Why Does My Pong Ball Wobble Along the Paddle?

Resolving Ball Deflection Anomaly in a Pong Game

In a typical pong game, the ball should bounce off the paddles correctly. However, under certain circumstances, players may encounter a strange behavior where the ball wobbles along the edge of the paddle, failing to bounce appropriately.

Problem Analysis

When the ball collides with the paddle in the traditional way, its direction is reversed as follows:

if ball.colliderect(paddleLeft):
    move_x *=-1
if ball.colliderect(paddleRight):
    move_x *=-1

However, if the ball collides with the paddle's top or bottom, the ball may penetrate slightly into the paddle. In the next frame, the collision is still detected, causing another direction change. This results in a zigzag movement along the paddle's edge.

Solution

To resolve this issue, there are two viable approaches:

1. Set Direction Based on Paddle Side

Instead of reversing the direction at every collision, adjust the direction based on which side of the paddle the ball hits:

if ball.colliderect(paddleLeft):
    move_x = abs(move_x)
if ball.colliderect(paddleRight):
    move_x = -abs(move_x)

This approach ensures the ball bounces off the front of the paddle as expected.

2. Adjust Ball Position After Collision

Alternatively, modify the ball's position to place it correctly after a collision:

if ball.colliderect(paddleLeft):
    move_x *= -1
    ball.left = paddleLeft.right
if ball.colliderect(paddleRight):
    move_x *= -1
    ball.right = paddleRight.left

With this method, the ball is automatically placed just outside the paddle's edge, preventing the zigzagging behavior.

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