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Court Shuffleboard – Background Information
Court & Equipment
The shuffleboard court is 52 feet long and 6 feet wide, but the actual playing surface is only 39 feet long.
There is a 12-foot neutral zone in the middle of the playing area, marked by a pair of "dead lines."
At each end of the playing area is a scoring triangle; the point is 3 feet from the nearer dead line, the
base 13 1/2 feet from it. Each triangle is broken up into five scoring areas: a front triangle worth 10
points, two quadrilaterals worth 8 points each, two quadrilaterals worth 7 points each, and a wide rear
area marked "10 off."
Each player has four disks, or pucks. The disk has a 6-inch diameter and a thickness of 1 inch, is 9/16 to
1 inch thick, and weighs 11 1/2 to 15 ounces. One set of discs is colored black, the other yellow. (Other
sets of colors may be used, provided they're clearly distinguishable from one another.)
The cue (the stick used to propel the disk) is no more than 6 feet, 3 inches long, and has a tip shaped
like a half moon, into which a disk is fitted for shooting.
Progress of Play
Shuffleboard can be played by two persons or by two rival teams of two players each. In singles, the
player with yellow shoots first, from the right side of the "10-off” section. That player slides a disk toward
Shuffleboard can be played by two persons or by two rival teams of two players each. In singles, the
player with yellow shoots to the other end of the court, attempting to score a 10. The opponent then
shoots a black disk from the other side of the court, and they continue alternating until all eight disks
have been shot.
It is permissible to knock an opponent's disk off the court or into a different scoring area, and to move or
protect one's own disks by the same procedure. However, a disk that falls short of the farther dead line is
removed from play immediately.
After one "end" is completed (eight disks shot by two players from the same end of the court), scores are
totaled. A disk scores only if it lies entirely within a scoring area, touching no boundary lines. Players
then move to the opposite end to complete the round by repeating the described routine.
Games may be 50, 75, or 100 points, as determined beforehand. A disk lying within the 10-off area
results in the loss of 10 points for the owner.
In doubles, play proceeds as in horseshoes: Two opponents play against one another from one end of
the court, and the other two play against one another from the other end, throughout the game.
Undoubtedly inspired by the table game, an unknown recreation director for the Peninsular and Oriental
Line created deck shuffleboard during the 1870s. The cruise industry, established by P & O in 1835, was
burgeoning and new sports and games were being created to amuse passengers between ports. Among
them were deck tennis and quoits. Deck shuffleboard quickly became a shipboard staple.
The deck shuffleboard court was considerably larger than the table and larger wooden discs replaced the
coins and metal weights used in table shuffleboard. Of course, cruise passengers couldn't be expected
to get down on their hands and knees to play, so a shooting stick was created, with an attachment at the
end to hold the puck.
Scoring was originally the same as in table shuffleboard: lines across the court marked scoring areas,
with the higher scores at the end farthest from the shooter. But somewhere along the line, a triangular
scoring area was devised, with the highest scoring area at the apex of the triangle, nearest the shooter,
and a penalty area,
The deck game was brought ashore early in the 20th century, probably more than once. Most important,
the Ball family built a shuffleboard court in 1913 at their resort hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida. The sport
quickly became popular, especially among retired people, and it was quickly adopted at other resorts and
in the retirement communities that sprang up in Florida during the 1920s.
The St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club (originally known as the Mirror Lake Shuffleboard Club) was
founded in January of 1924. The SPSC was and is unquestionably the leading club in the country. At its
peak, the club had 110 courts, a covered grandstand from which spectators could follow the action on its
tournament courts, and more than 5,000 members.
In 1931, the SPSC called a meeting of other shuffleboard clubs, most of them in Florida, to form the
National Shuffleboard Association (NSA) and adopt standard rules. The rules were essentially those that
the SPSC had been using for seven years, and they have changed little since then.
The NSA held its first national tournament, for men only, in 1931. Women's competition was added the
following year.
During the 1930s, the federal Works Progress Administration built shuffleboard courts on many
playgrounds throughout the country. An indoor version of the sport, often played on a scaled-down court,
was developed after World War II.
Shuffleboard reached its peak during the 1950s and 1960s. Since then, it has virtually disappeared from
many areas, primarily because other types of recreation have entered the picture.
There are currently eight state associations, in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, North
Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. The NSA has a membership of about 160,000.
The NSA estimates that about 5 million people play shuffleboard at one time or another in the course of a
year.
Information obtained 10/6/11 from http://www.hickoksports.com/rules/rshuffleb.shtml
10/11/11
Knowledge
Assignment
Court Shuffleboard
Reading Comprehension Activity
Name: ___________________________________
Period: __________
(16pts.)
Date: _____________
1. List three differences in the size and dimensions of a regulation shuffleboard court and the shuffleboard
courts we play on in our physical education class.
a.___________________________________________________________________________________
b.___________________________________________________________________________________
c.____________________________________________________________________________________
2. What is the name of the cruise line company that introduced this recreational game of shuffleboard to
passengers on cruise trips?
a.___________________________________________________________________________________
3. List the four point area values on a regulation shuffleboard court.
a.____________
b. ___________
c. ___________
d. ______________
4. In our physical education classes, the team members are allowed to push 3 disks each per end/ round to try
and score points. How many disks are allowed to be pushed by a player per end/round in a regulation game
of shuffleboard? _________________________________
5. The deck game of shuffleboard was brought ashore early in the 20th century, probably more than once.
What is the name of the family that built a shuffleboard court in 1913 at their resort hotel in Daytona
Beach, Florida? ________________________________
6. Many students appear to be having fun playing shuffleboard in class. List three factors that can make the
game fun to play in class.
a.______________________________________________________________________________
b.______________________________________________________________________________
c.______________________________________________________________________________
7. Explain why the game of shuffleboard can be played by people of any age regardless of their athletic skill or
fitness level. (3 sentences – use the back, if necessary)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________