Aussie Pucks

Hi All,
A blatant bit of advertising follows

We now have the soft and super soft Aussie pucks for sale at True Blue Underwater Hockey Supplies (the Orange Pucks).

The Pink and Green pucks for harder surfaces are still being made as we have had to source new plastics and we want them to be right before we send them out! We will let you know when they are available.

Just visit our website for details: True Blue Underwater Hockey Supplies - Home Page

Cheers Matt

Still no Pucks with a hard plastic top and bottem side. Like the former "Bontje"pucks from holland and now the Simms puck from greath britan.

THose sort pucks are my favorite because the last longer on some off the playing pool bottems.

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Follow the yellow brick road and you are coming somewhere.

yeah while youre redoing things matt, a bit of a redesign of that aussie puck would guarantee they be considered for use at worlds etc again... notice how everyone keeps trying to design their own cos the aussie ones arent too flash hot?

in particular remove the chamfer around the edge, it makes it hard to control.

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it's more polite on the grating than on the subs bench

Thanks Sven and Atapene,
Feedback is always welcome! Sven, the green puck (which we are still working on), is designed for those harsh pool surfaces (concrete etc). It is a much harder plastic coating much like the discs on the pucks you mention, just that our coating covers the whole puck.
Atapene, that is the first I have heard that the champhers cause the puck to be hard to handle. Must say that the only problems I have had handling these pucks have not been because of the puck! I will however ask around and see what the general consensus is. The problem with 'fixing' this is that there are moulds that need to be retooled or remade. Not a cheap proposal.
The other thing worth noting is the question is there really a perfect puck? I think possibly not as everyone has their own ideas as to what makes any piece of equipment perfect. Much like gloves, sticks, fins, masks etc everyone has their preferences and each pool will need different types of materials. This is difficult provide for. We have tried by having the four types of pucks to cope with different needs in terms of pool bottoms.
I have heard that our puck is too light, too heavy not bright enough, too bright and many other things, but I have also heard many times that it is a good puck. This does not mean it can't be improved, and we welcome all feedback, good or bad and we do take it all on board.
Cheers Matt

the australian pucks do bounce around easily, frustrating when you get a run away and it won't just sit flat damnittttttttt

Is an combination also a idea?

The top and bottem hard like with those disks.(for those harsh pool suface.)
And the side around the puck a bit softer (Like the side of the simms puck/italian puck and the canam puck)

Those softer pucks play much more nicely. But are to fast broken on those harsh surfaces.

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Follow the yellow brick road and you are coming somewhere.

well, to go in-depth...

my opinion only.

the aussie puck is made from great material, lasts a long time. flicks very well. good weight, possibly a tiny bit light, but this is a compromise... the weight makes it easier on the muscles to pass, it can be thrown around with less effort than other heavier pucks. on the negative side, it also means the puck "floats" a bit more, and a big pass is very easy to knock down. heavier pucks move faster through the water and are harder to stop, meaning passing can be more effective in games, where playing with the aussie puck sometimes means passes through a defenders area never actually make it through.

the chamfers is definitely the worst thing about the puck. they basically reduce the area of the puck on the bottom making it less stable, and seem to introduce a bit of water flow under the puck which can cause any imperfections in the tiles to suddenly bounce the puck. this means when its being pushed on a runaway it can still bobble unexpectedly. other pucks with a similar chamfer (eg the italian puck, almost identical, the oreo puck from canada, and the orca puck) have exactly the same bobbling problem. pucks WITHOUT this chamfer (eg the sheffield puck, the old south african puck with plates top and bottom, the durban puck, the nz puck) do NOT have this bobbling problem... heavier pucks like the old south african puck and the nz puck have this problem even less, i assume because the extra weight helps keep the puck stable.

the sheffield puck and durban puck etc still pass very well without these chamfers... i think an aussie puck redesigned to remove them, using the same high quality material (that really seems to outlast any other puck on the planet by a long long way and grips the puck extremely well) would result in a really good puck.

maybe a few years ago it could be argued that the aussie design was better for passing and the bobble was a side effect that had to be accepted. but with the development of new pucks with no chamfer that pass just as well, i'd say we need to ditch the chamfered design as it offers no added benefit.

to remove the chamfer would simply require removal of a bit more material inside the moulds... probably easier to remove than to have to add it?

anyway. my 2 cents. the aussie puck is certainly the best puck theres ever been for backflicks... but i'd sacrifice that to make it more stable

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it's more polite on the grating than on the subs bench

Oreo puck from canada doesn't bobble when you swim with it on a runaway. I should know, I play with that puck every night I practice.

wouldn't removing material from the puck make it lighter liam? ie even more float in the passes etc

well the material would actually be removed from the mould which is negative, isn't it... would add a bit of material to the puck in the end.

i don't remember such a big problem with the oreo puck, but it shares the same chamfer... it is a tad heavier so probably it's not as bad, but it still won't be as stable as an un-chamfered puck i think. the oreo is just as easy to flip onto its side as the aussie puck... i guess thats a measurable for stability as well.

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it's more polite on the grating than on the subs bench