1: Meet People & Have Fun!

First things first - For most players, shuffleboard is played for simple enjoyment and socializing. The objective is to enjoy yourself! Winning makes it a bit more fun, enjoyment of the game is paramount. Even if you are really competitive, you will have the most fun be at your peak performance when you in the "relaxed zone". This is much like many other sports such as golf or billiards.

2: Etiquette

Be considerate of your opponent. Be considerate of your playing partner (Shuffleboard is usually played in a "doubles" format). They want to have their fun too! We don't need to talk about the "Rules" just now, but there are some - just like other sports such as golf or billiards, or games such as cards.

3: Equipment

1. A shuffleboard court. We have 20 at Coronado. There's a picture below. The playing surface is 39 feet from end to end, and the court is marked with a scoring diagram at each end, on some courts including the numerical values of each area. Also shown are the two "dead lines" in between.

   
   The Court is Six Feet (6') Wide by Thirty Nine Feet (39') Long, Plus a Six Foot Six (6'-6") Standing area at each End. The court above has been stenciled with the numerical scores for each area, but most courts do not show the numbers.

2. 8 "disks", usually 4 yellow and 4 black, 6" in diameter, of hard plastic. (Supplied by the club.). One team uses the yellow disks, the other team uses the black disks.
3. Your shuffleboard cue. Your own cue is all you need for Coronado activities, as the club supplies the rest. Local suppliers are close by, or we have some used cues that you can try out and purchase very reasonably.
4. Court beads (like tiny ball bearings) are shaken onto the smooth courts at Coronado before play. They keep the disks gliding smoothly, so it takes very little effort to propel a disk to the other end of your court. It's all about having a consistent playing surface, like some other sports such as golf or billiards.

 4: How to Play

This is a quick description of how to have a friendly game of shuffleboard doubles - four players. Official Shuffleboard Rules can be found on the Florida Shuffleboard Associationweb site. The penalties shown are not usually implemented unless you are in a tournament.

The object of the game is to propel discs by means of a cue onto scoring diagram at opposite end of court, to score, to prevent opponent from scoring, or both. The following points provide more detail. The underlined links will take you further.

1. To start, the four yellow disks are placed within the right half of the 10-off area and black disks within the left side, the small thin triangle in the middle of this area dictating the center boundary between Yellow and Black. In these instructions, we will call our players "Yellow" and "Black", based on the color of the disks they are shooting.
2. At the beginning of a game, Yellow goes first, from the "head" of the court (scoreboard end). Play alternates between Yellow and Black until all 8 disks have been played. The score is assessed by the people at the foot, then called up to the scorekeeper at the head, and written on the scoreboard. The scoreboard is usually placed to make it easiest for Yellow to keep the score. Then the disks are collected into the "10-Off" area at the foot, ready to go again. Yellow is positioned on the LEFT side at the foot (i.e. Yellow always shoots from the same physical side of a shuffleboard court. Partners are directly opposite each other.) The scoreboard will have two scores recorded. Yellow is always on the left and Black always on the right.
   Play now restarts from the foot of the court with Yellow going first again. Yellow and black alternate shots until all 8 disks are played back to the head of the court. The two scores are recorded again, and the disks gathered back into the "10-Off" area at the head end. There will be two lines completed on the scoreboard at this point.
3. Play continues, but with Black going first both from the head and the foot. The scoreboard should at this point have four lines recorded as shown at the left.
4. The top two lines on the scoreboard are now erased, ready for recording more scores. A diagonal line has been drawn through the bottom half of the scoreboard to remind the scorekeeper that it is the bottom that will be erased next. Now Yellow again plays first from both the head then the foot.
5. Continue playing until one of the teams has reached 75 points (As recorded at the end of a half-round - all eight disks have been played). If both teams go over 75, then the team with the highest score wins. A winning score of 75 points is used for tournament play. A casual game can be to any number of points agreed on. An alternative is to play for a fixed amount of time, or for a fixed number of frames (score-lines), such as 12 or 16.

If you have any questions please contact us - coronadoshuffleboard@yahoo.com

Here is a bit more information in the form of Notes and Definitions.

1. Recording the score: It is only after all eight disks have been played that the actual scores are added up. The points (10, 8, 7, 10-off) total for the good yellow disks and then the good black disks are called to the scorekeeper, and recorded on the scoreboard. The Yellow score is always called out first, then the black score. Where it is noisy and/or the score is close, allow time for the score to be recorded before moving any disks. Be sure everyone agrees with the score. If you are the scorekeeper, write clearly and as big as possible and then stand out of the way so the players at the foot can see.
2. Scoreboard Reminder: Opposite the top empty lines, the vertical yellow strip at the left-top of the scoreboard reminds players when it is Yellow's turn to go first. Similarly the vertical black strip at the bottom left of the scoreboard would remind players when it is Black's turn to go first. This is very convenient, but to make it work throughout a game, the score must be recorded after every half-round, even if there was no score that half-round (i.e. zero - zero). For example, if the score was 22 - 15, and the next half-round was "no score", then the scoreboard is recorded with 22 - 15 in the next space.
3. Hammer: The last shot of a frame (8 disks). Having the hammer is an advantage. Use it to score because no one shoots after you so they cannot knock your shot out. Use it to "take out" an opponent's disk and stay in to score yourself. In partners shuffleboard, because Yellow shoots first from both the head and foot, Black gets the first two hammers. But then it is Yellow's turn with two hammers. This will seesaw back and forth through a game, but when one team's score gets close to sixty points, they can win it with their next two hammers. "Make your hammer" is a good thing to remember. An other is "Don't try a difficult take-out. Just make your hammer. They add up." The choice of what shot to take is not always obvious, but there is one obvious exception to "Make your hammer": That exception is "Take out a winning disk" (i.e. Always take out the disk that would gain your opponent 75 points and win them the game.).
4. Kitchen: The ten-off area. You shoot from the "kitchen" at your own end. You can try to bump your opponent's disk into the "kitchen" at the other end. You opponent may try to "kitchen" one of your disks. You have to watch out for the "kitchen" players, who are good at "kitchen" play.
5. Board: Anywhere in or near the scoring area. "Going on the board" is playing a shot into the scoring area, particularly if you want your opponent to play a take-out and score. Then you have a shot at kitchening them and knocking 10 points off. This can be a high risk strategy, but rewarding if your opponent might otherwise win the game with their next two hammers.
6. Clearing: "Clearing" or "clearing the board" is hitting your opponent's disk at an angle, hard enough so that both it and your shooter leave the scoring area. This is a good strategy if you are ahead on the scoreboard and are waiting for your hammer(s) to win the game. If your shooter happens to stop on the "board", your opponent may kitchen you!
7. A "Good Disk" is one that has stopped within the scoring diagram and does not "touch" any line. It is easiest to think of white lines painted on a green court surface in the following explanation.
   • By "touch" a line we actually mean this: Judging is a disk is touching a line is done by standing directly over the edge of the disk and sighting straight down the edge of the disk nearest the line. If no green area can be seen between the white line and the outside arc of the disk, the disk is not "good", because it appears to be "touching" the line. Standing off to the side and peering under the rounded edge of the disk to see the "green" is not an accurate way of evaluating disk position.
   • Players seated at the scoring end become adept at evaluating almost any disk without moving from the comfort of their seats. However, as a courtesy to the shooters, disks that are close to a line should be given a much closer look: Get up for a better look, or even walk onto the playing surface if necessary, and sight over the edge of the disk to make the evaluation. Then clearly signal "good" or "no good" (see "signal", below). Either or both players may do this, but common sense would tell you that if your opponent calls your partner's disk "good", then you just simply agree and don't spend any more time on it. Similarly, if your opponent calls his own partner's shot "no good", then again, just agree.
   • The small thin triangle in the middle of the 10-Off area is not counted as a line.
8. Signal "Good" or "No Good": To help the shooters know if a disk is a good score or not, players at the scoring end quickly indicate with a raised finger if a disk is "good", or with a horizontal hand motion if a disk is "no good". Then, between each shot from the other end, the scoring end holds up fingers showing the total number of "good" disks. If there are no good disks at that point, make the "No Good" horizontal hand motion. This is a big help to the players who are shooting, and saves a lot of shouting from one end to the other.
9. "Dead Disk": Immediately remove from play...
• A disk that is shot but does not reach the furthest dead line;
• Any disk that tips off the edge of the court and touches the alley or anything else outside the court;
• A disk that stops completely beyond the the back line of the court (Must immediately be moved back at least 8" as necessary to prevent being touched by a live disk in play)

Internet links to recommended shuffleboard resources

• FLORIDA SHUFFLEBOARD ASSOCIATION - The official FSA website, covers all Florida shuffleboard.
• CNSA SHUFFLEBOARD CANADA - covers Canada and the International Shuffleboard Association.
• Shuffleboard Equipment distributors via FSA web site.