Allen Dronsfield believes shuffleboard is a game of mental strength that anyone can learn to play, having been inducted into the Florida Shuffleboard Association Hall of Fame and taught Leesburg citizens how to play.
Allen Dronsfield never imagined he’d be honored into the Florida Shuffleboard Association Hall of Fame when he first played shuffleboard with his neighbor in a mobile home park in 2011.
As president of the Leesburg Shuffleboard Club, Dronsfield devotes his efforts and time to educating others about the sport. He believes it is a game of strategy, mental fortitude and healthy competition, after a stellar career in which he won more than 35 professional titles and three district masters.
“If you don’t have a plan or strategy, you can’t expect to win,” said Dronsfield, of the Village of Hillsborough. “Strategy begins the minute you walk out to the court and find out who your opponent will be. I watch every single move these people make. I know which discs are the fastest and the slowest. It’s all about that mental preparation.”
Playing shuffleboard has numerous mental and physical benefits advantages, but Dronsfield believes the activity should be considered because it can accommodate players of various physical levels. Dronsfield claimed he knows a 96-year-old player and numerous others who have played in wheelchairs.
Dronsfield initially played the game a month after having a stent implanted in his heart.
“You can be in all kinds of physical conditions,” Dronsfield said. “You can have heart problems or be in a wheelchair. I have back issues occasionally, but I was able to play with a walker in a competition. This game is for everybody.”
Shuffleboard is a strategy game; therefore, players will have to use logic and creativity to outsmart their opponents. The techniques in shuffleboard are unlimited, according to Dronsfield, but the most valuable ones have been termed Tampa and St. Pete, a homage to the fact that the game was founded in Florida in 1913. In addition, unlike a tabletop, most shuffleboard courts are not perfectly flat. Shuffleboard players must compensate for drift, which is the natural curve of the court and demands planning and strategy.
According to Dronsfield, the best type of player is one who is competitive.
In his years of coaching, Dronsfield has found that those who are willing to stand up to the plate are the ones who go on to win trophies, which is exactly what he wants for the athletes he works with.
“I want to give back to the game by training people,” Dronsfield said. “I put a cue in their hands to get them down the same path I was on.”
The Leesburg Shuffleboard Club meets on Tuesdays and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Palmetto Street Complex, S. Palmetto St., Leesburg. Attending one of the meetings or contacting Dronsfield at fisherman34788@yahoo.com about registration is the best way to connect, according to Dronsfield.
– Attributed Source, The Villages Daily Sun
