ABOUT PETANQUE
Petanque originated in the Provencal region of France and is frequently played in town squares or anywhere there is a reasonably flat surface. The terrain or playing surface is ideally 3 metres by 12 metres. Petanque can be played by anyone, anywhere, anytime, with minimal input or equipment. The Italian game bocca is similar but played with larger balls.
Petanque is a simple game. The object is to throw your boules so that they come to rest close to the cochonnet (jack). A player or team scores points by having one or more of their boules closer to the cochonnet than the opposition after all boules have been thrown. The winner is the first player or team to reach 13 points.
Petanque can be played one on one (if you have 2 or 3 participants), but is generally played in pairs (doublettes) or triples (triplettes). Each player has 3 boules or if playing triples only 2 boules. A coin toss decides who shall play first and that team then throws out the small target jack or cochinnet from the playing circle.
After team (1) has thrown the first boule, team (2) must reply. Once each team has played a boule, the next team to play is the one whose boule is furthest from the cochonnet. A team must keep playing until they beat the ‘holding’ boule of the other team, or until they run out of boules. If the opposition has thrown all their boules, the other team then attempts to get more boules closer to the cochonnet than any of the opposing team’s boules. Often it may be very obvious which of the boules are closest to the cochonnet, but on occasions
the distances may be deceptive or difficult to judge. On these occasions use a tape measure or special petanque measuring device. When in doubt, check !
For more information about petanque visit the Auckland Petanque Association website:
https://www.sporty.co.nz/apa
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