Air hockey

Eleven-Time World Champion, Danny Hynes

Air hockey is a game for two competing players trying to score points in the opposing player's goal using a table having a special low-friction playing surface.

Equipment

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

An air hockey table in Currier House

A typical air hockey table consists of 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. There also exist pucks that use a battery and fan to generate their own air cushion, but as they are prone to breakage, they are commonly marketed only as toys. An air hockey table has very little friction.

Air Hockey Mallet

The only tables that are approved for play and sanctioned by the USAA (United States Air Hockey Association) for tournament play are 8-foot tables. Approved tables include all Gold Standard Games 8-foot tables; some 8-foot tables from Dynamo; and the original 8-foot commercial Brunswick tables. Other full-size novelty-type tables with flashing lights on the field of play, painted rails, and/or smaller pucks are not approved for tournament play but can be used to learn the game. For an updated list of sanctioned tables, consult the USAA rules at goldstandardairhockey.com, airhockey.com, or airhockeyworld.com.

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.

A group of five air hockey pucks

Air Hockey pucks are discs made of Lexan polycarbonate resin. Standard USAA-approved pucks are yellow, red, and green. In competitive play, a layer of thin white tape is placed on the face-up side. Air Hockey pucks come in circles and other shapes (triangle, hexagon, octagon, or square).

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

Gameplay

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

• The mallet is gripped behind the knob using one's fingertips, not on top of it. This allows more wrist action and helps the player to move the mallet around the table faster.
• For basic defense, the mallet is kept centered at least 8 inches out from the goal. In this position, very slight movements to the left and right will block virtually all straight shots. To block bank shots, one pulls back quickly to the corners of the goal. This is known as the "triangle defense".
• Shots are often hit out of "drifts", where the puck travels in set patterns designed to throw off the opponent's expectations and timing. The most popular drifts are the "center", "diamond", "diagonal", and "L".
• Shots are often organized into meaning groups of shots which are hit with the same apparent delivery but opposite directions, 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).

History

Air hockey was invented by a group of Brunswick Billiards employees from 1969 to 1972. In 1969, a trio of Brunswick engineers - Phil Crossman, Bob Kendrick, and Brad Baldwin - began work on creating a game using a frictionless surface. The project stagnated for several years until it was revived by Bob Lemieux, who then focused on implementing an abstracted version of ice hockey, with a thin disk, two mallets and slit-like goals equipped with photodetectors. It was then decided that the game might appeal to a larger market and air hockey was marketed and sold to the general public. The original patents reference Crossman, Kenrick and Lemieux. It should also be noted that the air table proper had already been patented before Brunswick's project, though for unrelated purposes.

In any event, the game was an immediate financial success and by the mid-1970s there arose substantial interest in tournament play. As early as 1973, players in Houston had formed the Houston Air Hockey Association, and soon thereafter, the Texas Air-Hockey Players Association, codifying rules and promoting the sport through local tournaments at Houston pubs Carnabys, Damians, and the University of Houston. To ensure uniform play standards of the highest competitive quality, the United States Air-Table Hockey Association (USAA) was formed in 1975 by J. Phillip "Phil" Arnold, largely as an official sanctioning body. In this way, non-player friendly rules imposed by Brunswick corporation were rendered void, and the sport of air hockey was secured under the control of players since that time. Since its inception, the USAA has sanctioned at least one national-level or World championship each year, crowning 12 different champions over 30 years. In March 2015, the Air Hockey Players Association (AHPA) was announced and is providing air hockey players with an additional organization also overseeing the sport of air hockey. The two organizations run independently but abide by a similar set of rules and share many of the same players. In July 2015, the AHPA crowned not only its first world champion, but also the youngest in the history of the sport in Colin Cummings of Beaumont, TX. Today, professional air hockey is played by a close-knit community of serious players around the world, with extensive player bases near Houston, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, New York City, and Boston in the United States of America, Barcelona in Spain, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and Novgorod 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.

Tournament History

USAA World Championships

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
1978	Jesse Douty	Phil Arnold	Rolf Moore
1979	Jesse Douty	Phil Arnold	Joe Campbell
1980	Jesse Douty	Phil Arnold	Joe Campbell
1980	Jesse Douty	Robert Hernandez	Mark Robbins
1981	Bob Dubuisson	Paul Burger	Jesse Douty
1981	Jesse Douty	Bob Dubuisson	Paul Marshall
1982	Jesse Douty	Mark Robbins	Bob Dubuisson
1983	Bob Dubuisson	Jesse Douty	Phil Arnold
1984	Mark Robbins	Robert Hernandez	Bob Dubuisson
1985	Bob Dubuisson	Robert Hernandez	Vince Schappell
1985	Bob Dubuisson	Robert Hernandez	Mark Robbins
1986	Robert Hernandez	Bob Dubuisson	Mark Robbins
1986	Mark Robbins	Bob Dubuisson	Robert Hernandez
1987	Robert Hernandez	Jesse Douty	Phil Arnold
1987	Jesse Douty	Mark Robbins	Robert Hernandez
1988	Jesse Douty	Bob Dubuisson	Robert Hernandez
1988	Jesse Douty	Bob Dubuisson	Joe Campbell
1989	Tim Weissman	Bob Dubuisson	Jesse Douty
1989	Tim Weissman	Jesse Douty	Robert Hernandez
1990	Tim Weissman	Jesse Douty	Robert Hernandez
1990	Tim Weissman	Phil Arnold	Mark Robbins
1991	Tim Weissman	Mark Robbins	Robert Hernandez
1991	Tim Weissman	Jesse Douty	Albert Ortiz
1992	Tim Weissman	Robert Hernandez	Mark Robbins
1992	Tim Weissman	Keith Fletcher	Vince Schappell
1993	Tim Weissman	Andy Yevish	Keith Fletcher
1994	John Giraldo	Mark Robbins	Tim Weissman
1995	Billy Stubbs	Wil Upchurch	Don James
1996	Tim Weissman	Wil Upchurch	Andy Yevish
1997	Wil Upchurch	Tim Weissman	Jesse Douty
1999	José Mora	Pedro Otero	Jimmy Heilander
2000	José Mora	Pedro Otero	Tim Weissman
2001	Danny Hynes	Tim Weissman	José Mora
2002	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry	Billy Stubbs
2003	Ehab Shoukry	José Mora	Andy Yevish
2004	Danny Hynes	Andy Yevish	Anthony Marino
2005	Danny Hynes	Billy Stubbs	Anthony Marino
2006	Danny Hynes	Wil Upchurch	Davis Lee
2007	Davis Lee	Keith Fletcher	Ehab Shoukry
2008	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry	Jose Mora
2009	Ehab Shoukry	Davis Lee	Keith Fletcher
2010	Davis Lee	Billy Stubbs	Anthony Marino
2011	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry	Billy Stubbs
2011	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry	Billy Stubbs
2012	Billy Stubbs	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry
2012	Billy Stubbs	Ehab Shoukry	Tim Weissman
2013	Danny Hynes	Davis Lee	Pedro Otero
2014	Billy Stubbs	Davis Lee	Danny Hynes
2015	Colin Cummings	Pedro Otero	Danny Hynes

AHPA World Championship

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
2015	Colin Cummings	Billy Stubbs	Brian Accrocco

US Championship

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
1983	Jesse Douty	Mark Robbins	Bob Dubuisson
1984	Jesse Douty	Phil Arnold	Mark Robbins
1998	José Mora	Pedro Otero	Tim Weissman
2004	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry	Don James
2007	Wil Upchurch	Davis Lee	Keith Fletcher
2009	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry	José Mora

European Championship

Year	Champion	Finalist	Third Place
2006 (Singles)	Goran Mitic	Michael L. Rosen	José Luis Camacho
2007 (Singles)	José Luis Camacho	Sergey Antonov	Sergio López
2006 (Teams)	Catalonia	Czech Republic
2007 (Teams)	Russia	Catalonia

Texas State Open

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
1998	Tim Weissman	Jose Mora	Wil Upchurch
2000	Jose Mora	Danny Hynes	Jimmy Heilander
2002	Jose Mora	Danny Hynes	Anthony Marino
2003	Anthony Marino	Jose Mora	Danny Hynes
2004	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry	Anthony Marino
2005	Danny Hynes	Ehab Shoukry	Anthony Marino
2007	Tim Weissman	Vince Schappell	Joe Cain
2008	Danny Hynes	Jimmy Heilander	Syed Rahman

Catalan Championship

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
2003	Pedro Otero	Emilio Araujo	Marc García
2004	Marc García	Sergio López	José Luis Camacho
2005	José Luis Camacho	Sergio López	Marc García
2006	José Luis Camacho	Marc García	Javi Navarro
2007	Marc García	Mauro Sturlese	Javi Navarro
2008	Sergio López	José Luis Camacho	Mauro Sturlese

Russian Open

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
2006	Paulo "The Cannon" Lourenço	Igor Masloboev	Sergey Grishin
2007	Pedro Beles	Sergey Grishin	Nikita Vaganov
2008	Cláudio Barimbetche	Vadim Chizhevskiy	German Vargin