The rules of Shinty

The objective of the game is to get the ball into the goal at the opposite end of the pitch. The game is traditionally played on grass but as of 2009 the game has been allowed to play on aritficial turf. The ball is a hard solid sphere slightly smaller than a tennis ball, consisting of a cork core covered by two pieces of leather stitched together. The seam is raised. It is very similar to a hurling sliotar in that it resembles an American baseball with more pronounced stitching. The ball is usually white but teams are now buying balls which have their clubs logo and their colours. There is also plastic and soft balls which tend to be used in youth competitions or in indoor tournaments, these balls are called "first shinty balls". The ball is played using the caman a stick of about 3 1/2 ft in length. Unlike the Irish camán, it has no blade. The caman is traditionally made of wood, traditionally ash but now more commonly hickory, and must not have any plate or metal attached to it. The caman would be made from any piece of wood with a hook in it, hence caman, from the Scottish Gaelic, cam meaning bent or crooked. It can also be called a stick or club.As with the balls plastic sticks are available for beginners or for indoor use.

A player may play the ball in the air so long as they are not swinging at head height or deemed to be making a dangerous move. Both sides of the stick are used and are used to block and tackle another player. A player may tackle another player using the body as long as it is shoulder to shoulder. The ball can be stopped with the chest, stick, or when both feet are on the ground. The goalkeeper is however allowed to use their hands to stop the ball but only if it is done with an open palm.
If a foul is committed this will result in a free hit which is indirect, however if the foul is committed within the penalty area the opposition would be awarded with a penalty. The penalty would be taken from 20 yards out. A ball hit over the sideline results in a shy. A shinty shy involves the taker tossing the ball above his head and hitting the ball with the shaft of the caman. The ball must be directly overhead when struck to be legal. A ball played by a team over the opposing bye line results in a goal hit from the edge of the D, a ball played by a team over their own results in a corner.