Currently, the only tables that are approved for play and sanctioned by the USAA
(United States Air-Table-Hockey Association) for tournament play are 8-foot
tables manufactured by Dynamo. Approved tables include the Photon, Pro-Style,
older Blue Top, Brown Top, Purple Top or Black Top with unpainted rails.
The HotFlash 2 and other full-size commercial tables with neon lights and/or
painted rails are not approved for USAA play but are still great tables on
which to learn the games .

A classic air hockey table consists of a large silky playing surface,
a contiguous rail to avoid the puck and mallets from going off the table,
and slots in the rail at whichever end of the table that serve as goals.

On the ends of the table in the rear and below the goals, there is usually a puck return.
Furthermore, tables will characteristically have some sort of mechanism that produces a
cushion of air on the play face, with the function of reducing friction and
escalating speed of play

Tips from the professionals

Grip the mallet behind the knob using your fingertips, not on top of it.
This will allow more wrist action and help you be able to move the mallet around the table faster.

In some tables, the technology is eschewed in support of a
slick table face, usually plastic, in the interest of saving money in both
maintenance costs and manufacturing. Note that these tables are officially not
air hockey tables since no air is concerned, conversely, they are still usually
understood to be as such due to the basic resemblance of game play.

Here are some basic rules as defined by the USAA:

A player cannot touch or strike the puck with any part of his/her body or with any object other than the mallet. Doing so causes a foul and possession changes hands.

http://www.air-hockey-table-site.com