The pin shot is a very unique type of shot mainly because of its many shooting variations. It is the type of shot that can be done from a set up position, when the ball is in motion (rare), and it is multi-directional. It can also be used as a combination shot. So because of all of these variations in which one may score using a pin shot, the pin shot is a formidable weapon to be reckon with. To some players, the pin shot is a goalie's nightmare. Some players are just clueless on how to defend against a pin shot and so they are terrified of it. However, with a few helpful tips, you will find that the pin shot is not the T-REX of foosball weaponry. As a goalie, I would much rather face a pin shot than a pull shot any day... Well, maybe.

The first thing you need to remember is to never set up a tight defense directly in front of the ball when it is in a pin position (especially when the ball is in a back pin position.) In the following illustration, you will noticed that both men are to the side of the ball in the direction that the ball is most likely going to go. Ideally, you want to use part of one man to cover the straight-in and use the other man to cover the area in which the shot is going to.

Now, you will probably ask, how does one know which direction the shooter is going? Well by looking at the following illustration you will see that there are only two ways for the shot to go. If the shooter has the ball positioned at one end of the goal, then chances are he or she will attempt to shoot towards the other end of the goal. Because the straight-in is open, the shooter has the option to either go for the straight in or move the ball toward his or hers direction and attempt to go around the defense. In this case, the shooter would be wise to go straight in; or do a tight roundhouse pin shot in near corner closest to where the ball is originally positioned, as shown in the illustration below.

Therefore, to cover both the straight-in and the moving pin shot, you should place just a portion of the front man to cover the straight-in and move the back man to cover long as shown in the illustration above.

You can also switch your men to where the back man covers the straight in and the front covers the moving shot. This, I believe, is a much better choice of defense in that it serves a multiple purpose.

First, it gives the shooter a deceiving notion that the straight-in is open and he or she may foolishly go for it. Second, by placing the front man's feet in a forward position, give the shooter an illusion that there is a smaller area for a moving pin shot to hit.

In my experience, I have notices that one of the most popular spot to do a pin shot is right in the middle of the goal. From a shooter's perspective, this is a good spot to do a pin shot. The reason being is that most goalie will concentrate more on defending the current position of the ball rather than on where the ball is going. And this is exactly what the shooter wants.

If you notice in the illustration above that when the ball is in this position, the shooter now has two different directions in which she can go to score. Carefully, notice that the task of covering the shot is an 'either-or" situation and that in order to block the shot is like flipping a coin.

Over the years, I've learned that a split defense works fairly well in this situation, especially, when the ball is being pinned in a back position.

You may look at this type of defense and say, "this is suicidal" and rightfully so. But believe it or not, it does work. Not to mention the psychological effect it has on the shooter. Again, this is a situation where timing is everything. What I may do in this situation is show the shooter a current ball location defensive position and then when I feel that the time is right, I will shift to a split defense. Knowing when to do this, take years and lots of defending experience.

More often than not, some shooters will set up a pin shot using the middle 3-man on either the near side or the far side rather than in the middle of the goal. The reason is obvious. It is so the shooter has a larger target area to shoot at rather than two small areas. In a way, you might be better off in this situation. Because, rather having to cover three possible areas for the shot to go to, the goalie now has one large area to concentrate on. Maybe two if the shooter knows how to do a reverse pin shot.

ball is set up on the near side of the shooter

ball is set up on the far side from the shooter

One good way to help your defense, is to switch the front man's feet back towards your goal and vice versa with the back man's feet.

switch your men's feet appearance to create a false defensive illusion

This gives the shooter the illusion that the long is more doable because the shooter no longer has to contend with having to clear the front man's feet in the forward position. Also, this gives you more freedom to flex the front man to cover more area. You can also flex your men as a set, thus allowing you to better cover the extreme long to middle area which is most likely the place where the shooter is intending to go. But when doing this, the short to straight-in is usually open. So, be aware of this and be cautious. The idea is to give the shooter the false impression that the straight-in is cover when in reality it may not be.

My favorite defensive position for a pin shot defense is to have my back man with feet forward covering the short to straight-in range and to have the front man with his feet facing towards my goal covering the long to middle range. Initially, I may start out in this position, but by the end of the shot, I may be in a different defensive formation. It all depends on the situation at that time.

this type of defensive formation works very well against a pin shot offense

In conclusion, these are merely my suggestions towards helping you to defend against what I consider a very formable foosball shot. Over the years, I have found that these concepts and techniques have worked very well for me. You may want to try them as fundamental approach to defending against the pin shot, and then later on develop your own style and concepts as you become more experience. Seldom, am I intimidated by pin shots any more, but rather I am doing the intimidating with my fearless style of defensive playing. Nonetheless, such confidence and ability didn't come easy nor did it happen over night. It took years of practice and having fun playing foosball.