Well, when I got my c128 back in 1986, my parents got me two of those huuuuuuge 'joyballs'. (oo-er) (btw, I think Zzap gave those away when you subscribed around issue 18/22, IIRC)
They were microswitched which was a good thing, but because of their SIZE they were not that 'handy'. Although you could literally bash the two firebuttons because they were very big you couldn't miss them.
Now, I can't image we actually played 'decathlon' with those monsters, but we did.
Later we got ourselves the excellent (microswitched) ARCADE joysticks, those black or creme triangles with the red firebutton upfront.
They did and still do reign SUPREME! I have lots of them, since everythime I come across one I buy them. I'm too afraid I might run out of them one day!
I have also a lot of Competition Pro's in the house (as an alternative) including a 'clearcased' one which looks the part, really, but they are horrible using lots of diagonals. So impossible for IK+ aficionados, and that's a shame.
Btw, only later I found out that the ARCADE joystick manufacturer was based in....Rotterdam, where I live now. I checked it out to see if there was some forgotten or lost 'stock' over there, but now there's a car dealer in that building.
Ta!
Rob