Current World #7 Rank, Danny Hynes

Air hockey is a game for two competing players trying to score points in the opposing player's goal. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1792x1200, 416 KB) Summary Photo by Craig M. Groshek, all rights released Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1792x1200, 416 KB) Summary Photo by Craig M. Groshek, all rights released Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Equipment

Air hockey requires an air-hockey table, two mallets, and a puck.

A typical air hockey table consists of a large smooth playing surface, a surrounding rail to prevent the puck and mallets from leaving the table, and slots in the rail at either end of the table that serve as goals. On the ends of the table behind and below the goals, there is usually a puck return. Additionally, tables will typically have some sort of machinery that produces a cushion of air on the play surface through tiny holes, with the purpose of reducing friction and increasing play speed. In some tables, the machinery is eschewed in favor of a slick table surface, usually plastic, in the interest of saving money in both manufacturing and maintenance costs. Note that these tables are technically not air hockey tables since no air is involved, however, they are still generally understood to be as such due to the basic similarity of gameplay. For other uses, see Friction (disambiguation). ...

Air Hockey Mallet

Currently, the only tables that are approved for play and sanctioned by the USAA (United States Air-Table-Hockey Association) for tournament play are 8-foot tables manufactured by Dynamo. Approved tables include the Photon, Pro-Style, older Blue Top, Brown Top, Purple Top or Black Top with unpainted rails. The HotFlash 2 and other full-size commercial tables with neon lights and/or painted rails are not approved for USAA play but are still great tables on which to learn the games . ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1422x1155, 398 KB) Summary Photo taken by Andrew Flanagan Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1422x1155, 398 KB) Summary Photo taken by Andrew Flanagan Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

A mallet (sometimes called a goalie, striker or paddle) consists of a simple handle attached to a flat surface that will usually lie flush with the surface of the table. The most common mallets, called "high-tops", resemble small plastic sombreros, but other mallets, "flat-tops", are used with a shorter nub. Sombrero Sombrero means hat in Spanish. ...

A group of five air hockey pucks

Air Hockey pucks are slim discs made of Lexan polycarbonate resin. Standard USAA-approved pucks are the yellow lexan, red lexan and the Dynamo green. In competitive play, a layer of thin white tape is placed on the face-up side. Image File history File links AHpuck. ... Image File history File links AHpuck. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Polycarbonates are a particular group of thermoplastic polyesters. ...

Four-player tables also exist, but they are not yet sanctioned for competitive play.

Rules

One Common Grip

Here are some basic rules as defined by the USAA: ImageMetadata File history File links Grip1. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Grip1. ...

• A face-off or coin toss decides which player gets the first possession of the puck.
• The first person to score 7 points by shooting the puck into the opponent's goal wins the game. When the puck breaks the horizontal plane inside the goal, a point is counted, whether or not captured by the electronic scoring device.
• Once the puck is on a certain player's side of the center line, he/she has 7 seconds to hit the puck back across the center line. Otherwise a foul is committed and the opponent receives possession of the puck.
• Placing one's mallet on top of the puck, known as topping, is a foul. Here the opponent receives possession of the puck.
• A player cannot touch or strike the puck with any part of his/her body or with any object other than the mallet. Doing so causes a foul and possession changes hands.
• If the puck is on a clear path into the goal and the player stops it with anything other than the mallet, this is goaltending. Here the opponent receives a free shot.
• Hitting the puck when it is on the opposite side of the center line, or crossing the center line completely with one's mallet causes a foul. Here the opponent receives possession of the puck.
• If the puck leaves the table, a foul is called on the player that caused the puck to go out of play due to offensive motion and the opposing player gets possession of the puck. Generally, when a player causes the puck to leave the table with a forward motion of the mallet, even defensively (known as charging), the foul is charged on them. An out of play foul results in the opponent receiving possession of the puck.

Another Common Grip

ImageMetadata File history File links Grip2. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Grip2. ...

Gameplay

Competitive (tournament) play is usually distinguished by the following:

• Grip the mallet behind the knob using your fingertips, not on top of it. This will allow more wrist action and help you be able to move the mallet around the table faster.

• For basic defense, keep your mallet centered about 8-10 inches out from the goal. From that point, very slight movements to the left and right will block virtually all straight shots. Pull back quickly to the corners of the goal to block the bank shots. This is known as the "triangle defense".

• Gain control of the puck before you take a shot. Shots are often hit out of "drifts", where the puck travels in set patterns designed to throw off your opponent's expectations and timing. The most popular drifts are the "center", "diamond", "diagonal", and "L". After establishing your drift, set up your shots like you would set up a shot in a game of pool - take your time, figure out where you want to shoot, aim and fire!

• Practice "combos": these are groups of shots which are hit with the same apparent delivery but opposite locations, caused by hitting the puck at slightly different locations on the mallet. For example, a transverse motion of the right arm can lead to a "cut shot" to the left corner of the opponent's goal or a "right wall under" (bank off the right wall, into the right corner of the opponent's goal). Keep your opponent guessing!

• There are many ways to get around your opponent's defense. Aim for the corners of the goal. On bank shots, try to get the puck in the goal off of a one-wall bank. If you hit double or triple banks, the puck loses velocity and will be easy to block.

• For more on competitive air hockey, see [1]

History

Although it was believed for many years to have been invented by a Brunswick Billiards employee named Bob Lemieux in the early 1970s, Air Hockey was actually invented by a trio of Brunswick engineers - Phil Crossman, Bob Kenrick, and Brad Baldwin - who were attempting to create a game utilizing a frictionless surface, circa 1969. The project never got off the ground and was left in mothballs for several years, but Bob Lemeiux later resurrected the project and refined the design to a certain degree. Some accounts of the story claim that Lemieux played the game on the table using a round disk and square mallets. Doorbells were hooked up at each end with a photo sensor to signal a "goal". It was then decided that the "game" may appeal to a larger market and Air Hockey was born. How much of this is truth and how much of this is the result of gaps in the story being filled in over time through multiple storytellers may never be truly known, given that Mr. Lemieux passed away in the early 1990s. What is certain is that the original patent references Phil Crossman, who, along with the other engineers, pioneered the frictionless table surface - and, almost by chance, created an instant classic of a game around it.

Air Hockey was an immediate financial success, and by the mid-1970s there arose substantial interest in tournament play. To ensure uniform play standards of the highest competitive quality, the United States Air-Table Hockey Association (USAA) was formed in 1978 by J. Phillip "Phil" Arnold, largely as an official sanctioning body. Since its inception, the USAA has sanctioned at least one national-level or World championship each year, crowning 12 different champions over 30 years. The USAA remains at present the only recognized worldwide player organization for air hockey, and has maintained a close relationship with table manufacturers and event promoters over the years. Today, competitive air hockey is played by a close-knit community of serious players around the world, with extensive player bases near Houston, San Francisco, Sacremento, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, New York, Maryland and Boston in the United States, Barcelona and Seville in Spain, Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Yekaterinburg in Russia and Most and Brno in the Czech Republic. From the late 1980s, Caracas, Venezuela served as a hotbed of activity; three-time World Champion Jose Mora, and other finalists originated from there. By 1999 most of the Venezuelan activity had disappeared.

On 25 August, 2007, the three inventors - Crossman, Kendrick, and Baldwin - attended the Texas State Tournament at the Southfork Hotel in Plano, Texas. It is the first appearance of the three together since the game was invented in 1969-1971. is the 237th day of the year (238th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Tournament history

World Championships

US Championship Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about the year. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about the year. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about the year. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about the year. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

European Championship Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about the year. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Texas State Open Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ...

Catalan Championship Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela_1930-2006. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Russian Open Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ...

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Catalonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ...

External links

• USAA United States Air Hockey Association - the governing body for competitive air hockey
• Air Hockey World Air Hockey World F.A.Q.