Table soccer might not be the most complicated sport out there, but it’s also one that’s commonly misunderstood. Sure, most folks understand that you twist the rods with the attached players to score a goal, but for many people, that’s the extent of it. What should you do if the ball gets knocked out of bounds? What does it mean when a ball becomes “dead?” How much “ball time” does each team receive? These are all important questions when it comes to properly understanding the nuances of foosball.

Warrior Table Soccer, your go-to shop for the best foosball tables online, offers some valuable information about some of the more commonly misunderstood aspects of the foosball game.

Clearing Up Confusion About A Few Important Foosball Rules

Teams

As simple as this sounds, sometimes there is confusion as to how many players can participate at a given time. Foosball can be played with teams of one or teams of two, so one-on-one and two-on-two. Teams of three are not allowed. Teams must be even, so you cannot play one-on-two.

Starting With A Coin Toss

Once the teams have been determined (something that’s pretty simple if you’re only playing with one friend), you must toss a coin to determine who initiates the first play. The same method is also used to determine which team starts with the ball in big-field soccer.

Out Of Bounds

When the foosball goes outside of the sides of the table or flies onto the ground away from the table, obviously, it is out of bounds. However, many novice players don’t know that when the ball goes up high into the airspace above the edge of the table, it’s deemed out of bounds — even if the ball still lands back onto the playing area. In this case, the team who knocked the ball out of bounds forfeits the ball to their opponent.

Limited Ball Time

A lot of foosball players also don’t understand that ball time is limited per team. This time limit doesn’t just apply to each team, but also to the given row of players. For instance, midfield players are limited to having the ball for ten seconds. Attack players and defense/goalie players are allowed to have the ball for up to 15 seconds before it must be passed.

What Is A Dead Ball?

When the ball becomes inaccessible in the middle of the field or the corners of the field and no players can reach it with their players, it is deemed “dead.” Note that the ball is still in the playing area and is not out of bounds. In this case, a dead ball nearest to a rod with five players means that the ball is re-served to continue play. When the dead ball is in the midfield of either team, the closest defending play will re-serve the ball.

A ball is also considered “dead” if there’s a manufacturing defect with the table. Of course, with a Warrior foosball table, this will never be a concern.

Think Quality: Choose A Warrior Foosball Table

For a great table to solidify your foosball fundamentals and master the rules of the game, choose Warrior.