Cheating can take all the fun out of a game. Winning is so much sweeter when it’s through the use of your own refined skills, while cheating takes absolutely no skill at all.
But foosball can be incredibly hard, especially if you’re playing against a talented opponent. You might find yourself feeling hopeless and wondering how to win at foosball without cheating.
We’ll give you the tips you need to increase your win rate using your own skills – no cheating involved. Keep on reading to learn what you can do to ensure your victory in foosball.
How to Win at Foosball without Cheating
Understand the rules.
To avoid cheating, you’ll need to have a good understanding of the rules of the game. That way, you can avoid any illegal maneuvers or tactics.
The official International Table Soccer Federation rules are pretty comprehensive. There’s a lot to learn, but you may want to familiarize yourself with them, especially if you intend to play professionally.
In a nutshell, though, you should avoid the methods we describe in our post about cheating in foosball. That includes spinning, jarring, or altering the table.
When you serve the ball, spin it to your own five-bar.
Serving the ball is a great opportunity. You can serve it in such a way that it spins towards your own five bar, allowing you to gain control of the ball before your opponent can.
Better yet, this strategy is completely legal. All you need to do is use your thumb to spin the ball counterclockwise as you push it through the serving hole. This causes the ball to glide towards your own bar first.
We describe the strategy in more detail in this post.
Learn different shots.
Sure, you can just smack the ball around towards your opponent’s goal, but such a strategy isn’t going to get you very far against skilled players. Instead, you’ll need to learn different kinds of shots.
The more you know, the better. You’ll have multiple ways at your disposal to score, so you can switch to a new method if your opponent seems to counter one easily.
Snake shots and pullshots are both really popular. Learning these two shots can make you hard to respond to.
Play a strong defense.
There are many who believe that the best offense you can have is a good defense. In many ways, that’s true. If your opponent can’t score points on you, then they can’t win.
That means you should brush up on your defensive techniques. Learn how to operate both your defensive bars at once with one hand, avoid using the same strategy over and over, and don’t use your middle defensive foos men to shoot the ball.
We have a detailed guide on playing defense in foosball here.
Strengthen your passing skills.
On top of learning various methods for taking shots, you should become a pro at passing the ball back and forth between bars. The faster you can pass, the better, and that requires practice.
Passing is useful for a number of reasons. If you can pass really quickly between foos men on the same bar or between other bars, your opponent will have a hard time keeping track of the ball.
In addition, passing the ball allows you to set up the perfect angle for a shot.
Practice, practice, practice!
This might go without saying for some people, but we thought we’d mention it. You don’t become a skilled foosball player overnight.
As with many other things, foosball takes practice. Spend time practicing different shots and passes. Play casual games against friends.
Consider getting a high-quality table, too. The better the table is, the easier it will be for you to practice.
If you’re not sure where to get a good foosball table, take a look at our list of the best Italian foosball table options.
Wrap Up
You don’t need to resort to cheating to win in foosball. By enhancing your passing, defense, serving, and shot skills, you can grow into a skilled player that frequently wins games on your own merit. This just takes some time and practice.
The more effort you’re willing to put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.