The rules allow for a symmetrical double-ended stick to be used, i.e. one that may be held in either the left or the right hand, and this can give ambidextrous players the opportunity to swap hands during play, although the rules are also very clear that the stick may be held in only one hand at a time. Modern-day Underwater Hockey (UWH) was invented as a sport originally known as Octopush in Southsea, England in 1954 and has always used short sticks or pushers similar to those described above, but a very similar game also called underwater hockey evolved some years after this in South Africa. This game used a 'long stick' that had a very similar form to an ice hockey stick, although it was considerably smaller at around long and required two hands to hold and use it. The 'long stick' version of the game that was played largely in the southern hemisphere eventually gave way to the more widely played 'short stick' version and since about 1980, the year of the first UWH World Championship, the original 'short stick' game has been played universally around the world. Other uses of the term In the cha-cha and rhumba dancing, the "hockey stick" is a figure in which the dancer moves along a straight line, with an angled turn at the end. On aircraft liveries, a Hockey Stick is a cheatline – a line that extends along the side of an aircraft – which turns up at the end and goes up the tailfin. References External links How hockey sticks are made video Stick