Play Meter

(continued from page 94)
PLA Y METER: Theoretically they could have more
than one tournament a year and play, say four or
five different tournaments on four or five different
tables. If there wasn't a vast difference between
the tables, the players could easily adapt from one
to the other. I think that would probably work. The
unfortunate thing is that the foosball manufacturers
today seem to be going in opposite directions in so
far as technology is concerned. Do you think that
trend will reverse itself and what will make it
happen?
HOINES: Well, I think eventually the manufactur-
er that puts out the best table, the one that has the
most player appeal coming from being able to shoot
the widest range of shots, with the most accuracy,
will be the one that wins out. I think right now it's
kind of a race for the manufacturers to do this. It'll
be the table that you can shoot banks and pushes
and pulls on. There might even be shots that aren't
thought of today that could be shot on the right
table.
PLA Y METER: What do you look for in this table?
HOINES: I think the playing surface is going to be
one of the big things which is going to be changed.
PLA Y METER: What are the big differences
among playing surfaces now?
HOINES: You've got glass; you've got siick
formica; then you've got dull formica and you've got
the rough playing surface. But all playing surfaces
need to be more solid so that when you hit the ball
the playing surface doesn't drop down.
PLA Y METER: This dropping down is a result
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42~----------------------------------"
mostly of pin shots, a relatively new innovation. I
didn't see a whole lot of pin shots last year; in fact, I
don't even recall hearing the name pin shot last
year.
HOINES: They call it "South Dakota Pins." The
fir t time anyone of these guys in Minneapolis saw
any pins, they were the ones I shot and they
thought the shot was a real weird one.
PLA Y METER: I understand Tournament Soccer
had to increase the heights of their goals because of
the pin shots.
HOINES: Yes they did, but then they found out
that the actual problem was that the men were too
low to the table. Your men have to be off the table
according to the size of the ball. Nowadays if you
can put your index finger between the man and the
playing surface then your men are about the right
height. But of course if you've got a bigger ball then
your man has to be a little bit higher off the playing
surface. And I don't think anyone has any set
measurements now, like it's 1/ 4 in. or 5/ 8 in.
according to a certain diameter ball. But there is
definitely a direct relationship between the di-
ameter of the ball and how far your men have to be
off the playing surface. There's a definite relation-
ship here. I don't think anyone really knows what it
is, but it wouldn't be hard to figure it out if someone
just sat down and worked at it.
I think what they need, the manufacturers, is to
set up prototype tables, and let the players that are
experts at the game actually play on this table just
to see if it better than the one they already have
out.
PLA Y METER: What about goal sizes? I hear a lot
about goal sizes, that they vary so much among the
different tables produced. Do you think that the
dimensions of the goal itself should be standard-
ized?
HOINES: This is one big complaint. Down in Texas,
they want them wider; up here they like them just
the way Tournament Soccer has them now; then
there are some in South Dakota that don't like them
as wide as Tournament Soccer's but like Deutsch-
meister's. But I think they should standardize, and
I think it's really up to the World Table Soccer
Association to do that and to set up general
specifications for tables.
PLA Y METER: Are you for larger goals or smaller
goals?
HOINES: I like a little larger goal but not so large
that it's not going to challenge the shooter. Some
goals are so big that you can make a shot every
time. That takes away from player appeal. It takes
the challenge out of the game and the defense.
PLA Y METER: Do the players cheat your tables
much by stuffing the goals?
HOINES: No, not if they're in a bar; they hardly
ever cheat the tables. Still you should set the table
in a place where the bartender can see that table all
the time. And some tables have ball counters now,
so you could put 100 balls in and only nine will come
out at a time. Also, if you have a player that really
takes the game seriously and he's in your place all
the time so that he's your promoter, you should
respect him, his playing ability. It doesn't hurt to
give him a free beer once in a while, treat him kind