Table football glossary

Become a pro by learning the technical terms of table football

Around a table football table, many players use technical terms that beginners do not understand at first. Although many words come from football, table football has its own vocabulary: pissette, demi, gamelle or Fanny. So what do these terms mean? And what are all these variations of play, tolerated by the official rules but often frowned upon in the more traditional game played for years in bars and cafés?

Table football terms

Ashtray (cendrier, cendar): When the ball lands in the ashtray beside the goal. This very lucky and random feat counts as +3.
Bafiste: A person who plays table football.
Defenders (arrières): The players at the back of the team, on the rod with 2 figures.
Fanny: To “be Fanny” is to lose with a score of 0 or a negative score. Depending on the custom, the losers crawl under the table or owe a drink or a coffee.
First-time shot (reprise): A goal scored by the forwards without first controlling the ball, which may come from behind or after a bounce off the side opposite. Allowed under official rules, these shots are disliked or even banned under café rules, especially in 1-on-1 games.
Fishing (pêche): Trying to retrieve the ball from the opposing goal after scoring. Like a gamelle, a ball fished out in this way counts as −1 for the team on the receiving end.
Forwards (avants): The 3 players at the front of the team, also known as attackers.
Gamelle: When the ball bounces back out of the goal after going in. A gamelle can let the scoring team take a goal away from the opponents. The team can also count it as an ordinary goal and restart with a normal kick-off.
Goal (cage): The place the players must get the ball into to score.
Goalkeeper (goal, gardien): Alone on their rod, this is the player who protects the goal from opposing shots.
Golden goal (but en or): A final goal that separates two teams level on points.
Handle (poignée): The end of the rod that you hold to play, which lets you move the rods and players. There are different types: long or flat, round and American.
Jump shot (balle sautée): A technique made possible by the playing surface with sloped side edges, specific to Stella and Cornilleau tables, which lifts the ball over the players.
Kick-off (engagement): Putting the ball into the playing area at the start of a game or after a goal. Under official rules, lots are usually drawn to decide who gets the ball. Under café rules, people often speak of touche-touche: the ball is thrown into the playing area between the midfielders and must bounce off the opposite side before a player controls it.
Lob: Sending the ball over the rods or players. Traditionally, a goal scored from a lob is worth +2.
Midfielder (demi): A player on the central rod of 5 figures. Under official rules, midfielders’ shots are allowed and count as valid goals. Under café rules, however, they are traditionally penalized: depending on the custom, such goals do not count or give a +1 bonus to the next goal scored by either team. Midfielders’ goals are never penalized if the shot is deflected by the opposing midfielders or if it is an own goal.
Pissette: Scoring with the right forward when the opposing defenders in their normal position leave the goal unprotected. This technique is allowed in competition, but disliked and often not counted under café rules.
Player (joueur): The figures on the field. A table has 22 players, 11 per team.
Playing box (caisse): The central part of the table: essentially the table without its feet.
Rake (râteau): An action generally banned under café rules: frantically moving the midfield rod to deflect any action by the opposing team.
Rod (barre): The metal bars on which the players are fixed.
Roulette: A movement in which the rod, and so the player, is spun several times. This gives a stronger shot but is generally frowned upon. It is only banned when the player makes more than one full rotation (360°).
Score counter (boulier): Counters at the ends of the playing area, near the goals, help both teams keep track of the score. The counter on your goalkeeper’s side shows your team’s points.
Snake: A technique that appeared on American tables, which involves holding the handle with the inside of the wrist rather than the hand. The player makes a full rotation before striking the ball.