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Foosball Table Design and Rules

Foosball tables are designed with 8 rods, 'table soccer player' figures, and some handles. There is a goal at each end and a place to drop in a ball on each side in the middle. Each player/team uses their handles to move their men to strike the ball into the opposing team’s goal. You always play offense to your right and defense at your left. The tables are very cleverly built to provide different kinds of rods with different spacing between the men. The game is usually quick and requires good hand eye coordination.

To begin the game, the ball is served through a hole at the side of the table. Players then attempt to use the figures mounted on rotating bars to kick the ball into the opposing goal. Expert players have been known to move balls at speeds up to 56 kmh (35 mph) in competition.

Most rules consider "360-degree shots" or "spinning" (using the palm of the hand to swiftly spin the bar all around, instead of using wrist strokes to kick the ball with a bar-mounted figure) to be illegal. There are many rule variations. For example, in some variations the keeper is allowed to spin, in others as long as a goal is scored from a controlled position, rotations of the rod after striking the ball are permitted. Generally, shots short of a full 360-degree rotation before (or after) striking the ball are legal.

The winner is determined when one team scores a predetermined number of goals, usually five, ten, or eleven in competition.

Foosball tables can vary in size, but a typical table is about 120 cm (4 ft) long and 61 cm (2 ft) wide. The table usually contains 8 rows of foos men, which are plastic, metal, wooden, or sometimes carbon-fibre figures mounted on horizontal metal bars. Each team of 1 or 2 human players controls 4 rows of foos men.