due to so many other things going on (they are also responsible for pool and other product sales/promotions) and being understaffed for as much as they need to accomplish, they have not to date been able to devote the kind of time required to land the sort of sponsorship we would all hope for.  When I worked at the factory in the mid 90's, there were a few good leads, a few meetings, etc. but nothing really panned out at the time.

Foosball has always been competing with much better publicized, more spectator oriented sports, so its not so easy as everyone thinks. Still, if I owned Valley, I would have created two new full time staff positions: Publicist, and Sponsorships/Fundraising Director.  Anyway, the point is that there may or may not be sponsorships "brewing" as it were, but those working the issues never want to get people's hopes up unnecessarily.  If we're lucky, maybe someday they'll have a big announcement to make.

So, regardless of what many might argue, Dave, Link, and others that matter at Valley actually do love the game, they have devoted their lives to it, and despite being under the thumb of corporate budgetary constraints imposed by Valley as a company (which is further constrained in massive detail by its owner, Fenway Partners, Inc in New York), they are doing everything they can to help the sport's future.  Right now, its our job to give them all the support we can, and to do the same for the people of NATSA and any other organization that has taken on such a massive task.

Take care,
Larry "Euro-foosin" Davis

Front Pin 101

Newsgroups: rec.sport.table-soccer Date: 2002-06-20 18:42:10 PST

Someone was asking about shooting an open-handed front-pin. I'm no master at the shot (I use it when I have no other choice) and it's difficult to execute on a Tornado because the table offers very little pin control unlike other (mainly Euro) tables. I'll just write what some European players have taught me.

Three things you have to be comfortable with to execute the shot well: Grip, Ball Control and open-handed strike.

Grip

Grip the rod like you are giving someone "a thumb up". Your thumb should be on top of the handle and the other four fingers are reaching down the handle. Your wrist is almost perpendicular to the handle. From that grip, you roll the handle downwards until it reaches the bottom of your palm (close to your wrist) then when you strike the ball you just lift and catch the handle like you do on a regular snake shot.

Here is a link to a video from Dieter Thiele's website that shows you the proper grip (speaking German is helpful).
http://www.tischfussball-thiele.de/Video2/3er_Reihe_msmp4.avi

Ball Control

I think this is the most important part of the shot. You need to be comfortable controlling the ball from a front-pin position to execute the shot well. Here are some things to practice:

• Using that same grip (explained above), practice rocking the ball as wide as possible without losing the ball. You can start by using grippy balls instead of Tornado balls just to get the feel then practice with Tornado balls.
• Walk the ball from one side of the goal to the other with your wide rocking motion.
• From a font pin position (whithout putting too much pressure on the ball) pull and push the ball so it would move on a straight line then try pin it again while it's moving. When you move the ball make sure the man is in contact with the ball as long as possible.

Striking the ball

Before you shoot you move the ball either to the pull side or the push side (except for the straight option) with keeping the man in touch with the ball as long as possible then you strikes the ball. Make sure you have your timing right and get your man all the way behind the ball otherwise you will spray your shot. Don't put too much pressure when you initiate the shot because you don't want to tell the goalie "when" you are going to shoot. Make sure everything looks the same, to accomplish that, you need ball control. Most Belgian players I've seen use wide rocking motion that will

• Disguises the take-off of the shot 
• Makes moving the ball to the push side or the pull side faster with less pressure.

The push side

Typically will feel more unnatural than the other options and will spray more often. If you watch how Frederic C shoots the push side he always follow the shot with recoil to the near wall, he doesn't recoil as much when he hits the near side. Best video to watch is the latest Vegas 2002 Frederic vs. Rob Morez, Oh baby, did he shoot deep to the far corner on Rob or what.

It will need long month of practice before you see some results. During that time don't be hard on yourself and remember the table is bad for this shot. I think Tornado needs to make some adjustments to the table design before you see the front-pin become as common as pull or snake shots, I just hope they know that. Maybe someday when more players want to use the shot it will influence Tornado to support the shot.

More Front-pin multimedia

• Dieter Thiele's website: Check out all the videos in that site. One of the Videos is a match between him and Todd Loffredo that Dieter seems to be very proud of. Check out the trick shots videos as well, he uses Loewen tables.
  http://www.tischfussball-thiele.de/
• Dutch website: I've seen those guys live in action they are very good. They use Topper tables.
  http://www.tafelvoetbal.nl/filmpjes.htm
• Bonzini USA: Excellent ball control.
  - http://bonziniusa.com/video/BonziniLive.avi
  - http://bonziniusa.com/video/2001-11-02.OD-1st.AlanCribbs.JimmyLittle-vs-BruceNardoci.BuddyBurchette.320.240.avi

Hope that helps,

Samuel

Recently, I received an email from Bart van Winden who has a friend, Jeroen Groenemans, that maintains a foosball site in Netherlands. He was going to add foosball.info to his web site "Links" sections and was wondering which country the foosball.info site should be categorised under.

Before I replied him, I visited the site at http://www.tafelvoetbal.nl. To my surprise (or rather my ignorance... :-), the flash intro showed me a foosball table which I cannot recognise. Since the site was in Dutch, I had no idea what the words meant. I tried clicking on something familar, like "Foto's", which lead me to a photo listing dating from 1999. You have to check it out yourself... LOL. Also, you guys MUST check out the "Movie" link below and get a first hand view of the "Euro Pin" at work!!!

In my reply to Bart, I asked him a number of questions. And I am happy to share his reply with you here:

"In the Netherlands the most popular table is the Topper2000. It is made in the Netherlands and looks a little bit childish with his wooden man and cork balls, but they already play on this table for more then forty years. In our country there is an organization that runs a competition with this table that counts 1000 players. The game on this table is on a very high level and the game is played the same (Euro-Pin) as on the Belgium (our neighbors) Jupiter tables, the table on which Frederico starts his career.

But I think the Topper2000 has not a big future because you only see them in our country and there is no way to compete to the rest of the world. I personally prefer the Tornado. It is not easy to promote the Tornado in our country because all the Pro’s who has play for more then twenty years on the Topper2000 have to practice a lot again to become on the same level as they have on the Topper2000.

An other table, which is popular in the Netherlands, is the Leonhart. This table is made in Germany where it’s very popular. It looks and plays like the old Tournament Soccer. In the Netherlands there are about 200 Leonhart Player. There are only about 50 Tornado players in our country.

You can take pictures from http://www.tafelvoetbal.nl/topper.htm when you tell where you got them from.

For question you can always ask me!

Groetjes, Bart"

The following are just some of the pictures I took from the site. There are plenty more, please refer to the related links sections below.


Perspective shot of the Topper 2000 foosball table.


Shot of the goalie. Notice the shape of the goal behind the goalie.


The five men rods.

Photo credits: Jeroen Groenemans - http://www.tafelvoetbal.nl

Related Links:

• Forum - http://forums.tafelvoetbal.nl (Postings in English will be answered in English)

Shaun P'ng at the World Championship 1999

Shaun P'ng, after much persuasion, decides to share some of the photographs he took when he was at the Worlds. These photographs were taken on the night before the tournament.


Shaun P'ng and Frederico Collignon.


Can you guys see Miqdad?


The night before the rumble! Check out those rows of new Tornado Tables.


Another angle of the rows foosball tables.


Miqdad,  Frederico and their partners have a doubles game.


The same game from a different angle.


Shaun P'ng partnering Robert Mares look-a-like in a doubles game.


Shaun P'ng and fellow fooser (Ccan someone tell me her name? Thks).


Shaun P'ng and Robert Mares look-a-like.

The Todd Loffredo Interview

We emailed Hussein Amoodi to see if he could arrange for an email interview with Todd Loffredo.



The great news is that Todd has graciously agreed to do this. And here's THE Interview.

Alfredo of Florida and Texas asked:

1. What do you recommend a player who is just starting out practice?

ANSWER: Ball control.. Lots of it.. Learn to do circles with the ball and to tap the ball from man to man and to catch the ball from side to side smoothly without tapping it. To pin the ball from man to man in the front pin and the back pin.. To weave the ball on the five man like this.. Starting from the first man going toward the far wall push the ball towards the second man and let the ball go behind the second man and in front of the third man and behind the fourth man and in front of the fifth man and then reverse it.. Then when you get bored with that, practice tapping the ball on the five man with different patterns starting with the 1 or first man on the fiveman..1-3-2-4-3-5 or 2-1-3-2-4-3 and so on.. Use your imagination..
I use to practice like this often and it is great for your control and will help you later when you want to learn new things and also helps make you smooth.

2. If you had a player asking you advise about going PRO, what would your advice be to him?

ANSWER: Practice like a Doctor that is practicing medicine. often and with discipline..

3. Finally what is your favorite thing about foosball?

ANSWER: The first thing is obvious.. Winning because winning is always fun, especially when you win with someone. But also friends that I have met through the game..

Jack Hii of Malaysia asked:

1. In your foosball career, what is your single most satisfying and proudest achievement?

ANSWER: Its hard to say because it always seems that the most satisfying achievement is the one I am always working towards or have finally achieved..
The Proudest is probably the 1977 Tournament Soccer World Championships because no one knew me or expected me or my partner to win.. They all just kept asking: who are those two kids? So it was special for me because it was my first..

2. What is your all time favourite movie? LOL..

ANSWER: I have many favorites... I will give you 5 of them off the top of my head...
   1. Sleuth } <---that is an old movie I like I think made in the 70's
   2. Raiders of the lost Ark.
   3. Indiana Jones The last Crusade
   4. The Matrix
   5. All Star Wars and Star Trek movies..
  
But I Love many movies...

Noel Ho of Malaysia asked:

1. What is it like to be a living legend and actually have a shot named after you? Note: The rolling Pull shot is called a "Loffredo" in Malaysia.

ANSWER: <Laughing> The funny thing is that 15 years ago the foosball players on tour use to call a pull shot that cut back between the men on accident if you were trying to go long, A "loffredo long".. lol I use to try to hit my long pull to fast and it would cut back on big points sometimes...hahaha .. So..I am flattered.. I don't feel like a legend, just the word legend makes you feel old...hahaha.. Probably because I know I am very human and not a legend in my own mind anyway, but it's cool to hear that I have that shot named after me.. I approve wholeheartedly.. LOL

2. What is the absolute craziest thing you ever seen at a foosball tournament?

ANSWER: There are so many. I have seen bad and good things. I remember a tournament in Cincinatti a 50,000 super singles tournament on Tournament Soccer and 2 round in singles Paul Reynolds a Columbus Pro had Dan Kaiser who was an old great player in the late 70's anyway... He had him 2 games to 0 and 4-0 in the Third game.. Dan Kaiser just kept digging and He came back and won the match some how and then he won the Tournament.. I thought that was a pretty remarkable thing and I was lucky to be standing there watching it..

3. Who do you find the hardest to defeat and why?

ANSWER: At different times it has been different people.. All the great players have been tough to beat at some time or another.. Tom Spear at one time was harder than anyone probably because he was so very disciplined and I was not at the time, we were young.. But that is no longer a problem.

4. OR Who do you think has the best game and why?

ANSWER: Again this changes from year to year.. Sometimes it has been Tom Spear, Terry Moore, Doug Fury, Fredrico Collingnon, The list goes on and on.. You need all the tools to be dominating but eventually people will figure you out and find weaknesses so you have to change or start loosing.. That is why I have stayed so long because my game has always changed with the times..You have to evolve with the game..

Shaun Lung of Malaysia asked:

1. What is your day time job? Or is foosball your only way of getting income?

ANSWER: Yes I work for a private employer that is a friend of mine auditing city records.. I keep our computer system up and running and also have other tasks..

2. How old were you when you first started playing foosball... when and where?

ANSWER: My brother showed me the game when I was 12 years old in Denver, Colorado and we played at a local gameroom he liked to go to in the mall... After about 3 months of going down there 2 times a week, I could beat him and It was the first thing I could beat him at. I really enjoyed beating him because he was 3 1/2 years older than me and I wasn't a match for him at very many things...

3. How many hours do you practise a week?

ANSWER: Right now not very much.. maybe 3 hours a week but when a big tournament rolls around I put more energy into it. 20 hours a week when I was younger for a few years.. There need to be a time when you eat and drink and sleep foosball in order to master the game I believe.. At least for me..

4. Why do you feel that the rollover should not be legal? You and Moore always get at each other in the newsgroup, why?

ANSWER: Because the shot was never voted on by the players under the rules.. It was allowed because Tornado/the company said it was going to be legal.. That was the first reason.. The second was that it made the game too easy under pressure.. It use to be that the fun of being under pressure was loosing the feel of a shot and maybe missing because of nerves.. But because the shot is not held in the hand and there is no touch to the shot, it is choke proof..Very hard to misexecute and that makes the game easy and boring in my opinion. Not a real test of someones mastery over pressure.
These are the basic reasons. There are more but I try not to dwell on it anymore.

Hussein Amoodi from Saudi Arabia asked:

1. Why did you decide to partner Fredrico?

ANSWER: I remember watching Fredrico playing with someone from Europe and thinking to myself that if he had a player from the United States help him with our style that he could be very good.. At that time there was not much friendship between the two countries on the foosball table, many arguments and cheating going on, and I thought it might also help cure that problem... I could see that some of the players here were afraid of the European Front toe shot, so I thought it would be a great experience and a good thing for both of us.. I never imagined what a great friend I found in Fredrico and Ingrid his girlfriend also.. They are great people and we have something special together on the table.. I know we have both learned from it.

2. Is there any special mental preparation or practice style that you would advise to do before major tournaments?

ANSWER: Many people practice but just before the tournament they stop for 1 or two days.. I think that this is wrong and I like to practice every day into the tournament.. Maybe I wont hit the ball super hard so my wrist doesn't get too sore but I think stopping makes you loose your feel.. When you get to the tournament get use to the ball at the tournament.. See if it is slick or sticky and how the tables feel and practice right when you get there just to get aclimated to the charicteristics of the tournament tables.. This will give you mental confidence and toughness more than anything. That way there are no surprises

3. Would you consider paying Malaysia a visit one day? :)

ANSWER: Of course... I would like to go around the world playing at least one year. And I will do it one year before I am washed up.. lol

4. When was the first time you won your first worlds? How old were you at that time?

ANSWER: My birthday is August 17 1960... My first World Championship was September 4 1977.. About 3 weeks after my 17th birthday.
    
5. Who had the biggest impact on you during your foosball career? How?

ANSWER: Mike Bowers and Tom Spear.. Mike also a World Champion was my mentor and like my guide and Tom was my Friend and foe and made me learn the hard way.. He was very Disciplinned and I was not..So after I lost to him a few times I studied what he did and learned how to apply it to my world.. I have always been very open to learning anything new.. I still learn from anyone, even rookies.. Just look for things that work and that have a special appeal or trickyness to them and learn it..

Poh Seng from Malaysia asked:

1. Todd, how do u not give away b4 u shoot? need practise? Forcing yourself or what?

ANSWER:  It takes practice with someone standing with you and they should be next to your right side at first with their hand inches from your shoulder.. Have them  watch your hands and shoulders. If you move before you shoot they should touch you on the shoulder before you start your shot. After a while you can tell by yourself and then you don't need anyone else to help you..  When I am shooting and someone races me to a hole easily, It is usually because I have given my shot away  with my body or shoulder.
Because I practice not doing it often, it is easy for me to correct this in a match with a simple thought of being conscious of it. I simply tell myself to keep my body quiet. It is something that I often have to remind myself at tournaments when I am getting blocked..

2. Is the shoulder movement necessary in providing speed to a pull shot? What if a player is used to it and changing to the arms only pull shot will change his shot totally...? How would u advise?

ANSWER: You have to move your shoulder a little but most people make the mistake of leading or leaning with the shoulder before the ball moves just slightly and goalies see it even when they are not looking for it.. You don't really need it for speed but you do need a little for power... It is a body language that you have to learn to hide.. A lot of fooling people in this game has to do with learning how to use fake body language and also using no body language.. It would be like if you were going to hit someone with your fist. If you lean into it with a mean looking face, they will see it coming and block or duck.. lol  But if you look casual like you are just walking by and then strike, they will not see it coming.  Many of my quick shots are done using very quiet body moves as if I am just lightly rolling the ball over to set it up.. Or they are done with some kind of fake.. Either way works..

3. How do u practise? shoot long all day? then middle? I read once u actually shot 47 longs (on a good day) in 90 seconds... is that drill useful..? Pls elaborate...

ANSWER: Build a pull shot around a long. If my long is hitting well then the rest of the holes are much easier to see and hit.  I don't practice it much anymore but I use to practice it very often.. Such as, Put the 2 man just past the big dot about 1/2 inch so the long is still pretty big.. Now make sure you have plenty of balls and that you are on a table where they keep coming to the rack or maybe a bucket of 50 balls will work also. Get a clock and shoot as many longs as you can in 1 minute and 30 seconds.. My record is 47. Do this a few times a day to build strength and to help get a good feel for the long.  Set them 1 at a time by hand.. It is not easy and is tiring. Also practice on the goalie lead defence but taking your time and shooting on long counts like 7-12 seconds and keeping your body very still, this includes your fingers on both hands until you make 25 on a 2 inch hole.. As you get better, make the hole smaller. Use your imagination to make it fun. You can do the same with all the holes and then you can rotate the holes every shot or however you like. 

Good Luck,
Todd Loffredo

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foosball.info would like to thank Todd Loffredo for taking the time to answer these questions and also Hussein, for making this possible. Thank you VERY much!