Behind The Design of Shuffleboard Weights

Shuffleboard weights were not always the sleek and balanced pucks you see today. The earliest versions of what would later become shuffleboard didn't use discs at all, nor did they have the finely crafted shuffleboard tables we know and love today. We do know that the origins of the game date back to 15th-century England, and shuffleboard weights have naturally evolved numerous times since then. Before there was shuffleboard, there was a little game called shove-groat. The shape of future shuffleboard weights was born out of this game in which players used coins rather than the disc-shaped weights of today. These coins were known as groats, which is where the name comes from. The groats were slid across a polished tabletop for position and points. William Shakespeare even made a reference to the game in Henry IV, when Falstaff says, "Quoit (i.e., throw) him down, like a shove-groat shilling." Shove-groat was played by nearly everyone (aristocracy and peasants alike), and gambling often ensued as well. Shuffleboard continued to evolve into the 16^th century.

Although at this time coins were still used for shuffleboard weights, the game's name changed to shoveboard, then eventually to shovelboard. The game was especially fashionable during the Tudor period. English high society played on colossal shuffleboard tables, sometimes even as long as 30 feet. These days, 30 feet would exceed the regulation size. The largest McClure tables run up to 22 feet, though, which isn't much smaller than the tables beloved by royalty. At this point in the game's trajectory, a more intricate scoring system was established. Markings on the table, the precursor to today's scoring sections, dictated how many points to award for coins that landed in certain areas. Many shovelboard games at the time still used coins, but shuffleboard weights were about to change. Some players began to replace the coins with metal weights instead. They would attempt to get these metal weights as close to the other end of the table as possible without them falling off. Sound familiar? By the early 1800s, English society had left shovelboard in the lurch. It didn't take long, however, for the game to experience a resurgence. It was reintroduced in the mid-1800s and early 1900s, when British colonists transported the game to America. During this time period, artfully handcrafted shuffleboard tables began to appear.

More sophisticated tables would soon call for more sophisticated shuffleboard weights, as well. Shuffleboard reached the peak of its popularity after World War II, when soldiers spread their enjoyment of the game all across the country. Some of the biggest shuffleboard tournaments ever held occurred at this time. The original boards were 32 feet long, even larger than the tables of Tudor, but were subsequently shortened to 28 and then to 22 feet. Up until then, shuffleboard weights were made out of heavy brass. It was at this point that they were redesigned to the smooth stainless steel models that we now use today. Shuffleboard weights now come in two basic sizes. Regulation size shuffleboard weights are 2 and 5/16 inches in width. These are considered large pucks and usually used on tables 14 feet or longer. Medium pucks are only slightly smaller, coming in at 2 and 1/8 inches wide, and are usually used on shuffleboard tables 12 feet or shorter. Particularly skilled players have also been known to use these on tables 14 feet or longer. Most weights have a crowned bottom, but some have a flat bottom. All pucks have thumb push-offs in the center. Modern shuffleboard weights are generally made from stainless steel with colored plastic tops. The most common colors are red and blue, though you may also see other custom colors. Custom-order caps in various colors, and choose different speeds for the puck bases based on these shuffleboard weights.

The current size and shape of shuffleboard weights are time-tested and proven to be the most efficient for gameplay on shuffleboard tables. You can grip them firmly in your hand to better control where they go on the board. While you can imagine that coins would have worked similarly, they would have weighed far less. Weighted metal pucks would prove to be the best choice for the game, and time has shown that in our current shuffleboard weights. At McClure Tables, we offer several different styles of weights with different bottom points for various speeds. It is not uncommon for a player in a tournament to have several sets of weights for different gameplay. The regulation weight specs on Shuffleboard weights. The tournament specs for shuffleboard weights are 310-350 grams for most tournament directors and regulation play.

We offer stainless steel and chrome-plated puck bases, all of which will be within the minimum or maximum weight specs. The caps all screw on for the plastic cap custom pucks. If you choose stainless steel bases, the weight will be between 310 and 312 grams. That is on the lighter side, but you can remove the caps and also add some weight to the pucks. The most common way is with a penny or a dime. Screw-on cap advantage or disadvantages. The caps, as stated above, come off, and there is enough room under to add additional weight if needed. The plastic caps tend to hold tight, but the aluminum hard-anodized caps can vibrate during gameplay and become loose. You can use thread lock or pipe thread tape to fix this problem. Shuffleboard Weights Puck Speeds  We offer a variety of weights for various game boards. The majority of our pucks have stainless steel bases, as the exact machining bottom pointed amount, flat, or recessed speed can be more accurately machined. We offer only the .05 pointed base a medium fast speed puck in a Chrome plated version. You can customize your bases in either a plastic cap or an aluminum cap. However, the stainless steel bases are lighter, and the aluminum cap is heavier. So the aluminum caps on the plated puck would be over tournament weight, so we do not offer the plated puck on the customized aluminum caps weight customization option here. Traditional boards versus bar top polymer epoxy boards. The poured epoxy boards are basically plastic with a thin sheet of epoxy poured over the top of the play surface, and it is effectively like a sheet of Plexiglas. The main ingredient in shuffleboard powder or wax is a plastic material, so on polymer boards, you can get more static electricity and better repulsion of the beads the pucks glide on. Pucks glide on the wax, not the board, so the trick with different bottoms is allowing the puck to slide over any potential dry spots on the board. The pointed bottom pucks work better for the polymer style boards, but the more pointed the bottom up to a certain degree the puck is faster. Once you reach the point we call 1.0 above, the puck actually slows down. However, the sharper the bottom, the better it glides over dry spots. The disadvantage is that it will wobble more, so the recessed and flat pucks will be the smoothest puck.

Black and Gold Caps with recessed bases minus .05[/caption]

• Minus.05 The slowest puck base we have is called a minus.05 The bottom of most shuffleboard pucks is pointed. These are from an old, expired patent from the 1940s and glide very smoothly, but are slower than the pointed-bottom pucks. These work better on the non-bar top epoxy boards.
  
• Flat .00 The fastest pucks are a flat-bottom style we call these.00 These work best on traditional boards, but will work on the polymer epoxy style tables also
• Fast .05 This is a good standard puck that is very fast and still flat enough to be stable and smooth, but still glides over dry spots in the board.
• Fastest 1.0. This bottom is the second-fastest puck we make, next to the flat.00 but still pointed enough to be smooth yet glide over any dry spots.
• Medium Fast 1.5 These pucks are getting a little pointed on the bottom, not enough, they wobble too muc,h but just enough that the speed is actually slower than the .05, 1.0 or .00 flat bottom puck

You can customize your Hard aluminum cap style shuffleboard pucks or shuffleboard weights here.

Keep in mind that when choosing the perfect set of shuffleboard pucks or weights, it is a personal preference.  Just as in golf, there are several different types of golf clubs in a typical golfer's bag. In fact, today, there are five categories of clubs: woods (including the driver), irons, hybrids, wedges, and putters. Shuffleboard pucks are no different for typical home play. The consumer has one set of pucks, and the .05 plastic cap standard shuffleboard weights will suit most players the best.

The professional player carries several sets of weights to a tournament and adjusts the weight not so much to his preference as to the tables he is shooting on at the tournament location. You can choose on our web site here from a variety of Shuffleboard Weights.