Paddle

A paddle can mean either:

Something used in place of a real paddle

A game controller with a rotating knob (or more rarely: a slider) with stops for minimum and maximum. The name comes from the use of moving virtual table-tennis paddles back and forth in the 1970's game Pong. A classic paddle was often implemented as a potentiometer connected at only one terminal, read by charging a capacitor and measuring the time it took to discharge. An analog-to-digital converter could be used to read it if connected with a reference-resistor to create a voltage divider.

See also: Spinner — which does not have stops.

Something shaped like a paddle

An input device control that is a flat lever, named because it is shaped like a paddle. It actuates on press. Found primarily as detachable parts on the bottom of some gamepads, mimicking types of paddles on the back of automobile steering wheels.

Some other gamepads have buttons positioned and used the same way.