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hockey

corrected for air hockey

Air Hockey is a game for two competing players trying to score points in the opposing player's goal.

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, 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.

Currently, the only tables that are approved for play and sanctioned by the USAA 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 game.

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.

Air Hockey pucks are slim discs made of a plastic material known as Lexan. 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.

Gameplay

Here are some basic rules as defined by the USAA:

• 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 recieves possession of the puck. Another Common Grip
• 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.

Tips from the pros

• 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.
• Try to learn control. Gain control of the puck before you take a shot. 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!
• 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, check out [1]

History and Competitive Play

Air Hockey is played competitively by a close-knit community of serious players around the world, which is highly welcoming of new faces and growing rapidly each year. To ensure uniform play standards of the highest competitive quality, the United States Air-Table-Hockey Association (USAA) was formed in 1978. Its main responsibility is to oversee sanctioned tournament play. Since its inception, the USAA has sanctioned at least one national-level (now World) championship every year, crowning 11 different champions over 27 years. It is the only recognized player organization for air hockey, and has maintained a close relationship with table manufacturers and event promoters over the years.

Major Tournament History

World Championships

US Championship

Texas State Open

Catalan Championship

External links

• Air Hockey World Air Hockey World - The top promotional website for competitive Air Hockey
• Air Hockey Forums Air Hockey Forums - the message forum commonly used by the air hockey community
• USAA United States Air Hockey Association - the governing body for competitive air hockey
• AirHockeyCatalunya Official site for air hockey in Spain
• Prostyle Dynamo Prostyle - one of two USAA sanctioned tables currently being made
• Photon Dynamo Photon - one of two USAA sanctioned tables currently being made
• Stuff Educational flash movie on airhockey
• Texas Air Hockey Provides information about Air Hockey in Texas and around the world
• Air hockey Flash game
• Air Hockey Game
• Computer Air Hockey game

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "air hockey".