A little story about my third foosball tourney. Quick rundown, race to 2 games, 5pts per game. Person scored upon drops next ball (getting the drop ensures that that player gets possession at midfield). My first match I lose to seasoned player who is obviously not trying very hard and is a uncomfortable beating me as badly as he is. Afterwards he wishes me luck and talks to me a bit.
Second match, I play another seasoned player (Paulie) who doesn't say anything to me, beats me 5-0, 5-0. I was never even able to take a shot on goal. Immediately afterward he starts giving me unsolicited advice. I looked him in the eye and said, 'You must be the stupidest a$$hole in this tourney if you think that I am going to stand here and listen to you after the way you just treated me.'
Was there something I could have learned from him? Without a doubt.
Was it good of him to offer advice? Absolutely.
Did he choose a horrible time to do it? Yes.
Would I have been open to advice had he used any tact (like saying something I did well, or that he had been a beginner not so long ago, or anything empathetic)? Totally.
To be clear: All of you who say that people routinely get upset when you give advice, maybe it isn't the fault of the person receiving the advice. Work on how you OFFER advice. Start off with complimenting something they did well and then tell them something they could do differently. I also helps to have them explain what they were thinking when they tried and failed (this will probably highlight a lack of understanding of a base concept).
Otherwise you are just some jackass pointing out flaws.
dld
PS--A while after I told Paulie off, he brought a beer over to me and apologized about the way he tried to coach me. Turns out he was only about two years further along the curve than I was and had just received an ass-kicking. He told me that he was stunned by my reply, but after thinking about it realized that he would have reacted the same way. We became VERY good friends after that incident.
