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Paddleball
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Paddle

A paddle is a tool for mixing or pushing against liquids, typically in order to propel a boat. Paddles for use in canoes consist of a wooden or metal rod (the shaft) with a handle on one end and a rigid sheet (the blade) on the other end. Paddles for use in kayaks are longer, with a blade on each end, and usually no handles.

The paddle is held with two hands, some distance apart from each other. For normal use, it is drawn through the water in a backwards direction. The two blades of a kayak paddle are dipped alternately on either side of the kayak.

A paddle is distinquished from an oar in that the paddle is held in the user's hands and completely supported by the paddler, whereas an oar is primarily supported by the boat.

The word paddle also designates some devices of similar shape:

  • A paddle is an wooden instrument of corporal punishment consisting in a handle and a flat surface, traditionally used in the United States to inflict spankings in schools and households.

  • Table tennis racquets are often called paddles.


A paddle in the world of video games is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen. How it works: The paddle wheel is usually mechanically coupled to a potentiometer, so as to generate an output voltage level varying with the wheel's angle relative to a start position. The first successful video game console, the Atari 2600, used paddles for several of its games, as did early home computers such as the Commodore VIC-20.

Some famous video games using paddles are Pong, Breakout, and Night Driver. The reason for the name paddles for this type of game controller is that the first game that used it, Pong, was a (somewhat crude, but pioneering) video game simulation of table tennis, whose racquets are commonly called paddles, as mentioned above. Even though the simulated paddles appeared on-screen (as small vertical line segments), it was the controllers used to move the line segments that actually came to bear the name.

See also: joystick


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National Paddleball Association
Offers tournament schedules, entry forms, and rules for this 4-Wall organization. Also offers resources for 1-Wall and 4-Wall games.
http://paddleball.org/

Paddleball.com
A resource for Paddleball players that includes an area for players looking for players, an event calendar, tournament information, as well as links to equipment, paddles and balls.
http://www.paddleball.com/

New York State Paddle Tennis Association
Promotes paddle tennis by sponsoring tournaments, and soliciting donations that are applied to scholarships for deserving high school and college students.
http://www.paddletennis.org

The Paddle Company
Produces paddles for paddleball, platform tennis, and paddle tennis.
http://www.thepaddlecompany.com

Greater Cincinnati Platform Tennis Association
Includes organization information, local places to play, news, events, and related links. Also features details for The Midwesterns Tournament with schedule, registered players, registration forms, brackets, results, directions, sponsorship, history, game legends, and FAQs.
http://www.cincypaddle.org/cpt/index.asp

Viking Athletics
Platform Tennis equiptment manufacturer of Paddles, Balls and Accessories.
http://www.vikingathletics.com/

Western Pennsylvania Platform Tennis Association
Offers news, leagues, and tournament details.
http://www.wppta.org/

R.J. Reilly, Inc. - Platform Tennis
Platform Tennis court builder
http://platformtennis.com/

BulletWorks, Inc.
Offers paddle court construction, maintenance and upgrades. Includes summary of services, contact information and related links. Located in Belmont, Vermont.
http://www.bwplatformtennis.com/

Platform Tennis / Paddle Tennis
Information about Platform Tennis - frequently updated news, proshop, instruction, tournaments, leagues, player rankings, and messageboard.
http://www.paddlepro.com

Metropolitan Area Platform Tennis Association
Official website of MAPTA, a league for the Philadelphia area. Includes tournament results and schedule, standings, and results for mens, womens, and junior clubs.
http://www.maptapaddle.com

Paddle Tennis
Resource, with West Coast emphasis, for Paddle Tennis instruction, gear, tournaments, gear and rankings. Also, the book, "The Game of Paddle Tennis - Then and Now."
http://www.paddletennis.biz

PaddleMaven
PaddleTennis serving Hartford CT with directions, local league information and playing tips.
http://www.paddlemaven.com/

Paddleball
Contains information on the history of the sports, playing rules and related links.
http://members.fortunecity.com/paddleball03/

Springfield Platform Tennis Association
Events, tournaments, photographs, profile, contacts, and links.
http://cronmueller.tripod.com/springfieldplatformtennisassociation/

Performance Paddle Camp
Platform Tennis instructional camps sponsored by Wilson Sports
http://www.paddlecamp.com

Viking Academy for Platform Tennis
Viking Athletic brings together the best trainers in platform tennis to host instructional clinics around the country.
http://www.vikingacademy.com

American Platform Tennis Association
National organization for the sport. Includes game rules and description, membership information, tournaments, results, rankings, regions, and historical national champions and hall of fame.
http://www.platformtennis.org/



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