So now that I have finished the 5 fundamentals of foosball I have had quite a few requests to talk about defense. So I am going to do a series of foosball defense that I am going to call the duplicity of defense because defense has a lot of faces or aspects to it. Maybe later on we will have some more discussions about the mental game or feel free to make suggestions or comments.

Defense… Really the first big aspect of defense is don’t let your opponent get the ball. They have right to drop the ball if they win the drop, but not letting them get the ball is what defense is all about. Really by not letting them get the ball is really about taking good solid reads, honoring every position when you have the ball, do everything in your power to make sure you execute to make sure you pass and put the ball in the hole. If you do quick defensive reads, take risks, take chances, like some risks are good and that’s fine but total blind quick shots, panicking foosball shots, quick passes if the ball isn’t in the right spot, not being disciplined when the ball isn’t in the right spot and you pass it anyways. Just honor every possession and execute to the best of your abilities and that will minimize the amount of opportunities your opponent has. In football they say the best offense is a good defense but it is the same in foosball if you focus on offense and do it properly, your defense will become secondary, especially if you win the drop or the serve.

I will start off with the defensive zone defense if the opponent has the ball and they are shooting the pull or the rollover. I am not a big proponent of trying to read tells or shoulder movements. I am not saying that is a bad thing to do but that has just been not what has been successful for me. So what I really focus on is what I mentioned before in one of my other videos is just being aware and open to what is happening. Your opponent will not shoot totally blind they are telling you things. They will shoot for different reasons and your motions dictate those reasons. Just be aware of what you are doing, did you pop out like that and they shot middle or was it when you did this or that or when you switched, what was it that you did when they shot. What did they react to that made them shoot? Then you can test it out and show the same thing and if that was the case then switch differently and see if they react the same. You can always adjust as long as you are aware of what is going on in your defense. Just build on that story and you can learn if they have a tendency to shoot at the goalie. If that is the case than you can focus more on the goalie and the movements and what did it take to make them shoot.

What is their mentality when they shoot? You can then build on those motions and positions and you can start to realize that’s why they are shooting. Most pull shooters will sit on the ball because they have the mentality that you can’t sit there forever so when you show them the same motion and you can properly defend. You show them a pattern and then a fake in order to vary your defense as a method to figure out how they like to shoot. If you just stay perceptive you can learn these defensive patterns. You can make your movements to talk them into that hole that he wants. So that is one way to block a person or get a read on a person.

The rollover shooters or blind shooters… you will get a sense of when someone is shooting blind or when they are reacting to your movements and shooting. A lot of blind foosball shooters will shoot in cycles like pull, push middle, and they may not even realize it but that is just their foosball mentality.

Same thing on the 5 bar, your motions might dictate when they shoot they might be reacting to your motions or just shooting blind. They may throw fakes and see if you react. Often times I will react to a fake but the next time I will not react to the fake. I am not a proponent of chasing down every path on the 5 bar.