air hockey

Currently, the only tables that are approved for play and sanctioned by the USAA (United States air hockey tables 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 .

A classic air hockey consists of a large silky playing surface, a contiguous rail to avoid the puck and mallets from going off the table, and slots in the rail at whichever end of the table that serve as goals.

On the ends of the table in the rear and below the goals, there is usually a puck return. Furthermore, tables will characteristically have some sort of mechanism that produces a cushion of air on the play face, with the function of reducing friction and escalating speed of play

air hockey Tips from the professionals

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”.

In some tables, the technology is eschewed in support of a
slick table face, usually plastic, in the interest of saving money in both maintenance costs and manufacturing. Note that these tables are officially not air hockey since no air is concerned, conversely, they are still usually understood to be as such due to the basic resemblance of game play.

Here are some basic rules as defined by the USAA:

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.