Some players, however, feel the felt is a disadvantage and slows their reaction time. While this is mostly only a personal preference among players, the felt does offer some advantage that has nothing to do with speed.Īir hockey mallet felt protects the table from being scuffed up. Mallets can also be found with and without felt bottoms. Generally, this is relative to the size of table-the larger the table, the wider the mallet’s diameter. Mallets vary in diameter from a couple of inches to four inches. Various Air Hockey Mallets and Pucks Mallet VariationsĪir hockey mallets, also called “pushers”, “strikers”, “goalie mallets”, and “paddles” (although ping pong more so comes to mind when I hear that), are an important consideration.įrom mallet size to felt bases, here’s what to consider. (I won’t deny how many times I’ve stalked and circled a table, waiting patiently.)īut what if you’re just at home and want to continue playing?Īnother advantage of not having a digital scoring system? Accidental goals can be ignored. Sure, it’s nice for coin-operated machines in arcades, which force the players to move on so others have a chance. Instead, you’ll find more modern digital scoreboards, sometimes even with a touchscreen.Īnd with these more electronic tables, the blower knows to stop when the game’s won.

There was a certain satisfaction in hearing the slide-click of your new score.Īnd while you can find that in more vintage, used air hockey tables, it’s quite hard to find today. If you ever played air hockey on an original Brunswick table, you might remember the abacus-style scoreboard at each table’s end. Solid side walls bounce off a puck better, without slowing down the game. Of course, check the material of the side walls. If you’re an aggressive air hockey player who tends to strike hard, consider choosing a table with side walls to keep your puck from flying off.

One small detail that you may find on an air hockey table is side walls. Mostly, you’ll find these to accompany commercial USAA-sanctioned tables, and it also hard to come across budget-friendly ones, but at least stay away from the cheaper air hockey table models and save your sanity. While everyone has a budget in mind when looking for a table, this is something to keep in mind while shopping around.Ĭonsider if you’d rather save and put forth more money or find a broken blower engine from a cheapo model in only two-years’ time.Īnd larger pucks have more surface area to catch air and glide. Look closely and you’ll discover the table is made of low-quality construction. However, a small puck is a tell-tell sign of a lesser made product. Typically, the puck size will always be relative to the table size (more on that later). A note about small-puck tablesĪnother feature you should be aware of is the small puck size. Some tables can be found only a couple of feet wide and extend up to 4 feet wide and 8 feet in length.īut whatever you decide, check and see if players have enough room to move about. If you have a spacious basement rec room or game room, you might not have to worry.īut how will you get it down there? Is there a door it can fit through? Or can you assemble and set it up yourself once indoors? How big do you want it?įinally, once you determine a table can relatively fit, decide how big you want it to be. So before considering one to purchase, know where exactly it’s going. Large Where is it going?Īir hockey tables can be rather large. $1,299.99 $899.00 Buy Now on Amazon Affiliate link / commissions earned ( read disclosure) Air Hockey Table Sizes: Small vs.

Air hockey table full size