The pétanque is the French equivalent of the game of boules, except that the balls are made of metal, and about the size of an orange; the playing surface is similar to diamond in baseball (clay, gravel, hard sand) and may or may not have a boundary line. The goal is to place yourself in a circle drawn on the ground and roll, shoot, throw the ball as close as possible to the cue ball. Each round, only one team gets points, and you keep playing until one team scores 13 points. The first team to earn 13 points wins.
Steps
Step 1. The players split into two teams
You can play 1 against 1 (3 balls each), 2 against 2 (3 balls each) or 3 against 3 (2 balls each).
Step 2. Teams flip a coin to see who goes first
Step 3. The starting team draws a circle on the ground, then throws the cue ball or cochonnet at a distance between 6 and 10 meters
Step 4. Once this is done, throw the first ball, trying to get as close to the cochon as possible
Then a player from the second team, from the edge of the circle, tries to throw his ball closer to the jack than the opposing team. They can try by rolling the ball, throwing it or even throwing it at the opponent's to push it away.
Step 5. Learn that if the team manages to have a ball closer than their opponents, it is said to "mark the spot" and then the other players must try to throw a ball closer
Step 6. Know that the team that does not have the closest ball (to the cochon) continues to throw balls until it gets the closest or until they run out of balls
Step 7. When all balls have been thrown, only those of one team and only those closest to the cochonnet are added to the score
For example, if team A "marks the point" and has 2 of its 3 balls closest to the cochon before the opposing team's balls (in this case, the third closest ball), then team A scores 2 points which is add up to his score.
Step 8. Teams continue to play until one reaches 13 points (the team that had marked the point starts on the new round, drawing a circle around the position of the cochon to use it as a new limit for shooting)
Advice
- It is permitted, after the initial throw of the cochonet, for a ball (while playing) to move the jack to another position.
- Players have different styles to throw. After some practice, a player is usually classified as: pointer (one who can roll, throw or throw the ball near the cochonet); bowler (one who is very good at throwing or rolling a ball to hit one of his own or that of his opponents); milieu (both pointer and bowler).
- A lot of strategy can be used when playing pétanque. For example, you create defensive "walls" of boules in front of the cochonet (for example) to block the opponent from approaching and "get the point".
- The balls are called bowls; the sphere to approach is called cochonet ('little pig' in French).
- Bowls are usually thrown with the palm facing down. This allows it to give them some backward effect (which helps prevent the ball from rolling too much on a smooth surface).
Warnings
- Each player must remain in the same circle without lifting his feet off the ground until he has thrown the ball.
- If you use a marked field (usually bounded by a ribbon on the ground) and the cochon moves out of the boundary of the playing field (roughly 4 meters by 15 meters), then it is considered "dead".
- When the cochonet is considered dead, and both teams still have boules to play, no points are awarded and the team that knocked out the cochonet on that round begins the next one. BUT, if only one team still has boules to play, then it wins as many points as there are "boules left to throw".
