PETANQUE – HOW TO PLAY
The game of petanque is suitable for all ages and reasonably easy to learn. The fundamentals are listed here, and if you were to join us for a game, we would be pleased to teach you the basics.
Petanque Boules should be metal, weighing between 650g and 800g and measuring between 70.5mm and 80mm in diameter. Whilst the jack or target ball is smaller in size at 30mm in diameter (+/- 1mm), weighing between 10g and 18g.
A game is played by 2 teams of 1, 2, or 3 players. Teams of 1 and 2 use 3 boules per player. Teams of 3 play with 2 boules per player
A coin will be tossed to select the player/team who will throw first. A player from this team chooses a starting point and can draw a circle of 500 mm diameter or places a hoop of 500 mm diameter on the ground.
The
winning team will select a player to stand within the circle and throw the jack. This must land between 6 metres and 10 metres (20-33 feet) from
the circle and at least 1 meter (3 feet) from any obstruction which may hinder a players swing. The players feet must remain ‘fixed’
to the ground.
After throwing the jack, a player from the same team throws the first boule with the intention of getting as close to the jack as possible.
After throwing the jack, a player from the same team throws the first boule with the intention of getting as close to the jack as possible.
The second player or team will "have the point" IF they are able to get closer to the jack. The team that doesn't "have the point" is then to continue playing its remaining boules until it either has a boule that is closer to the jack or runs out of boules. The other team would then continue to toss their remaining boules until they once again "have the point" IF a closer position was attained OR if the losing team uses all their boules.
The round is won by the team whose best boule is closest to the jack after all boules have been thrown. Following that, the winning team scores one point for every boule that is nearer the jack than the closest boule of the losing team. This round's losing team receives no points.
(Example : Gold Team Scores 4, Black Team Scores 0)
The game then repeats, with the winning team placing/drawing a new circle where the jack was placed in the previous round. They will also throw the jack and have the first throw of the boules.
This process continues until one team reaches a total of 13 points.
__________________________________
