Play the Best Air Hockey of Your Life

Whether you are enjoying a friendly game at your favorite Connecticut arcade, or you are participating in a competitive CT tournament on one of our air hockey tables by Tornado and Gold Standard Games/Shelti, there is something to be said about the sport that is air hockey. It is fast moving, intense, and even fun for onlookers. Whether you want to impress your friends, or you really want to take home that trophy, here are some tips to help you up your game.

Block Correctly

Before you worry about shooting, you need to make sure you have your goalie skills perfected. It doesn’t matter how many points you can score if your opponent scores more. To up your blocking capabilities you should place the mallet about eight inches in front of the goal, and it should be centered. This allows you to easily move the mallet back and forth. If you are too close to the goal, it is actually harder to block the pucks coming your way. Trust us.

Loosen Your Grip

How do you hold the air hockey mallet? If you grip it with your palm right on the top of the knob—like most people—then you are doing it wrong. Instead, you should move the palm of your hand behind the knob, only holding onto it with your fingertips. This will give your wrists a lot more flexibility, letting you make any shot like a pro.

Take Your Time

Since the game of air hockey is extremely fast paced, many people often forget that they are allowed a full seven seconds from when they stop the puck to when they have to shoot it. Take advantage of this time by putting your geometry skills to work and computing your best pathway to a goal. If you can do this, you will have a lot higher chance of actually scoring versus just playing the game volleyball style—never letting the puck rest.

Play Defense

Blocking the goal is one way to play defense, but if you can keep the puck from even getting close to the goal line, you will be better off. So how do you do this? By keeping your mallet as close to the centerline as you can without it going over when you make a shot. Not only does this keep the puck far away from the goal, it also lessens the distance you have to worry about when trying to score.

Now that you know all of these great tips, we bet you can’t wait to try them out. Just visit our showroom in Orange, Connecticut and you can give one of the air hockey tables by Tornado and Gold Standard Games/Shelti a spin. They are true professional quality and we can’t wait to show them to you.