- Equipment
- Air Hockey Table
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.
- Air Hockey Mallet
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
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.
- Air Hockey Table
- History
Air Hockey was invented by a group of Brunswick Billiards employees, including Bob Lemieux, from 1969 to 1972. In 1969, a trio of Brunswick engineers – Phil Crossman, Bob Kenrick, and Brad Baldwin – began working on the creation of a game utilizing a frictionless surface. The project stagnated for several years until it was revived by 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 born. Who deserves credit for the invention is controversial. 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. 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.
- Tournament Results
Year
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 [6]
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 [6]
Year
Champion
Finalist
Third Place
2006 (Singles) Goran Mitic Michael L. Rosen José Luis Camacho[7] 2007 (Singles) José Luis Camacho Sergey Antonov Sergio López 2006 (Teams) Catalonia Czech Republic 2007 (Teams) Russia Catalonia Texas State Open [6]
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 [6]
Year
Champion
Runner-up
Third Place
2003 Pedro Otero Emilio Araujo Marc García[8] 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 [6]
Year
Champion
Runner-up
Third Place
2006 Mauro Sturlese Igor Masloboev[9] Sergey Grishin 2007 Dimitriy Butyrev Sergey Grishin Nikita Vaganov 2008 Dimitriy Butyrev Vadim Chizhevskiy German Vargin