Customer Questions & Real-World Advice on Shuffleboard Table Sizes

Over the years, we've received many real-world questions from customers trying to determine the right size of a shuffleboard table for their home or business. If you're still in the planning stage, we recommend starting with our Shuffleboard Room Size Calculator to quickly see which table lengths will comfortably fit your space. We also maintain a detailed Shuffleboard Size Guide with room size charts, delivery considerations, and size comparisons. This page focuses on the practical questions and customer conversations we've encountered over nearly 50 years in the game room industry to help you think through your decision.

If you are looking for our complete room-length chart and official size recommendations, visit our main Shuffleboard Table Size Guide.

When considering the size of the shuffleboard table you want to purchase, keep in mind that you'll need 2 feet behind the table, clear of any obstructions. This is ample room for a player to get behind and bend over for a proper stance and shooting position. As for your room's side-to-side space, it's easier to manage as you can put a table right next to the wall. If you have an electronic score unit, you may need to move the cabinet 3 to 4 inches away from the wall to allow for room to clear the score unit mounting pole between the cabinet and your wall. However, all play is done inside the cabinet, so you do not need any space on each side of the table beyond the inside edge of the cabinet.

We've seen it time and time again... Some doors are too small, and some hallways are too narrow. To prepare your home for your new gaming investment, measure and run some test runs to ensure you have the proper space. Remember, these boards and pieces that make up your shuffleboard table don't bend and can be extremely heavy. Start by maneuvering a long board (a 2 inches x 10 inches if possible), throughout your home's hallways to make sure you have clean lines into the room that will house your table. Once you have ensured that you can get your table into your room, it's also important to ensure that your room is an accurate fit. It's best to take a board that's 2-3 inches thick, 18 to 20 inches wide, and, depending on your table length, anywhere from 10 feet 8 inches to 20 feet 8 inches long, into the room. While measuring is accurate, sometimes it pays to see a piece of wood in your room that will actually be the size of your completed shuffleboard table. As for the cabinets that house the board, any table over 12 feet is made in two pieces, so it's much easier to get it into the room. With some of the more common sizes, 14-foot and 16-foot shuffleboard tables, you are talking the equivalent of a 7 to 8-foot sofa or couch in the room. Again, because every shuffleboard table made in our woodshop is handcrafted and custom-made, we can and have made even the 12-foot cabinets in two pieces. We have even done smaller cabinets like this, as well as 10-foot and 11-foot-long tables, when necessary. If you're at a complete loss about how to get a table into your home, we've had customers use cranes and lifts to bring them in through upstairs windows. Additionally, we have put tables through basement windows. See some videos in this post here. Whether through conventional or unconventional methods, we can install almost any size of shuffleboard in your home.

Most people want to get as large a table as will fit in their room, and the best size for a shuffleboard table, closest to the full-length regulation play, is a 16-foot table. The difference between a 16-foot and a 22-foot is not that noticeable in play. While you can still have fun on 12 and 14-foot shuffleboard tables, when you get down to a 9-foot table, the playing surface is a little on the short side and not nearly as challenging.

The playing surface width is equally important, especially if you plan to use a 12- or 14-foot table. Many import lines offer 15 and 16-foot boards on the less expensive tables. The pucks are 2 1/4 to 2 5/16 inches wide, so it is much more difficult to get around or play the game on the narrow tables. That is why at McClure Tables, we do not make any tables less than 18 inches wide. Only our Liberty model is 18 inches wide, giving you full-size table play and feel in a width that accommodates a narrower space. Often people put shuffleboard tables in a narrow hallway or behind a sofa or even next to their pool table and the 24" width cabinet of the Liberty model is better suited for their space. So we still offer an 18" wide board and give you professional game play as compared to other domestic manufacturers who only offer a 16" wide play board in this width cabinet. Answering the question, "How much room does a shuffleboard table require?," is as simple as knowing your own home. Remember, test out your house to make sure that the pieces of the table that you are interested can make it through doorways and hallways unscathed. Then, ensure you offer ample room (2 feet is best) for players to play shuffleboard without obstruction. By keeping all of this in mind, you'll be able to buy the right shuffleboard for your home and be extremely happy with your purchase. You might also want to check the inventory of tables we have in stock for immediate shipment at our site. These tables are all handcrafted shuffleboard tables, and the inventory is in real time. We carry a wide variety of Shuffleboard sizes.