Question 8 - Rules on Passing...

intro.  what is the definition of a legal goal? isn't a legal goal one that is scored cleanly without touching any opponents players? thanks. (This is here as a lead in to question 1)
Vilasack T.

1.  Sorry for the repeated emails, but if slops count (yes) then why all the intricate rules on passing, etc? (Makes game more interesting) 
Vilasack T

2.  In a recent game, I was called for an illegal pass when the following happened:
1. The ball is in range of my 5 bar
2. The ball is spining fast, but not changing its position in any direction on the field.
3. The ball stays this way for a few seconds, not changing it's position on the field.
4. So I find a good angle off the corner of one of my 5 bar men, and, while it's still spinning, I hit it forward and catch it with my 3 bar.  Is this illegal/legal? I couldn't find any rules under passing that addressed this specifically.
Thanks, dave   (The rule is, a stopped or pinned ball must touch two figures before it can be passed, a spinning ball is not stopped?)

3.  It seems to me that the 'extra' men on the goalie rod are only for clearing the ball from the corner. That is, they ought not be used for example, a pass to the five bar. But I have not found in the rules where this is stated. So, what limitations are placed on these men? And where is it written?
Thank you, Chris E.

Answer

-Basic rules on passing 5-bar to 3-bar:  You have 10 seconds to pass the ball from 5-bar to 3-bar.  A stopped or pinned ball must touch two figures before it can be passed legally.  You can not touch either wall/walls with the ball more then 2 times before passing.  There is a very technical rule called an 'adjustment', don't worry too much about this until you get quite good and want to compete.
-Basic rules on passing goalie area to 5-bar:  You have 15 seconds everywhere except the 5-bar so you have 15 seconds to pass from the goalie area to the 5-bar.  As with above a stopped or pinned ball must touch two figures before it can be passed legally.  You can touch the wall as many times as you want, so you can tap it off the side wall over and over again.  The adjustment rule also applies here.  There is a difference you should note; when passing from the goalie to the 5-bar, if the ball touches the opponents man in any way, it is a live ball and therefore a legal pass.  So, if you strike a stopped ball in the goalie area and it goes to your 5-bar, that would be illegal, if it hits the other teams 3-bar on the way, that makes it okay.  This rule does not apply to the 5 to 3 passing.
-NOTE on passing from goalie area all the way to the 3-bar:  This is okay no matter how you do it, there are no rules here.

Read the full rules for more details.

If there were no rules on passing, players would pass from 5-bar to 3-bar about 100% of the time.  That means there would be nothing but shooting.  How would that be like soccer?  We have rules on passing to force the game to be interesting.  The etc you but in there at the end, all the other "sticky" rules in the game are designed to keep the game more like soccer and less like smashing the table around or banging the table to stop someone from shooting, making the game more fair for everyone.  Otherwise big people could shake the table on smaller people or intimidate them.

Goalie rod has 3 men on it:  Some of you may have guessed about the 3 men on the goalie rod on some tables.  Yup, the other 2 are there to get the ball out of the corner.  They used to have ramps, but the ball kept flying off the table, so they made the table flat and added those extra men.  Pretty much every competitive foosball player hates those two other goalie men.

-stacey, foosball.com staff and certified official