by Stephanie Chandler

Created on: June 01, 2009

Quoits, a game of offensive and defensive strategy, is the predecessor to the popular game of Horseshoe Pitching. The use of quoit-like objects date back to thousands of years before Christ, but the first reference to their use as a sporting event is at the Grecian Olympic Games. The original sport of throwing Quoits, commonly known as the Discus, the object was to throw for distance. Through the years, the game has evolved from distance throwing to a game of accuracy as competitors toss the quoit to a stake.

Basically the game of Quoits consists of throwing metal rings to a stake in the ground. The game found its way from England to the United States in the 1700's. Since then there have been some changes to the game.

The English version of the game consists of 5-8 pound iron or steel rings thrown a distance of 33 feet to a stake (or hob) 3 inches high. The American adaptation of the game, now called Traditional American Quoits, requires throwing 2.5-4 pound iron, steel or brass rings a distance of 21 feet to a hob 4 inches tall.

Traditional American Quoits is played with either two players, or four players divided into two teams. With two players, they both pitch the quoits from the same foul-line toward the opposite hob and then walk to retrieve the quoits and pitch them back. With four players, a member of each team pitches from each pit toward each other.

Scoring begins after all four quoits are thrown. Only quoits within a horizontal quoits diameter are in the 'scoring zone' and are eligible for scoring. The closest quoit to the hob determines which team receives score for that throw. If that same team also has their second quoit closer than the opposing team, they also score a point for that quoit. However, if the opposing team has a quoit closer to the hob, then there is no score for the second quoit.

The following is a list of scoring terms and scenarios.
Open Pit or Dead Bed: If there are no quoits within a horizontal quoits diameter of the hob, no points are awarded for that throw; resume the game with the same pitching order.

Grounder: A quoit that lands on or bounces off the ground outside the pit area is considered out of play, even if it rolled or bounced into the pit.

Woody: A quoit that touches, leans against or hits the wooden pit box is also considered out of play.

She-Quoit: A quoit that lands upside down cannot score any points, but it remains in play as it can be flipped by hitting with another quoit, thereby returning

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