While football has been one of the most popular sports worldwide, its miniature tabletop version called foosball is also in-demand.
Just like football, playing foosball requires strategy, and one of the most crucial strategies in the game are defense strategies.
If you’re new in the game, here are 5 foosball defense tips for beginners to help improve your game.
How do You Play Foosball?
The mechanics of foosball are actually pretty simple. You control your players with the use of 8 foosball rods.
You push and pull the rods to move the players per row and spin the rod to kick the ball. The rules of foosball are like football but without much technicalities.
The purpose of the game is to kick the ball into the opponent’s goal and prevent them from kicking the ball into yours.
Why Is Defense Very Important to Your Game?
Any foosball player will know how important defense in a game is. Just like in football, a defensive game is just as, if not more important, than an offensive game.
Take note that the ball will not always be in your part of the field. At times, the opponent will be the one to control the ball.
When this happens, you have to know how to prevent him from scoring a goal.
Physical defense skills are one thing, but psychological defense skills are also crucial.
Psychological defense refers to psyching out the opponent while defending the ball. This enables you to make your opponent lose focus.
Accompanied by defense skills, psychological defense skills throw opponents off balance.
This is very crucial to winning because psychological warfare constitutes a big part of the game. If you’re able to confuse your opponent, you’ve pretty much won the round.
Combining these two forms of defense is important in creating good defense strategies.
Other than just shooting goals, you need to form a concrete defense game plan to prevent your opponent from scoring.
Also Read: 10 Best Foosball Tables on The Market
What Are Some Defense Tips to Improve my Game?
Now that we have delved into some of the intricacies of foosball strategy, let’s learn some good defense tips that you need for your game.
Follow these tips, and you can build a good ground for your defensive skills. Here are 5 solid defense tips that you can add to your arsenal.
Tip 1: Think Defense More than Offense
You must always have a mind for defense rather than offense. Most beginners make the mistake of making scoring the main goal of the game.
While it is important to score, defending the ball is actually more important.
This is because a good defense can prolong the game while scoring can end the game quickly in favor of the better shooter, and you’ll lose if your opponent is better.
The key to winning is to think about offense only when you are in control of the ball. Other than that, everything else must be about defense.
In fact, even if you’re already controlling the ball, you must think of a defensive move to help you counter any steals.
Tip 2: Use Two Rods as a Defense Unit
Another rookie mistake that beginners make is to use all the rods and players for defense when the opponent is in control of the ball.
This is usually a knee-jerk reaction that a lot of people do whenever they see that their opponent has the ball.
If you want to play a good defensive game, stop doing this.
Instead, use only two rods as your defense unit, so you don’t have to move back and forth from one rod to another.
Between these two rods, create a defense zone where you have to contain the ball.
Perfect using two rods as your defensive line, and you can improve your game.
Tip 3: Use the Two Rods Simultaneously
While you might think that using two rods as a defensive line may be too hard because you have to shift your hand from one rod to the other, it is actually possible to use one hand to move the two rods at the same time.
This may be a bit difficult at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’ll be useful.
To do this, you can use your thumb and pinkie finger to move two rods. Use your thumb to move one rod and use your pinkie to move the other.
If you strengthen your thumb and pinkie, you can perfect this defense technique.
Tip 4: Don’t Use Any of Your Defense Units as a Shooter
You might be tempted to use your defense units to shoot the goal if there is an opening.
Usually, the center rods are the defense units because they are positioned right in front of your goal.
Save these rods for your defense line and your other rods as your shooter.
Tip 5: Experiment with Different Defense Patterns
Do take note that if you keep on using the same defensive moves, your opponent might see a pattern.
If your opponent spots a pattern, then he’ll know how to score against your defense.
In order to prevent this, you’ll have to learn different defense patterns so you can mix and match your tactics a bit.
As you go along with your game, you’ll learn different defense formations that you can use to block off attacks.
There are specific and proven formations that you can combine to create your own defensive strategy.
A non-telegraphic defense used from these formations can make your opponent lose his concentration if you know how to utilize them properly.
Conclusion
If you want to win, then you must have solid defense aside from good shooting skills.
In fact, ball defense has to be one of the first things that you have to learn when you start playing foosball.
When you have a solid foundation for defense, then you’ll have won half of the game already. Try out these 5 foosball defense tips for beginners to get better at your game.
