Topic: Wall touches on 5 man

[rradjabi]

2 questions:

1. When the opposing team hits the ball into my 5man, and the ball deflects into the wall before I gain possession / coral the ball, does that count as my first wall touch, or do I get 3 AFTER I "gain control"?

2. Some times the ball can roll up the side strip and move back away from the wall without touching the wall. Do you know if a referee notices these cases, or will something that close always be called as touching the wall?

[PatRyan]

Part 1:

for the most part, that would not count as your first wall as you didn't have possesion of the ball yet.  Similarly catching the ball by pinning it to the wall upon intitial contact is considered a trap and not a wall that count against you.

Part 2:

Yes, referee's notice these things (well, good refs do   )  Rolling onto, then off of the side strip is considered one of the allowed wall touches.  This doesn't actually happen too often without the ball actually touching the wall.  Just touching the side strip does not count as a wall, but actually rolling up onto the strip then back off does.  This would have to be clear for a ref to call it though.  Similarly, once the ball rolls onto the sidestrip, it is not considered one of the walls until it has rolled off of the sidestrip. This is a little hard to describe without showing you on a table, but I hope you get the idea.

Please  feel free to ask for further clarifications if needed.

PR

[marty]

been out of the foose seen untell 3 years ago and i have been wondering why the ball can not touch the wall twice rule the third
haveing to be an advance to your 3 row it seems to me if there's a time
lemit, whats the advange of hiting the wall 3 times ?

[Rob Scanlon]

if you watch some of the top players passing 2 to 5 you can probably better understand the limit on walls on the 5 to 3 passing.

constantly bouncing the ball off the wall at a fairly fast pace opens up to many chances for successfully passing the ball, i would not be surprised if in the coming years a wall limit is added to the 2 bar as well as more and more players discover the advantage on 2 to 5 passing.

[foozkillah]

it seems to me if there's a time
lemit, whats the advange of hiting the wall 3 times ?

I agree with Rob Scanlon, since I myself use the 2bar to 5bar passing on the topside in singles.  Setting up the dribble off the wall, which is easily mastered, even by newbies and non-lefties, can easily, with a little practice, turn into a down or up series to the 5bar that is almost impossible to predict.  I used to dribble off the wall at the 5bar growing up, and it was easy to pass.

Guess that's the main reason they do not allow 1man passing from the 5bar to the 3bar.  I believe Jim Wizwell showed the way back when.  Dribbling off a wall that doesn't ever have to be controlled or redirected, turning it into a 1player pass is what they try to prevent.  Most good singles players have a decent near or topside 2bar to 5bar series... which can also turn into a quick or even accidental near or topside short bank to the short hole.  Nasty nasty nasty!  But they still have to have 5bar to 3bar skills to pass or shoot.

Kinda the same reason they don't allow you to serve in tennis from inside the baseline or at the net.  No skill necessary, at least on the expert or higher level, to whack left or right near the net.  Or if you don't have to even time a pass to another skilled player, as in the forward soccer or hockey pass that is legal and avoids the offside call.  Otherwise its a corner kick from anywhere and all the forwards, halfbacks, whathaveyou just hanging out near the goal, wherever the ball is, like you see in introductory little league soccer.  Those rules force a skillset into that facet of the game...  on both sides.

A tennis match where the server can be near the service line or even at the net would be no fun to watch.  A soccer or hockey match without offsides wouldn't have any positional or timing skills needed in both offense or defense.  Why build a tennis court or soccer field or hockey rink of that size for no reason?  Or even a baseball game, where no strikes are called.. just keep batting till you hit it or get a free base.

You can dribble between your men all day at the 5bar, but that's still a lot harder than just bouncing off a wall that will pretty much stay vertically flat & unmoving, versus having to use another player that you also have to control, time, and also move laterally or not.   No limit walls turns a game into FSO  - not too many fans at tournaments for that.

[marty]

thanks guys that makes sence