British Foosball Association

How to Play - Player Skills

Basic Blocking

Blocking in this section is assumed to mean getting a player in the path of the ball, in order to prevent it from going in the goal. It is a very important part of the game, and is needed to save shots from the opposition defensive and midfielder bars.

Effective blocking requires good understanding between the attacker and the defender. Reacting as one requires considerable match practice to perfect, but to get a head start here are a few strategies you can try to speed up the learning process.

1. Angling the Players
2. Volleying
3. Positioning
4. Defensive Shooting

Although not critical, many players find that tilting the attack and defence bars slightly back (but not so much the ball can squeeze underneath) reduces the chance that the ball will bounce straight back to the opposition when it is blocked.

Conversely, the midfield is often angled forward to reduce the chance of shots getting a nasty deflection (a nightmare to defend), whilst also sending the ball hurtling back to the opposition from time to time - fast.

Tilting the keeper forward increases the chance of a partial saved shot being pushed wide of the goal. Remember that this can create near-post gaps on some tables,

Trying to kick opponents’ midfielder and defender shots straight back into their goal ("volleying") is a risky business. Although volleying is extremely enjoyable (when successful), it is also highly risky, and your ability to defend may be severely impaired. Only go for a volley if you can predict when and where the shot is going to come from, or to try to upset the defender’s rhythm.

Note that, when volleying, it is not necessary to raise the player very far. A gentle flick is usually enough to slap the ball back past the un-ready defender, and lifting a player further will increase the chances of the ball going under your player.

Everybody has their own particular way of blocking, and describing the various ways is extremely difficult. Like many things in table football, match practice is the key.

Defender Shooting

Defensive formations can vary according to the side of table the ball is being shot from, partly because the attacker is in a better position to see the movement of the shooting player for near-side shots. Some defenders prefer to defend with a near-defender/keeper combination (potentially leaving a bigger gap one side than the other), whilst other defenders use the defenders closest to the ball. This largely comes down to personal preference.

The most common defensive shot-type in the UK is the defender Drag shot, and many blocking formations rely of this shot going short (straight to near post), middle (straight or angled), or long (angled to far post).

If the defender is dragging the ball a reasonable distance, at some point the wide attacker will be unable to cover the ball. Where the wide attacker runs out of bar (the “dead-spot”) a switch to middle attacker is required. Defensive formations need a way of dealing with shots from the dead-spot, as described below:

Strategy I Defender staggers players to cover shot to near post, and attacker looks to pick up shot, with the middle attacker (ignoring shots the middle man cannot reach), if it goes to the middle or far portion of the goal.

This works because defenders usually find it easier to hit the ball “down the line”, than to pick out an angled gap to the far post. The defender will be able to save even well hit near post shots, whilst the attacker can pounce on anything angled to the middle or far post.

Strategy II Attacker covers shot to near post with wide-attacker, and coordinates this with the midfielder second in on the side of the ball. Defender is free to cover the middle and far side of the goal.

This works well against defenders who like to pick out angled shots from out wide, and can also work well against defenders who like to mix in shooting and passing down the line to the attacker.

Midfield Shooting

Effective blocking of midfielder shots often relies more heavily on the defender than on the midfielder. Opponents who are unable to pass from midfield to attack are easily blocked, but as the quality of your opponents increases, the midfielder will have to focus more on cutting out the pass to the attacker bar rather than a shot from the midfield.

Against good opponents, the threat of a pass to attack (and subsequent shot) usually outweighs the threat of a midfield shot. However, when a midfield shot is mixed in with effective passing moves, they can be extremely dangerous.

The surprise element of good midfield shots makes them difficult to pick. Fortunately it is possible for the defender to cover most of the gaps in the midfield by assuming the shot will go straight if ball in middle of the table, or angled to the near post if the ball is positioned out wide. The key is to anticipate where the shots are likely to go, and not panic.

So much depends upon how the opposing defender likes to shoot, and whether they have one or two dominant set-shots, or like to mix it up with lots of different ones. Good defenders will have many shots in their repertoire, and will mix them up frequently.

Attacker's Role

Defending attacker needs to try to co-ordinate the attack and midfield bars, especially if formation requires the attacker to cover the near post.

Many defenders take advantage of the moment where a wide-man attacker can no longer cover the ball to unleash a shot. Lining a midfielder up to cover this dead-spot ensures no hole is left. Keep looking at where the midfield is, otherwise it is easy to get lax and forget about it.

Strategy III Stagger the midfield and attack, and move both bars in tandem. Cover the dead-spot with a midfielder to cover during changeover and force the opponent defender into dragging longer before shooting.

The attacker needs to develop an intuitive understanding of the position the players need to be in.

Strategy IV Attacker keeps midfield stationary (covering the dead-spot) and defender looks to cover the remaining holes.

The theory is that the ball can go through one of 2 gaps (between the central attacker and the 2 players either side of him), and the defender simply has to dash between them. There will still be angled gaps, so this technique works better against opponents who like to mix the ball up very fast (tic-tac) and shoot straight, and less well against players carefully who look for angles and gaps to shoot through.

Defender's Role

Much has been said about the attackers role, but at the end of the day it is ultimately the defenders’ responsibility to save shots. Top defenders will usually rely more on anticipation and instinct than on any particular strategy to defend shots.

Adopting the strategies as above according to how your partner plays is a good start, but it is also important to be able to react to drift, deflection and pace. Maybe I will add more to this section when I learn how to defend well!