Air Hockey
The mallets are also sometimes called a goalie striker or air hockey paddle. It was invented by three engineers in Michigan USA during the 1960s using square mallets and a disc. They created an air hockey table which consisted of a smooth playing surface, a railing which surrounded the table surface and slots at both ends of the table. The purpose of railing was to prevent the puck or mallets from flying off the playing surface after they strike the table sides. The slots acted as goals. It was later marketed and developed by Bob Limieux, who was an avid fan of ice hokey. The name “air” was attached to the hockey table because of provision of air to the playing surface to reduce friction of the movement of the puck.
Now it is officially played on air hockey tables which are approved by USAA (United States Air- Hockey Association), formed in 1978. These are eight feet long with minimum possible friction. This is achieved, either by mechanically blowing air on the playing surface or using such materials which offer least friction between the puck and the playing surface. The approved air hockey game tables are Photon, Pro-Style, Older Blue Top, and Brown Top, Harvard air hockey tables, and Sportcraft air hockey tables. All of these come with unpainted rails, which is also a requirement of USAA.. Informal air hockey game can also be played on cheap air hockey tables, which are priced at approximately US $ 300, but they lack some of the advanced features incorporated in the USAA approved tables. All tables are two player tables. Lately, some four player tables have also come up, but these are not approved by the USAA for official games.
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Apart from the table Air Hockey involves a number of air hockey accessories. First of all there is a disc known as air hockey pucks. These are slim discs made of Lexan Polycarbonate resin. USAA only approves the yellow Lexan, the red Lexan and the Dynamo green pucks for official air hockey games. Then there is a mallet, which is basically a handle attaché to flat surface which can lie flush with the playing surface of the air hockey table. A lot of innovation has come now, in the orthodox mallets. The most common only used these days is a mallet which looks like a small plastic sombrero (Mexican hat). Air Hockey is now being played on-line also. Many websites offer it among their on-line games as on line air hockey. Some of the basic rules laid down by USAA, are:
1. A toss will decide the player who will first take the possession of the puck.
2. A point will be counted when the puck drops into the goal. A game consists of 7 points. Player getting to 7 points first wins the game.
3. Only 7 second are given to a player to clear the puck from his/her side to across the center line
4. The puck should not be touched by any part of the body.
5. If the puck is clearly heading towards the opponent’s goal, it cannot be stopped by anything but the mallet.
6. A player cannot hit the puck when it has not crossed or is crossing the center line from the striker’s side.
7. A foul is considered to be committed on the player who causes the puck to go out of play
Today, competitive serious air hockey is played in the USA, Russia and Czech Republic. Venezuela saw a lot of air hockey activity during 1980s and 1999s. In fact, Jose Mora who was three time champion of Teas State Championship hailed from Venezuela. Players from USA have been dominating the air hockey World championships, by winning all the three (Champion, Runner-up and 3rd position), from 1978 t0 2007. These included some of the naturalized Americans belonging to Eastern European and Latin American countries. However the European, Catalan and the Russian Open Championships have mostly been won by the Eastern European players. It was only in 2006, that two Americans, Goran Mitic and Michael L Rosen won the 1st and 2nd positions.
