Introduction to Ptanque

Petanque is one of the oldest games in human history. Ptanque belongs to a family of
ball games that developed in the Mediterranean, today called boules in French and bacci in
Italian. The current form of the game originated in 1907 or 1910 in La Ciotat, in Provence,
France. The word Petanque comes from two provincial words pieds tanques which means
feet tied together. So, ptanque [petk] is a form of boules where the goal is to toss or roll
hollow steel balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet or jack, while
standing inside a circle with both feet on the ground. The game is normally played on hard
dirt or gravel. It can be played in public areas in parks, or in dedicated facilities
called boulodromes and this game has been played throughout the ages.
Equipment

Indoor petanque - 6 balls

The good and cheaper alternative with 6 balls and one target ball.

A set contains: 3 white, 3 blue and 1 red Jack or 3 White, 3 red and 1 blue Jack.
Handsewn and made of PU leather and filled with plastic granules.

Ptanque is played by two teams, where each team consists of one, two, or three players. In the
singles and doubles games each player plays with three metal boules. In triples each player uses
only two.

The area where a ptanque game is played is called a terrain. A game can be played in an open
area like a public park, where the boundaries of the terrain are not marked, or on a "marked
terrain".

At international competitions, the petanque court measures 4 x 15 m. For indoor petanque or

indoor boule, the area is, e.g. 2 x 7m.

Boul
es

Cochonnet/
Jack

Technique of Petanque :
\

Holding boule

Palm on top

Fingers close together - Thumb

hardly used

Position of feet in throwing circle

A stable stance is vital for throwing a boule, find out which positions are most comfortable.

a. Throwing for pointing

b. Throwing for shooter

Roll

Shot On The Iron ( carreau )

Soft-Lob

Short Shot

High-Lob

Throwing for pointing :

Soft Lob

High and soft lob

Roll the ball

Throwing for the shooter

One Shot

Shooting along smooth ground (a la raffe)

Shot on the iron

Key Benefits of the game of Petanque

Petanque can be played by people of all ages and fitness levels.

No great strength required.
Rules are easy to learn.
Can be played virtually anywhere.
Equipment is inexpensive.
No special clothing or footwear required.
Social & competition play available year round

Rules and how to play

1. Divide the players into two teams. You can play 1 vs. 1 (3 balls per player); 2
vs. 2 (3 balls per player); or 3 vs. 3 (2 balls per player).

2. Have the teams flip a coin to see who starts.

3.The starting team draws a circle in the ground - then throws the target ball or cochonnet out
to a distance of 6 to 10 meters (19.7 to 32.8 ft).

4. The starting team then throws their first boule, trying to get as close as possible to the
cochon.Then the 2nd team's player stands in the circle, and tries to get their boule closer to
the cochon than the opposing team. They can try to do this by rolling their boule; lobbing it;
or even throwing it at the opposing team's boule moving it away.

5. Learn that if that team does get a boule closer than any of its opponents, it's called "having
the point" - and then the opposing team has to attempt to throw a boule closer.

6. Understand that the team which does not have the closest boule (to the cochon) keeps
throwing boules until either they get closest, or they run out of boules to throw.

7. When all boules are thrown, only the boules of the one team that are closest to the
cochonnet are added to the running score. That is, if team-A "has the point" and has 2 of it's 3
boules closest to the cochon before then opposing team's boule (in this example, the 3rd
closest boule), then team-A gets 2 points added to their score.

8. Know that the teams continue to play until a team reaches 13 points (the team which had
the point, starts the new round, drawing a circle around the position of the cochon and uses
that as the new throwing circle).

RULES FOR PETANQUE AND BOULE

1. Petanque and boule can be played by singles, doubles or triples. In singles or doubles, each
player has 3 balls. In triples, each player has two balls The game is about getting your own
balls placed closer to the jack than your opponent's.
2. A coin is tossed to see which team is to start. The team that wins the toss marks a suitable
throwing field (can be a circle or a square, e.g. 50 x 50 cm). All throws in this round must
take place with both feet within this field. The throwing field can be marked with tape, string
or chalk. You can also choose to determine a throwing field at the beginning of the game and
then use this through all the rounds of the game.
3. A player from the starting team now throws the jack/ boke out onto the course.
4. A player from the same team throws the first ball - and tries to get as close to the jack as
possible.
5. A player from the opposing team now tries either to throw a ball closer to the jack - or to
shoot the first ball out of the away.
6. The team that is not closest to the jack carries on throwing until one of their balls lands
closest to the jack. After this, the other team has a turn.
7. When a team does not have any balls left, the other team throws the remainder of their balls.
8. When all balls have been thrown, the points are counted. Only one team gets points
in each round. A team receives as many points as it has balls closest to the jack than those of
their the opponent.
9. The team that was the closest and won the round, marks a new throwing field and starts the
next round.
10. The winner is the team that reaches 13 points first.

Suggestion for this sport :

The prize may be bronze, silver , and gold trophy. Each team who win the game has thropy.
Player age sould be classified,

PETANQUE

Sources
http://www.boulesartistes.org.au/7.html
https://sites.google.com/site/jupiterpetanque/training-tips
https://sites.google.com/site/jupiterpetanque/training-tips