Shovelboard

Known historically as Shove-board, Shoffe Boorde and Slypgrote, Table Shovelboard is the ancestor of Shove Ha'penny and of the Shovelboard, or Shuffleboard, played on ships' decks and outdoor courts. Players attempt to score points by propelling coins or discs into marked scoring areas.

The modern game is known as Table Shuffleboard, or, more commonly, just Shuffleboard.

History, Variants (Jakkolo, Sjoelbak, Sjoelen), Clubs

Rules

Figure 1

Equipment: Each player requires: a) four coins or discs about 1 inch (25 mm) in diameter; b) an implement such as a wooden or plastic ruler for propelling the coins or disks.

Figure 2

Table: In mediaeval times Shovelboard was played on very long, narrow tables - perhaps 30 feet (9 metres) long and 2 feet (60 cm) wide. The higher scoring area extended 4 inches (10 cm) from the end of the table, and the lower scoring area 4 feet (120 cm) in front of that. It is, however, possible to play a form of shovelboard on any rectangular or square table - by marking off an out-of-play area, and scaling down the dimensions of the scoring areas.

Players: Shovelboard is a game for two players or two teams of equal number.

Turns: In team games, each player normally plays a round against an opponent from the other team. The two opponents in a round propel one coin alternately.

Playing a coin: Players use their rulers to give the coin one push towards the scoring area. All coins, except those more than half over the out-of-play lines, are left on the table until the end of the round. This makes hitting one coin into another an important feature of the game.

Scoring: Players score (see Figure 2):
a) three points for any coin partly over the far edge of the table;
b) two points for any coin completely in the far scoring area;
c) one point for any coin completely in the near scoring area;
d) one point for any coin on the line between the near and far scoring areas.

Result: In singles games, the winner is the first person to score an agreed number of points - for example 11. Team games can be decided in several ways:
- the team winning the more rounds;
- the team with the more points after an agreed number of rounds;
- the first team to score an agreed number of points.

From 'The Official World Encyclopedia of Sports and Games'
© Diagram Visual Information Ltd 1979

Shuffleboard

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