Bubble Hockey Tips

Bubble hockey, or dome hockey, has a cousin in the foosball table but is an entirely different game. Dome hockey players control each of the hockey players individually, including the goalie. The players slide up and down set paths, much like a real hockey game. This allows you to use some of the same tactics you can use in a real ice hockey match.

Think Like a Hockey Player

Familiarize yourself with the game of ice hockey before playing a game of dome hockey. You do not need to become an expert, but you should understand the basic principles of the game so you can think like a hockey player in the dome hockey game. That being said, notice that you have two wings, a center, two defensemen and a goalie. The wings are your playmakers; they pass the puck into the middle and sometimes they take shots themselves. Wings also go into the corners to get the puck. Your center plays both offense and defense and plays in the middle, making him an ideal candidate to shoot the puck. Your defensemen generally hold back, but on offense they take shots from the "point" (the top of the blue line in the offensive zone) and dump the puck into the corners so the wings can get it. Your goalie tries to stop the puck.

Control your dome hockey players just as they would act in an ice hockey match.

Learn Finesse and Power When Controlling the Puck

This will take some practice, but you will notice in the course of your games that sometimes the puck ends up around the player's feet. You can kind of push the puck up with the player's body, but you don't have much control. Control comes from using the stick. You want the puck on the player's stick when you want to pass or shoot. So how do you get the puck up the player's stick?

Easy: Simply learn the difference between finessing the puck and powering the puck. With finesse, you can gently scoot the puck up from your player's feet onto your player's stick. Once on the stick, you can either finesse the puck to an open player by passing it or power the puck at the net with a shot.

Finesse is learned by simply being gentle with the puck. Do not make sudden movements; move the player just enough to get the puck onto your stick or to move the puck over to a player. It takes skill and practice but will come naturally after a short while.

Power, on the other hand, involves winding your player up and flicking your wrist so that the player hits the puck with force. Most beginners know only how to do this. For that reason, most players end up chasing the puck and taking blind shots at the net. Learn finesse first and then work on power.

String Together Plays on Offense

Once you have a good grasp of the game of ice hockey and you're confident in your finesse and power skills, you can start stringing together offensive plays. Here, be creative. One play might involve dumping the puck to your left winger. Your left winger can then slide the puck over, behind the net, to the right winger. The right winger can either take a shot (using power) or finesse the puck into the center (using finesse). If you shoot the puck, prepare for a rebound. If you pass the puck into the center, shoot the puck as soon as the center reaches it to put your opponent off guard.

There are many different varieties of plays you can string together. Just be creative and try different combinations.

Collapse the Puck on Defense

A strong offense is little without an equally strong defense. There will be times that you find yourself defending your net. In this case, the goalie, your defensemen and your center come into play.

For the goalie, just try to anticipate the shots and keep the goalie in front of the puck. It's tricky, but the goalie slides only left and right in front of the net with slight forward and back motions to cut off angles.

Your defensemen should cover the opposing player's wingers. Slide them over to the opposing player's wingers and flick your wrist back and forth to disrupt passes and steal the puck away. Be creative here, too. You can feint with your defensemen and move them in at the last moment to intercept passes and get the puck back or you can attack directly. It's a matter of playing style and technique.

Use your center to attack the opposing player's center and the block shots. Keep the center between the puck and the goalie and do much of the same moves as you would with your defensemen. Keep your wingers on the opposing player's defensemen at the top of your zone so that they can take the puck and try and score if you get the puck back.