Foosball 101 > Handle Grip
Foosball Handle Grip
Knowing the right way to grip the foosball handle is extremely important to your shot speed, accuracy, and overall performance. Most beginners will start out playing the game by gripping the foosball handle too tight. This is most likely a bad habit carried over by other sports like baseball or tennis. Most golfers understand that it takes a little more finesse, and they tend to catch on to the proper method more quickly. Foosball is a game of finesse and your grip should be too. Keeping a loose grip on the handle will allow for maximum movement and speed. This will limit your resistance on the handle and allows your rod to move freely and fluidly.
Practice the Right Grip Strength
The best way to learn the proper grip technique is to practice a single shot over and over until you have maximized your shot speed. Lift up the two defensive players and place a ball in front of your center forward man and kick the ball in the goal with a tight grip on the handle. Next, loosen your grip slightly and try the same shot. This should have made the shot faster because your wrist was able to rotate further in a clockwise direction.
Continue to loosen your grip until it still feels comfortable where you have enough pressure but you are able to generate enough shot speed to make a louder and louder goals. Make sure you are reeling the man back at least a quarter of a turn and you rotate through the shot where your wrist ends in a position under the handle. The man should make a half a turn or about 180 degrees if you are doing this right. Having white knuckles is also a really good indicator for gripping the handle too hard.
The best way to learn the proper grip technique is to practice a single shot over and over until you have maximized your shot speed. Lift up the two defensive players and place a ball in front of your center forward man and kick the ball in the goal with a tight grip on the handle. Next, loosen your grip slightly and try the same shot. This should have made the shot faster because your wrist was able to rotate further in a clockwise direction.
Continue to loosen your grip until it still feels comfortable where you have enough pressure but you are able to generate enough shot speed to make a louder and louder goals. Make sure you are reeling the man back at least a quarter of a turn and you rotate through the shot where your wrist ends in a position under the handle. The man should make a half a turn or about 180 degrees if you are doing this right. Having white knuckles is also a really good indicator for gripping the handle too hard.
Closed-Handed Grip
This grip applies to all the standard shots like pull shots, push shots, spray shots, and tic-tac shots. You will know that you are holding the handle right if there is a small gap between the skin that connects your thumb and index finger and the handle. If this skin is completely wrapped around the handle, you know you are gripping it too hard for shooting. Having white knuckles is also a really good indicator for gripping the handle too hard. Remember, a foosball handle is not a tennis racket or baseball bat that you have to swing! Another foosball tip when shooting is to turn your wrist quickly and the rod should spin about 180 degrees when taking the shot. Turning your wrist a quarter of a turn will not provide enough speed on your shot. You can also shoot an open-handed shot where you actually roll the handle on your wrist in order to increase the speed of your shot.
This grip applies to all the standard shots like pull shots, push shots, spray shots, and tic-tac shots. You will know that you are holding the handle right if there is a small gap between the skin that connects your thumb and index finger and the handle. If this skin is completely wrapped around the handle, you know you are gripping it too hard for shooting. Having white knuckles is also a really good indicator for gripping the handle too hard. Remember, a foosball handle is not a tennis racket or baseball bat that you have to swing! Another foosball tip when shooting is to turn your wrist quickly and the rod should spin about 180 degrees when taking the shot. Turning your wrist a quarter of a turn will not provide enough speed on your shot. You can also shoot an open-handed shot where you actually roll the handle on your wrist in order to increase the speed of your shot.
Open-Handed Grip
An open-handed grip is used when shooting a rollover shot, also known as a snake shot. Setting up this shot requires the man to be tilted forward where the foosball man’s toe is pinning the middle of the ball against the table. Once the foosball ball is in this position, players switch between the traditional grip, as explained above, to an open-handed grip. Your hand should be in an open position with the bottom part of your hand and beginning of your wrist touching the handle. This will allow you to slide your hand in an upward motion so your man swings almost a full rotation before making contact with the ball again. Many beginners think this is an illegal spin of the rod the first time they see a snake shot but the man actually makes contact before a full 360 degree turn is made, making it a legal shot.
An open-handed grip is used when shooting a rollover shot, also known as a snake shot. Setting up this shot requires the man to be tilted forward where the foosball man’s toe is pinning the middle of the ball against the table. Once the foosball ball is in this position, players switch between the traditional grip, as explained above, to an open-handed grip. Your hand should be in an open position with the bottom part of your hand and beginning of your wrist touching the handle. This will allow you to slide your hand in an upward motion so your man swings almost a full rotation before making contact with the ball again. Many beginners think this is an illegal spin of the rod the first time they see a snake shot but the man actually makes contact before a full 360 degree turn is made, making it a legal shot.
Improving your Foosball Grip
All professional foosball players use some type of grip aid that is wrapped around the handle to help improve the stickiness to their hand. These come in different forms depending on your preference from wraps that are similar to tennis handle grips, gloves that cover your hands and rubber tubes that slide over the handle. It is recommended to try all of these different types of grip aids to see what works best for you, as the last thing you want is to have a worn down handle that causes you to slip and ruin the accuracy of your shots. There are many different styles of tackiness, stickiness, and thickness, so we recommend trying a variety of them until you find what works best for you.
All professional foosball players use some type of grip aid that is wrapped around the handle to help improve the stickiness to their hand. These come in different forms depending on your preference from wraps that are similar to tennis handle grips, gloves that cover your hands and rubber tubes that slide over the handle. It is recommended to try all of these different types of grip aids to see what works best for you, as the last thing you want is to have a worn down handle that causes you to slip and ruin the accuracy of your shots. There are many different styles of tackiness, stickiness, and thickness, so we recommend trying a variety of them until you find what works best for you.
Wraps are the most popular type of grip aid because they offer the widest variety of stickiness options to suit the individual player needs. Wraps simply roll over the top of any handle and are a familiar product in sports like baseball, tennis and racquet ball. It might seem strange to roll on a tacky rubberized wrap over the top of your handle, but it is common in nearly every sport to ensure you have the right grip.
Gloves can help you keep a firm grip on the handle by covering your entire hand with a stickier material. These are especially effective for tables that don't have a smooth surface. The gloves can tuck into the handle ridges that are harder to roll a wrap around. Gloves are less common in the foosball circuit, but provide a quick way to enhance your trip as you are training a complex shot that requires that you don't slip your hand.
Tubes are a nice way to slide a single rubberized cover around the entire handle. These products tend to hold up a little longer over time than thinner wraps, but some players don't like how the thickness can interfere with their grip on the handle. They are also harder to slide on to your handle and can be harder to remove once they get worn out. The biggest issue with the tube style grip aid is that most handles vary in diameter, making it difficult to find a tight fitting grip all the way around.