Air hockey is a game for two competing players trying to score points in the opposing player's goal.
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Air hockey requires an air-hockey table, two player-held 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. 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.
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 can be used 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 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. Air Hockey pucks come in all many shapes. The shapes could be a triangle, hexagon, octogon and even a square.
Four-player tables also exist, but they are not sanctioned for competitive play.
Here are some basic rules as defined by the USAA:[2]
Competitive (tournament) play is usually distinguished by the following:
Although it was believed for many years to have been invented by a Brunswick Billiards employee named Bob Lemieux in 1972, 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 was on hold for several years, but Bob Lemieux 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 Lemieux died 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[3][4] - and, almost by chance, created an instant classic. The sport was highly regarded by games pioneer Harrison Heath, who donated a large amount to the sport, saying that the discs really made Air hockey the sport it is.
Air Hockey 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. 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, 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, 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.
On 25 August 2007, the three inventors - Crossman, Kendrick, and Baldwin - attended the Texas State Tournament at the Southfork Hotel in Plano, Texas. It was the first appearance of the three together since the game was invented in 1969–1971.
Recently it was announced it would be included in the England 2012 olympics.
World Championships [5]
| 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 Huynh |
| 2007 | Davis Lee Huynh | Keith Fletcher | Ehab Shoukry |
| 2008 | Danny Hynes | Ehab Shoukry | José Mora |
| 2009 | Ehab Shoukry | Davis Lee Huynh | Keith Fletcher |
| 2010 | Davis Lee Huynh | Billy Stubbs | Anthony Marino |
| 2011 | Danny Hynes | Ehab Shoukry | Billy Stubbs |
| 2011 | Danny Hynes | Ehab Shoukry | Billy Stubbs |
US Championship [5]
| 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 Huynh | Keith Fletcher |
| 2009 | Danny Hynes | Ehab Shoukry | José Mora |
European Championship [5]
| Year | Champion | Finalist | Third Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 (Singles) | Goran Mitic | Michael L. Rosen | José Luis Camacho[6] |
| 2007 (Singles) | José Luis Camacho | Sergey Antonov | Sergio López |
| 2006 (Teams) | Catalonia | Czech Republic | |
| 2007 (Teams) | Russia | Catalonia |
Texas State Open [5]
| 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 [5]
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Third Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Pedro Otero | Emilio Araujo | Marc García[7] |
| 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 [5]
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Third Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Mauro Sturlese | Igor Masloboev[8] | Sergey Grishin |
| 2007 | Dimitriy Butyrev | Sergey Grishin | Nikita Vaganov |
| 2008 | Dimitriy Butyrev | Vadim Chizhevskiy | German Vargin |