Air hockey has been around since the 1950s but only became really popular in the 2010s. It didn’t hit the mainstream until recently and even then, it was initially met with scepticism from traditionalists who refused to acknowledge its existence. Fast-forward a few years and traditional sports are being questioned, redefined and even questioned once more. Could air hockey be next?
While the game itself isn’t exactly dangerous – it’s more dangerous when played outdoors or on a wet surface – it is a little more complicated to fix than traditional hockey.
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The History Of The Game
Air hockey was invented by an optician named Richard H. Peterson in 1954. He used an inflatable raft and balsa wood sticks to play the game at parties and children’s birthday parties. A few years later, a lawyer named Charles E. Shepard joined the company and introduced a steel puck. They called their new game “Pneumatic Hockey” and it was finally accepted by the public as a legitimate sport in 1957. Later that same year, the first national tournament was held and the game really took off from there.
The Evolution Of The Game
As time went by, air hockey evolved into a faster and more action-packed sport. The inflatable raft was replaced by a hexagonal prism-shaped tank with an included pump. Pneumatic Hockey rules were updated and in 1968, they even added a third person to the game for increased intensity – like soccer and rugby, three-on-three isn’t new, but it certainly is popularized in air hockey.
How Does It Work?
Let’s break down the science behind air hockey (hopefully, I’ll make sense!).
To start with, the tank is attached to an adjustable air pump via a flexible rubber hose. This allows you to vary the pressure you’re working with based on how fast you want the puck to travel. The higher the pressure, the faster the puck will go – however, too high of a pressure and the trajectory of the puck may become unpredictable.
Once you’ve got that figured out, you can place one of the two plastic pucks – similar to the kind you’d find in an orange or a lemon – into the tank. They have a ring on one side to prevent the puck from sliding around too much once it’s inside the tank and an enlarged smooth surface on the other to facilitate sliding.
What About Traditional Hockey?
Most people who have played traditional hockey before will have one thing to say about air hockey: it’s faster. While that may be true, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the game is better. It just depends on what you’re looking for. If you want to play a relaxing game and build muscle as you soak in the rays, air hockey may be the game for you. However, if you want to get some exercise and burn a few calories, traditional hockey may be the game for you. It’s only fair to say that the way ice cream is made has changed a bit over the years.
It’s easy to make a classic ice cream sandwich with two slices of bread, an ice cream sandwich that’s been rolled in the shape of a ball and an ice cream pizza, all these things could be made with air hockey. It’s a great way to reinvent traditional sports and give them a whole new appeal.
To make things simpler, some companies have created hybrid pucks that contain steel and plastic components. These pucks interact with the magnetic field of the tank to provide increased friction and thus better handling. This particular type of puck is also more receptive to air pressure changes and can be used in other sporting applications as well.
The Future Of The Game
With all this knowledge about air hockey, the next logical step is to ask… what’s next? Will we see more evolution of the game or possibly even extinction? From what I’ve seen so far, it doesn’t seem like it’ll go anywhere except upwards.
Hockey has been around for a very long time and has inspired people to create some pretty amazing things. While air hockey isn’t necessarily replacing traditional hockey, it does provide an alternative way to play the game and give it a whole new appeal. What will the future of hockey look like? Only time will tell.