Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, ,
also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of
boules
''Boules'' () is a collective name for a wide range of games similar to bowls and bocce (In French: jeu or jeux, in Croatian: boćanje and in Italian: gioco or giochi) in which the objective is to throw or roll heavy balls (called in France, ...
sports, along with
raffa,
bocce
(, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to British bowls and French , with a common ancestry from ancien ...
,
boule lyonnaise
("flying boules"), or ("Lyonnais boules"), is a boules-type game.
In ', the balls are thrown overhand (palm down) and are metal. In standard ', the wooden or plastic balls are tossed underhand (palm up) and rolled.
', as it is called for short ...
,
lawn bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...
, and
crown green bowling
Crown green bowls (or crown green) is a code of bowls played outdoors on a grass or artificial turf surface known as a bowling green. The sport's name is derived from the intentionally convex or uneven nature of the bowling green which is tradi ...
. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls towards a target ball.
In pétanque the objective is to score points by having boules closer to the target than the opponent after all boules have been thrown. This is achieved by throwing or rolling boules closer to the small target ball, officially called a ''jack''
''(fr: cochonnet)'', or by hitting the opponents' boules away from the target, while standing inside a circle with both feet on the ground.
The game is normally and best played on hard dirt or gravel. It can be played in public areas in parks or in dedicated facilities called ''boulodromes''.
The current form of the game was codified in 1907 or 1910 in
La Ciotat
La Ciotat (; oc, label= Provençal Occitan, La Ciutat ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is the southeasternmo ...
, in
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The French name ''pétanque'' (borrowed into English, with or without the acute accent) comes from ''petanca'' in the
Provençal dialect
Provençal (, , ; french: provençal , ; oc, provençau or ) is a Romance language, either considered as a variety of Occitan or a separate language, spoken by people in Provence and parts of Drôme. Historically, the term Provençal has been ...
of the
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language
Occitan (; o ...
language, deriving from the expression ''pè tancat'' , meaning 'foot fixed' or 'foot planted' (on the ground).
History
Invention of the game
Boules games have
a very long history, dating back through the Middle Ages to ancient Rome, and before that to ancient Greece and Egypt.
In France in the second half of the 19th century, a form of boules known as
''jeu provençal'' (or ''boule lyonnaise'') was extremely popular. In this form of the game, players rolled their boules or ran three steps before throwing a boule. Pétanque originally developed as an offshoot or variant of ''jeu provençal'' in 1910, in what is now called the ''Jules Lenoir Boulodrome'' in the town of
La Ciotat
La Ciotat (; oc, label= Provençal Occitan, La Ciutat ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is the southeasternmo ...
near Marseilles. A former ''jeu provençal'' player named Jules Lenoir was afflicted by rheumatism so severe that he could no longer run before throwing a boule. In fact, he could barely stand. A good friend named Ernest Pitiot was a local café owner. In order to accommodate his friend Lenoir, Pitiot developed a variant form of the game in which the length of the pitch or field was reduced by roughly half, and a player, instead of running to throw a boule, stood, stationary, in a circle. They called the game ''pieds tanqués'', "feet planted" (on the ground), a name that eventually evolved into the game's current name, ''pétanque''.
The first pétanque tournament was organized by Ernest Pitiot, along with his brother Joseph Pitiot, in 1910 in La Ciotat. The game spread quickly and soon became the most popular form of boules in France.
Before the mid-1800s, European boules games were played with solid wooden balls, usually made from boxwood root, a very hard wood. The late 1800s saw the introduction of cheap mass-manufactured nails, and wooden boules gradually began to be covered with nails, producing ''boules cloutées'' ("nailed boules"). After World War I,
cannonball
A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...
manufacturing technology was adapted to allow the manufacture of hollow, all-metal boules. The first all-metal boule, ''la Boule Intégrale'', was introduced in the mid-1920s by Paul Courtieu. The ''Intégrale'' was cast in a single piece from a bronze-aluminum alloy. Shortly thereafter, Jean Blanc invented a process of manufacturing steel boules by stamping two steel blanks into hemispheres and then welding the two hemispheres together to create a boule. With this technological advance, hollow all-metal balls rapidly became the norm.
Global spread of the game
![Pétanque being played indoor in Rotterdam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/P%C3%A9tanque_being_played_indoor_in_Rotterdam..jpg)
After the development of the all-metal boule, pétanque spread rapidly from Provence to the rest of France, then to the rest of Europe, and then to Francophone colonies and countries around the globe. Today, many countries have their own national governing bodies.
In France, the ''Fédération Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal''
FFPJP has over 300,000 licensed members.
There are strong national federations i
GermanySpainan
England Pétanque is actively played in many nations with histories of
French colonial
French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. Many former French colonies, especially those in Southeast Asia, have previously been reluctant to promote their colonial architecture ...
influence, especially in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, including
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
,
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
,
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
and
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to:
* Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India
** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry t ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, as well as some parts of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. The sport is also popular i
Madagascaran
Thailand
Pétanque was featured at the
2015 All-Africa Games hosted by the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
, a former French colony.
Pétanque is not widely played in the Americas. There is
Canadian pétanque federationbased in
Québec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
. In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the Federation of Pétanque US
(FPUSA)reports that about 30,000 play nationwide. As of 1 December 2015, FPUSA counted 2141 members in the US, in 52 affiliated clubs.
On the international level, the
governing body
A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...
of pétanque is the ''Fédération Internationale de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal'' (FIPJP). It was founded in 1958 in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
and has almost 800,000 members as of 2022.
In popular culture
The game made an appearance in the 1966 French crime film ''
Le deuxieme souffle''. Pétanque also appeared in Season 4 Episode 20 (Pétanque) of the American sitcom ''
The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...
'' in 1988. In the 1981 film adaptation of the
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
mystery
Evil Under The Sun, a suspect played by
James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
is questioned about his alibi while playing a game. The fourth episode of ''
The Amazing Race 30
''The Amazing Race 30'' is the thirtieth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world.
The season premiered on CBS on January 3, 2018, and the two-hour ...
'' featured a pétanque competition at
Place des Lices in
Saint-Tropez
, INSEE = 83119
, postal code = 83990
, image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Saint-Tropez-A (Var).svg
, image flag=Flag of Saint-Tropez.svg
Saint-Tropez (; oc, Sant Tropetz, ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Al ...
.
Asterix Versus Caesar
''Asterix Versus Caesar'' (also known in France as ''Astérix et la surprise de César'') is a 1985 French–Belgian animated adventure comedy film written by René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo and Pierre Tchernia, and directed by Paul and Gaëtan Br ...
features the Gauls playing a pétanque-esque game with rocks.
National and international competitions
![THA vs LAO - Petanque W3s 2019 Southeast Asian Games](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/THA_vs_LAO_-_Petanque_W3s_2019_Southeast_Asian_Games.jpg)
There are a number of important world championship tournaments.
The
FIPJP world championships take place every two years. Men's championships are held in even-numbered years, while Women's and Youth championships are held in odd-numbered years.
Perhaps the best-known international championship is the ''
Mondial la Marseillaise à Pétanque'', which takes place every year in
Marseille, France
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...
, with more than 10,000 participants and more than 150,000 spectators.
The largest annual tournament in the United States is th
Petanque Amelia Island Open(formerly the Petanque America Open), held in each year in November at
Amelia Island, Florida
Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlantic ...
.
La British Openis a major Pétanque tournament held in the North of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
which attracts players from across the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and Europe.
Pétanque is not currently an
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
sport, although the
Confédération Mondiale des Sports de Boules
The Confédération Mondiale des Sports de Boules (CMSB) is the international organization, recognized by the International Olympic Committee, which governs the sport of the boules.
History
The CMSB – Confédération Mondiale des Sports de Bou ...
—which was created in 1985 by several international boules organizations specifically for this purpose—has been lobbying the Olympic committee since 1985 to make it part of the summer Olympics. Pétanque has appeared in every edition of
The World Games
The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...
from 1985 onward. The
2022 World Games
The 2022 World Games were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines of Olympic sports and other competitions ...
in the United States will include women’s pétanque, the first time that only women's events will be held as part of the boules sports programme at The World Games.
Playing the game
Based on the rules of the ''Fédération Internationale de Pétanque & Jeu Provençal''.
Equipment
Pétanque is played by two teams, each comprising 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 game of pétanque is played is called a ''terrain''. A game can be played in an open area such as a public park, where the boundaries of the terrain are not marked, or more formally on a "marked terrain" where the terrain boundaries are marked (traditionally, by strings tightly strung between nails driven into the ground).
![Petanque - throwing from the circle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Petanque_-_throwing_from_the_circle.jpg)
In pétanque, players throw while standing in a circle (''cercle''). Traditionally, this was simply scratched in the dirt. From around 2005, red plastic "prefabricated" circles were introduced and are now widely used in formal games. A circle drawn on the ground must be in diameter, while a plastic circle must have an inside diameter of .
The "ends"
A game consists of several "ends" (''mènes''). An end consists of the throwing out of the jack (''cochonnet'', the little wooden target ball), followed by the two teams throwing their boules. After both teams have thrown all of their boules, the team with the boule closest to the jack wins the end. The winning team scores one point for each of its boules that is closer than the opposing team's closest boule. That means that the winning team could in theory score as many as six points in an end, although a score of one or two points is more typical. As the game progresses, each team accumulates points until one of the teams reaches 13, the winning number of points.
Order of play
A game begins with a coin toss to determine which team plays first. The team that wins the toss begins the game by placing the circle, then standing in the circle and throwing the jack to a distance of . A player from the team that threw the jack throws the first boule. Then a player from the opposing team throws a boule. From that point on, the team with the boule that is closest to the jack is said to "have the point". The team that does ''not'' have the point throws the next boule. That team continues to throw boules until it either gains the point, or runs out of boules.
If at any point the closest boules from each team are equidistant from the jack, then the team that threw the last boule throws again. If the boules are still equidistant then the teams play alternately until the tie is broken. If the boules are still equidistant at the end of the ''mène'' then neither team scores any points.
The team that won the end starts the next end. A player from the winning team places (or draws) a circle around the jack. The player then picks up the jack, stands in the circle, and throws the jack to start the next end.
Scoring
![Petanque scoring example 2 points](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Petanque_scoring_example_2_points.png)
An end is complete when both teams have played all of their boules, or when the jack is knocked out of play (goes "dead").
If the end finishes in the usual way—with the jack still live and one team with the closest boule—then the team with the closest boule wins the end and scores one point for each of its boules that is closer to the jack than other team's closest boule.
If the jack is live but there is an "equidistant boules" situation at the end of the ''mène'', then neither team scores any points. If the jack is dead at the finish of the end, then if one (and only one) team still has boules left to play, that team scores one point for each boule that it still has in hand. Otherwise neither team scores any points in the end (like an inning in baseball in which neither team scores any runs).
Miscellaneous rules
*Boules can be thrown in any way that the player wishes, but the traditional way is to hold the boule with the palm of the hand downwards, and then to throw with an under-arm swing of the arm ending in an upward flick of the wrist. Throwing this way puts backspin on the boule and gives the player the maximum amount of control and flexibility when throwing.
*The boule can be rolled, thrown to a moderate height, or even thrown to a great height (a high lob or ''portée'').
*Players usually carry a tape measure for measuring close points.
*At the beginning of an end, before throwing the jack, if there isn't enough room for the player to throw the jack to the maximum legal distance of , then the player is allowed to move the circle back to a point where there ''is'' enough room.
*On a terrain with boundaries marked with strings, a boule or jack must ''completely'' cross the boundary string before it is considered to be out-of-bounds and dead.
Equipment specifications
Boules
Leisure boules are boules that do not meet the FIPJP standards for competition boules, but are less expensive than competition boules and completely adequate for "backyard" games. Unlike competition boules, leisure boules are a "one size fits all" affair—they come in one weight and size.
Competition boules must meet specifications set by the FIPJP. They must be hollow and made of metal (usually steel) with a diameter between and a weight between . When purchasing competition boules, a purchaser has a choice of a number of characteristics, including the size, weight, and hardness of the boules, as well as the striations (patterned grooves on the surface of the boules).
Jack
The jack, or target ball, is a small ball made of wood, traditionally boxwood or beechwood, in diameter.
[In 2002 the FIPJP began certifying non-wooden "synthetic" or "resin" jacks, and in 2013 began certifying synthetic jacks capable of being picked up by a magnet. In 2016, however, synthetic jacks were effectively outlawed because of their weight. For a review of the evolution of the rules governing the jack, see https://petanquerules.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/evolution-of-the-jack/] In the past, jacks were often left "natural"—unfinished or with a clear finish—but nowadays they are often painted in bright colours. In French, the jack is known by a variety of names, including ''but'' (goal or target), ''cochonnet'' (piglet), ''bouchon'' ("little ball" in
provençal language
Provençal may refer to:
*Of Provence, a region of France
* Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France
*''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language
*Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...
, not related to the French word "bouchon" that designates a bottle stopper), ''le petit'' (the little one), and ''gari'' ("
rat", also in provençal language).
Playing area
Pétanque can be played on almost any flat, open space. The ground may be irregular and interrupted by trees or rocks, and the surface is likely to be uneven, with some areas hard and smooth and other areas rough and stony. When an area is constructed specifically for the purposes of playing pétanque, the playing surface is typically loose gravel, decomposed granite, brick grog or crushed sea shell. Sandy beaches are not suitable, although light plastic boules are sometimes used to adapt the game for the beach. There is no requirement for backboards or sideboards (as in bocce), but dedicated playing areas are often enclosed in boards or some other structural barrier.
In France, village squares and park pathways are often used as pétanque playing areas. In addition, many towns have recreational facilities (''boulodromes'') constructed specifically for playing pétanque.
An area where a single pétanque game is played is called a ''terrain''. A "playing area" (''aire de jeu'') is an area containing one or more terrains. For tournaments, a large playing area is subdivided and marked off (typically using nails and string) into rectangular ''marked terrains'' (also known as "lanes" (''cadres'') or "pistes") so that multiple games may be carried on simultaneously. For tournament play, a marked terrain is a rectangle at least wide and long.
[
]
Strategy
Pointing and shooting
Generally speaking, a player throws a boule with one of two objectives:[
* To make the boule come to rest in a particular spot, usually as close as possible to the jack. This is called ''pointing''.
* To make the boule directly hit an opponent's boule with the aim of knocking it away from the jack. This is called ''shooting''.
The best throw is called a ''carreau''. It is a shot that knocks away the opponent's boule, leaving the thrown boule exactly in its place.][
Players who are skilful enough to shoot effectively are called 'shooters' (''tireurs''); players who usually point are called 'pointers' (''pointeurs'') As a matter of strategy, pointers play first and shooters are held in reserve in case the opponents place well. Good pointing is what scores points, but national and international championships are usually dominated by skilful shooters, who target any opposing boule that comes close to scoring.
]
Throwing a boule
Some strategic considerations involved in the throw of a boule include:
* A traditional maxim is ''boule devant, boule d'argent'' ("A ball in front is a money ball."). A boule located closer to the player than the jack ("in front of the jack") is much more valuable than one behind the jack. A boule in front blocks the opposing team from easy access to the jack, and it may also (intentionally or accidentally) be hit and pushed closer to the jack.
* If a player points a boule ''very'' close to the jack, it forces the opposing shooter to shoot it immediately. This may prove to be a disadvantage to a pointer who wants to keep that boule, or it can be advantageous if the pointer is trying to force the opposing shooter to exhaust their supply of boules.
* It is generally a bad idea for a player to shoot with their team's last boule. In most cases, the better strategy is to "limit the damage" by pointing the team's last boule close enough to the jack to limit the opposing team's gains to a single point.
Throwing the jack
Strategic considerations involved in the throw of the jack include:
* Throw the jack to a distance at which your own shooter is most comfortable, or the opposing shooter is least comfortable.
* Aim for a location on the terrain that your own pointers prefer, or that might be difficult for the opposing team's pointers.
* Disorient the opposing team by refusing to get in a rut. At each opportunity, throw the jack to a new position on the terrain, and alternate long and short distances.
Glossary of special terms
In the following glossary, the French word or phrase is given in brackets unless it is the same:
*join battle (''arriver a bataille''). When both teams have 10 or 11 points and the game may go either way on each lead.[
*bombard. To shoot or strike an opponent's boules one after another, after they had taken the lead.][
*''boule devant, boule d'argent''. "A ball in front is a money ball". This maxim reminds players that when pointing, the most valuable place for a boule is in front of the jack. In that location, it prevents opponents from throwing directly toward the jack, and hitting it will push it even closer to the jack.
* jack (''but'', also ''bouchon, cochonnet, petit, gari'' or ''kiki''). The small wooden or plastic target ball.][
* ''carambolage'' Shot that knocks away several boules. Literally "pile-up".][
* circle (''cercle'' or ''rond''). The marked area from within which the boules are thrown.][
*''demarquer'' ("unscore"). To drop a point when pointing or shooting.][
*''fuser''. A boule that bounces off course.][
*have the point. A team is said to "have the point" if one of its boules is closer to the jack than any of the opposing team's boules. A team that has the point is basically in a winning position, so the team that does NOT have the point throws the next boule and attempts to gain the point.][''Glossary of Pétanque Terms'']
at obut.com. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
*''mene''. "End" i.e. the period of play from the throw of a jack to the point when both teams have played all their boules.[
*point To throw one's boule with the intent of stopping near the jack (also known as placing). Video]
20 best points from the Masters de Pétanque 2017
ref name=obutrule
''Rules of Pétanque''
at obut.com. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
*''pousette''. A shot that pushes one's team's boules nearer the jack; or to that pushes the jack.[
*shoot To throw one's boule at an opponent's boule (or at the jack) in an attempt to knock it out of play. When the opposing team has a boule positioned very close to the jack, often the best strategy is to attempt to shoot it. A team in a desperate situation may attempt to save itself by shooting the jack out of bounds. Video]
20 best shots from the Masters de Pétanque 2017
ref name=obutrules/>
*lob (''portée'') A boule thrown in a high arc so that when it lands it only rolls a short distance. Video
Marco Foyot demonstrates the high lob.
*''carreau'' (pronounced ''carrow''). A shot that knocks an opposing boule away from the jack and replaces it (in very nearly the same spot) with the thrower's own boule. Basically, the perfect shot. Video
Diego Rizzi demonstrates a perfect carreau.
ref name=obut/>
*fanny (''mettre fanny''). To lose a game without scoring any points; a shutout game. When a player loses 13 to 0, he is said to ''fanny'' ("''il est fanny''", he's fanny, or "''il a fait fanny''", he made fanny) and must kiss the bottom of a girl named Fanny. Virtually everywhere in Provence where pétanque is played, you will find a picture, woodcarving, or pottery figure of a bare-bottomed young woman named Fanny. Often, the team that "made fanny" has to buy a round of drinks for the winning team ("''Fanny paie à boire !''", "the fanny pays for the drinks!").[
]
Image gallery
Image:Pétanque a Aigues-Mortes-France.JPG, Playing pétanque in the late afternoon at Aigues-Mortes
Aigues-Mortes (; oc, Aigas Mòrtas) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitania region of southern France. The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved. Situated on the junction of the Canal du Rhône à Sète a ...
Image:Toulon Playing Boules.jpg, Men playing pétanque next to the Fort St. Louis in Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
.
Image:Pétanque Championnats du monde à Grenoble (308551840).jpg, The 2006 Pétanque World Championship in Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, France
Image:Petanque batignolles.jpg, Action on the Pétanque field in Batignolles
Batignolles () is a neighbourhood of Paris, part of its 17th arrondissement. The neighbourhood is bounded on the south by the Boulevard des Batignolles, on the east by the Avenue de Clichy, on the north by Rue Cardinet and on the west by the Ru ...
.
Image:Petanque in brighton.JPG, Players of the Brighton & Hove Petanque Club on the Peace Statue Terrain, Brighton & Hove
Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages.
Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...
, UK
Image:Boulespieler am Hafen von Bonifacio im August 1975 (retouched).jpg, Pétanque players at the port of Bonifacio in 1975
File:Boule - Ystads Sandskog - Ystad-2022.jpg, Pétanque is a popular game among pensioner
A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...
s, here in Ystad
Ystad (; older da, Ysted) is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, a ...
2022.
See also
* Boules
''Boules'' () is a collective name for a wide range of games similar to bowls and bocce (In French: jeu or jeux, in Croatian: boćanje and in Italian: gioco or giochi) in which the objective is to throw or roll heavy balls (called in France, ...
* Bocce
(, or , ), sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to British bowls and French , with a common ancestry from ancien ...
* Boccia
Boccia ( ) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – '. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes ...
* Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...
* Kubb
Kubb (pronounced in Swedish and Gutnish) is a lawn game where the objective is to knock over wooden blocks () by throwing wooden batons () at them. Kubb can be described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Play takes place on a ...
, a Swedish throwing game
* Bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...
* Bolas criollas
Bolas criollas is a traditional team sport from Venezuela, very popular in the Llanos and most rural regions. It is one of the most representative icons of Llanero culture. Its origins can be traced back to traditional European boules sports, suc ...
* Pétanque World Championships
The Pétanque World Championships are international pétanque competitions organized by the ''International Federation of Petanque and Provençal game;'' F.I.P.J.P. (Federation Internationale de Pétanque et Jeux Provençaux).
Overview
The FI ...
* Mondial la Marseillaise à Pétanque
* Swedish pétanque championships
* Tejo
Tejo may refer to:
*Tagus (Portuguese: ''Tejo''), a river on the Iberian Peninsula.
* Tejo (sport), a sport and national pastime of Colombia.
* Tejo (Argentina), a sport and national pastime of Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argen ...
References
Petanque International Games (UK)
External links
FIPJP - Fédération Internationale de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal
is the international governing body for pétanque. Its web site contains a variety of useful information, including the official international rules of pétanque and a list of its national members.
CEP - Confédération Européenne de Pétanque (CEP)
is the European Governing body for Pétanque.
FFPJP - Fédération Francais de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal
is the governing body for Pétanque in France, and the most important national member of FIPJP.
Pétanque England
the governing body for Pétanque in England and member of the FIPJP.
FPUSA - Federation of Petanque U.S.A.
is the governing body for Pétanque in the United States and member of FIPJP.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petanque
Ball games
Provence
Lawn games
Throwing sports
Sports originating in France
Team sports
Boules