6 July 2017:
Fli-Back Paddles

When I was a pre-pubescent schoolboy, I was already into "recreational" spanking. My partner in crime was the boy next door, who was a year older than me. Ninety percent of the time it was him spanking me, but the specter of his butt in tight white briefs was enthralling to me. I loved whacking him and loved having him whack me. And we both loved paddles. (More about him and our activities in a forthcoming blog post.)

From the start, we were into using instruments other than the hand. One of our "starter instruments" was the Fli-Back Paddle, which we had seen used at school. A local shop — Woolworth's 5 and 10 Cents Store — carried these paddles, which were toys with a rubber ball attached to one side by an elastic string. Fli-Back Paddles were approximately 10 inches long (including handle) and 4-5/8 inches wide at the widest point, and a little over 1/4 inch thick, made of plywood (see picture; metric equivalents: 25 cm X 12 cm X 6.4 mm). They were designed for one player bouncing the ball off the paddle and having the elastic return it to be hit again. Keeping it going took a bit of practice — practice I never got; I was never very good at the game because I had other things in mind. It was obvious that the ball and elastic string could be removed and the paddle used for spanking; eventually the string and ball would come off spontaneously with normal wear, particularly if you used it vigorously. Of course you had to remove the staple that attached the rubber string, or else it could cut your bare butt if used hard.

Fli-Back Paddles were the ideal size for spanking children around 5 to 9 years old. At school, the female teachers in the first 3 or 4 grades mostly used Fli-Back Paddles when it was necessary to punish student offenses too minor for the principal to deal with.

My mother would take me with her when she went to shop at Woolworth's. On a couple of occasions I surreptitiously bought a Fli-Back Paddle for my spanking buddy and me to use. I say I made the purchase surreptitiously; I sensed that my mom would quickly recognize my prurient motives and disapprove. I didn't want her to know I had it. I say "a couple of occasions" because we broke the first one I bought; I don't remember the fate of the second. Needless to say, buying, possessing, and using the Fli-Back Paddle (whether on my buddy's butt or mine) was very exciting for me at the time. About like a 16-year-old boy buying condoms for the first time.

A few weeks ago I saw a picture of a Fli-Back Paddle on someone's profile on Spank This Hookups, and it triggered my memories. I immediately wanted one — or several. I looked on eBay and discovered there were a good number for sale, sometimes in sets of up to four. I bought a few, and the three best ones are shown in the picture. The two natural-colored paddles were the standard model. The red one is the "De-Luxe" model; it is slightly more substantial than the standard model. Woolworth's sold both types, but, being frugal with the funds from my meager child's allowance at the time, I never bought a red Fli-Back until this recent purchase from eBay. One of the school marms used a red De-Luxe Fli-Back paddle. The red color of the De-Luxe model always seemed symbolic and slightly more threatening than the standard model.

So now I have these little paddles and am looking forward to using them — not simply as items of nostalgia, but for their utilitarian value. And of course getting them used on me. (Even if I didn't like getting paddled, I feel that I can't be a competent top unless know what my instruments feel like.) I see the Fli-Back Paddles as a nice way to give a warm-up on either underpants or the bare ass. Of course the paddle's surface covers only one cheek, but it allows finer control of the location of impact than a larger paddle, though less intense. Fli-Back Paddles can also be used to whack those hard-to-get-at locations without as much risk of hitting balls or other sensitive parts. They will be nice for "close work" as in OTK spanking when one's hand wears out. I think these are an excellent alternative to hair brushes, though again less intense. They have the advantage of being made exclusively for paddling butt (aside from the Fli-Back game, which I suspect even the manufacturer saw as a pretext), whereas the main purpose of hair brushes is otherwise. (I wonder how many parents buy hair brushes primarily to use to spank their kids.)

In choosing among the Fli-Back paddles listed on eBay, I preferred the ones that showed the most wear, usually indicated by a soiled handle, like the one on the right in the picture. (Of course I would reject them if they were damaged.) I imagine the worn paddles as having been used by strict dads on their 6- to 8-year-old sons (before graduating to more substantial paddles like Jokari paddles or — further along the spectrum — frat paddles). The idea that I could spank using a paddle previously in regular use for punishing a pre-teenage boy is a turn-on. Not that I would necessarily want to do that personally; I'm into spanking adults, not children.