I was paddled in school Private school in the '70s.
We had everything from solid paddles, drilled, wide, narrow, etc. It was up to the teacher. One teacher even used a “switch”.
I don’t really remember much a difference. And I felt them all. I was always getting paddled. Mostly for talking in class. I have a very high pain tolerance and paddling was definitely the better choice over lines.
My mom used wooden spoons. Now they hurt more than a paddle. But not really all that much. I cannot tell you how many spoons she broke on my backside.
In southern Illinois in the 70’s we got paddled. It was a pretty big production. Since the teachers had to get a second party to witness the paddling, they would go to the classroom next door and get the teacher there. Then the teacher, the paddlee and the witness would disappear into the hall. The whole class would go silent and listen for the swats. If you were the one getting paddled, you kept your pants on and the teacher would tell you to grab your ankles. Then she would usually administer three quick swats with a ping pong paddle. No one in the classroom ever spoke until the teacher and the paddlee returned.
For serious infractions, you were sent to the principal’s office. Our principal was a one-armed war veteran. He was a kindly fellow, still young enough to have a full head of hair and not grey. He didn’t use a ping pong paddle, but he had a custom-made thing like the paddles in Dazed and Confused, with holes drilled into it and the handle wrapped in leather. He kept his custom paddle hanging on a nail in his office for everyone to see. Meetings in the principal’s office were terrifying. You sat there weeping, looking at the paddle on the wall and knowing it would hurt more than anything you’e experienced yet. The principal could swat pretty hard with that one arm of his, too. You’d be taken out into the hallway and told to grab your ankles, and the pricnipal would administer his three swats.
All but one of the teachers in my elementary school delivered the rare spanking with calm, detached disappointment.The only one who would lash out in anger, Mrs. Scott, would dress up as the wicked witch of the west on Halloweens and sometimes she’d do the melting scene for an assembly, but she had a reputation of being crazy and you didn’t want her for fifth grade. You wanted Mr. Lahr instead, an obese, bass-voiced grandfather type.
But no bare-bottom spankings, and it didn’t make me hot for discipline porn or sexual spankings.
And in response to the OP, al the teachers used regulation ping-pong paddles, except the principal, who used the custom-made paddle with holes drilled in it.
The belief in the BDSM community is that the holes reduce the cushion of air that might protect the spankee at the point of impact (as several people have pointed out above). I have both drilled and non-drilled paddles, so on Saturday, strictly as a service to the SDMB (and don’t think I don’t occasionally get those two acronyms mixed up), I will experiment on four people. The results will be necessarily subjective, but we’ll try to make them as comprehensive as possible.
They hurt way more than the paddle, they were more personal.
In school our principal administered the spankings. He only spanked students who’s parents had signed a consent form and agreed after a phone call. He used something similar to a cricket bat with holes drilled in it.
BTW: The nun principal came later.
Not exactly (although a paddle of that type would be very simple to make).
The air resistance is negligible, as I showed upthread. It would, however, enable you to test whether it is the texture of the striking surface on the bum, but it wouldn’t eliminate the cushion of air being spoken of. The reason is because when the paddle starts moving, the air in the half holes will be trapped, and the surface presented right before impact would be effectively identical to a flat paddle.
This is the same misconception that makes people think having their tailgate down will give them better gas mileage, because the tailgate isn’t “scooping” the air. In reality, the air in the bed is more stagnant with the tailgate up, leading to less eddy currents. Also, if the air has to travel from the top of the cab to the bottom of the bed, it’s going to have a greater pressure differential than if it’s traveling from the top of the cab to the top of the bed. This pressure differential creates a very slight lift and drag, which the engine has to overcome.
I do have one paddle that fits that description. I’ll add that to the testing protocol.
Naturally. And in this case, it’ll help them concentrate on the sensations for scientific purposes as well. “What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity so be honest. How do you feel?”
That said, don’t the drilled paddles sound different than the non-drilled ones? If so, it might also make sense to consider something like earplugs or covering noise since it seems the point of the experiment is to determine the pain factor more than the point is to determine the overall experience.
Perhaps, if you are swinging the paddle at Mach 1. At the speeds associated with a grade-school spanking, I think the air should still be a fairly compressible fluid. Far more compressible than the wood of the paddle, and signifigantly more compressible than the flesh of the target. IMHO, the flesh would be unlikely to encounter a flat surface.
If your hypothesis is correct, then a half-drilled paddle should have the same effect as an undrilled paddle. If my hypothesis is correct, then a half-drilled paddle should have the same effect as a drilled-through paddle.
We need data. Let us hope that Cerowyn beats her subjects thoroughly.
The apparent feminine gender of my nick were it Welsh notwithstanding, I am male. And the subjects in this experiment will all be female, as it happens.
You’ll all be entertained to know that the “volunteers” all seem to be somewhat nervous about the upcoming event.
My hypothesis, based on my own experiences (albeit from the handle end of the paddle), is that:
The un-drilled and partially drilled paddles will elicit basically the same level of sensation.
The drilled paddles will generate more pain (if the difference is perceptible).
Clearly, I’m coming down on the side that says that the holes will only make a difference vis a vis the air cushion formed at the moment of impact.
There’s not much air to be compressed. The layer is a boundary layer, perhaps a millimeter, if that. The important part is that, with the holes, the cushion doesn’t exist. Say for example that the middle of the paddle is 10 cm from the edge. The air in the middle has to travel 10 cm before it can escape. If there are holes drilled every 2 cm, the air only has to travel 1/5 as far.
I wasn’t addressing the texture, I was addressing air resistance. The texture of a solid paddle (i.e.) half drilled is irrelevent.
Again, I was addressing air resistance.
I think the half drilled paddle will have more of an effect solely due to the increased pressure when the same amount of force is used (P = F/A). The cushion of air will still be there, though. The air can compress, sure, but there’s really not that much force compressing it, and it would rather rush away. If the holes aren’t through, it can’t.
Doesn’t matter unless the holes are really small. As long as skin moves differentially to itself it will hurt more. Obviously the amount of clothing worn affects this but then it would affect any paddling.
Oy!! You can’t page me without letting me know I’ve been paged! Jeez…
As far as BDSM goes, while I do not have a pain fetish, I have been spanked by hand ans by riding crop. The crop definitely hurts more, due to it’s whippiness. The hand is more of a thud, and better absorbed by my gluteal regions.
In school (Ohio, early 80s) we had a paddle in the office. It did have the holes drilled in it, but I never had it used on mke, so I can’t tell you what it felt like. A phone call home - or the threat of one - took care of all my disciplinary needs.
Sorry to not be of more help, but I’m glad you thought of me.
