Hi all Petanquers. I thought I would publish a set of rules to standardise our games. These from a French site.
boules/la pétanque:
The game is played between two teams of 1, 2 or 3 players – in singles or doubles each player uses 3 boules, in triples 2 boules per player. For leisure play it’s okay to use 2 boules per player of any number – we often play two teams of 4 people!
To start a coin is generally tossed to decide who begins the game and has the right to place the cochonnet (the small ball). If you haven’t got a cochonnet to hand, you can use an object of similar size – a stone or cork from a bottle is usual!
A circle or area is drawn by the winner of the coin toss (or a member of his/her team) in which players must stand and not step outside of while throwing. The circle should be about 0.5m in diameter and at least 1m from any obstacle.
Any player from the coin toss winning team then throws the first boule, trying to get it as close as possible to the “cochonnet” but without touching it. Both feet must stay together on the ground and within the circle while throwing and until the boule has landed – although we rarely practice this in our friendly games, it’s good to know this rule in case your French opponents want to make the game more serious!
The winner of the coin toss throws the cochonnet between 4m and 8m, or 6 to 10 paces from the circle in any direction – it must not be closer than 1m from any obstacle or you have to throw again.
A player from the other team then steps into the circle and aims to throw a boule closer to the cochonnet than their opponent, or to knock the opponent’s boule away. You must throw within 1 minute of your turn starting.
The winner or winning team starts the new round
Usually someone produces a tape measure or some means of rule to identify who is nearest to the cochonnet if it’s not glaringly obvious – without it there can be lively debate!
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