I think entirely too little attention is paid to using the correct tool for the job -- in this case, the proper and ideal instrument for a spanking.
Straps and strops have their devotees, and can be useful in the hand of an expert. But too often they result in careless "wrap around" welts on the side of the hip, and or a highly unequal degree of punishment between one "cheek" and the other.
The cane likewise is effective when properly employed. But it is also ripe for misuse by the inexpert. Moreover finding a proper cane is extremely difficult.
No -- to my mind, the one true proper spanking tool is the PADDLE. And not just any paddle. The huge "frat" paddles may be intimidating and make marvelous photos, but they are all "thud" and no "sting." Effective for producing bruises, but not for producing tears. Likewise, the many impromptu paddles like the old Jokari lawn-game paddles; table-tennis ("ping pong") paddles, and items of that kind are often used for lack of a better implement. The solution is to make your own.
The ideal paddle should be made of smoothly-sanded wood. Pine is the easiest to work for the home woodworker. A good clear piece of 1 2" X 4" pine stock makes a perfect paddle "blank." The actual dimension of that nominal lumber is 3 8 inch by 3 1 2 inches. That is just thick enough to be rigid without being unwieldy, and broad enough to impart a severe sting without any danger to the base of the spine.
I prefer a paddle-blade about 12 inches long, attached seamlessly to a handle of four or five inches. Made from the stock size of wood described above, the paddle will induce the most searing sting imaginable without the need of any refinements like drilled-holes. Merely rounding the corners is quite sufficient. The paddle should of course be sanded to silklike smoothness -- an initial smoothing with 300-grit garnet paper, followed by a good long sanding with 600-grit "extra fine" sandpaper, will produce a silken, almost-glassy surface.
A paddle of this kind is, admittedly, of minimal use over trousers or jeans. But it is blazingly effective when applied to the seat of snug briefs -- and on a completely bare bottom, it produces a fiery sting and burn out of all proportion to its modest dimensions. I can always count on my "old standby" of this construction to quickly elicit sincere and genuine screams of pain and frantic pleas for mercy.
I learned this model of construction from a former physical-education teacher. He was notorious in the days when paddling was both legal and common, for offering his boys the choice between the standard three "whacks" with the big frat-type paddle, or an over-the-knee spanking with this foot-long 3.5-inch-wide paddle instead. It was a "sucker bet," of course, but first-time victims didn't know that. The smaller paddle looked so harmless, you see, compared with the vast thick frat paddle.
Mr. "X" as we shall call him included a number of refinements. Those foolish boys (the majority) who opted for the OTK paddling believed that it would hurt less because the teacher couldn't use a two-handed swing, in that position. But Mr. X had the boy straddle his leg, rather than laying himself in the strictly-traditional manner over his lap. This of course spread the boy's legs, and offered both a nice seperation of the about-to-be-spanked asscheeks, as well as a natural tendency (which Mr. X exploited) of the boy to hold his bottom up, since relaxing meant firmly mashing his groin against the teacher's beefy thigh.
Boys wearing briefs under their gym shorts, instead of a jock, were given the choice of either changing their briefs for a jock OR dropping the shorts and "getting it" on their briefs only. It wouldn't be fair, after all, for them to have two layers of protection, he explained. He was very expert, as I can testify being the unlucky recipient of one of Mr. X's OTK paddlings -- and years later his confidante when we belonged to the same spanking club.
That paddle, whacked forcefully against a boy's bottom with only the thin protection of briefs or gym shorts, felt like a blast of fire. A horrible, burning, impossibly-stinging blast of fire which no apparently-small piece of wood such as that could be expected to make. And that fiery burn built with every new smack of the paddle, and built, and built, until a boy expected to hear meat sizzling! Mr. X also had the clever knack of hitting a boy's bottom repeatedly on the exact same place the thick fat swells of muscle right at the base of the buttocks, the very "sit spot" which would touch when a fellow sat down. He didn't spread his whacks around. Every whack hit that same spot on both cheeks at once, over and over and over. I saw many a boy emerge from Mr. X's office with tears brimming in his eyes or even freely running down his scarlet face.
Mr. X's technique was partly the reason. But it was that perfect paddle that did the trick, and since constructing one of my own years ago, I too have found it never fails. Unlike other paddles, it can be deceptive. Used not-too-forcefully at first, it lulls the victim into a false sense of security, the notion that it doesn't hurt much because it CAN'T hurt much. Oh, how wrong an idea. I always delight in delivering the first really forceful smack after a steady warm-up -- the jerk and squeal of pain, the legs kicking up in surprised reaction, that delicious side-to-side wiggle of the burning bottom as if to cool the fire abruptly ignited in those reddened cheeks!
Mr. X had no trouble at all producing heartfelt screams with that paddle, if such was his intention, and we boys often stood listening, rather blanched with fear if the truth be told, to those screams carrying from behind the closed door of his office out into the gymnasium itself. I wish to make myself clear: these were SCREAMS. Not yelps, or howls, or even bawling although that was sometimes heard as well. No, I mean the sort of screams you'd expect from someone in the early stages of being burned alive. And I do not know of ANY boy who ever risked a second session with that paddle. Once, I assure you again from personal experience, was FAR more than enough.
Make a paddle like this. Use it. You will find, I promise, that it is more effective than anything else you have ever used. More effective than you imagined a paddle could be, in fact. It can be used gently, if you and your partner are interested more in playtime than in correction, yet it will still produce an attention-getting sting. If however you use it to send a message, be assured it will send one that is flamingly unforgettable, without leaving marks or blisters.