A question from Ray— Most (all?) leisure sets come as a set of three boules. On eBay and antique sites I see balls in a two-ball set, with leather carrier. Why two? Is it perhaps that most people once played triples? The answer is YES, Ray, you hit the nail on the head. In The Beginning, petanque was always played as a triples game. That is, it was played by two teams of three players, with each player playing with two boules. That’s why on places like eBay and Etsy, you often see an offer of an old set of two boules in a traditional leather-strap carrying case. In 1959, the newly-created FI ..read more

The concept of a null point is an important one, yet it is virtually unknow to English-speaking petanque players. So— What is a null point? At any time during a mène (end, round) the game must be in one of two states. One of the teams has the point. Neither of the teams has the point. In French, when one of the teams has the point, we say— “team X has the point” (l’équipe X a le point). If neither team has the point, we say— “there is a null point” (il y a un point nul) or “the point is null” (le point est nul). It is as simple as that. When neither team has the point, the point is null. The ..read more

My fifth design for a shooting pit is essentially a sandbox covered by carpet. The idea works so well that I think it may be The Ultimate Shooting Pit Design. The basic idea — a sandbox When you’re practicing shooting with a shooting pit, boules sometimes bounce high enough to fly out of the pit. The usual solution for this problem is to enclose the pit with nets or high sideboards, but there’s another solution— make the pit out of sand, which will dampen the bounce of a bouncing boule. Lay a piece of carpet over the sand, to enable boules to roll away from their donnée and into a boule colle ..read more

When a new player joins our group, we’re happy to lend him/her a set of guest boules to use while trying out and learning the game. Some new players turn into regular players. When that happens, they usually decide to buy their own set of boules, and they ask for advice about buying boules. Here is my attempt at short, simple, practical advice for players who are ready to buy their first set of petanque boules. Note that this is my advice— someone else’s may be different. Much of this information is condensed or summarized from other posts, including our basic Buying Boules and Buying Competit ..read more

Recently I stumbled across a Youtube video that really spoke to me. It is only 15 seconds long. What it said to me was— Watch!! THIS is how to do it. Marco Foyot shows the same thing in this coaching session; his first boule (at around the 15 second mark) is a beauty. When lobbing, do NOT come up off your heels and onto your toes like the student is unconsciously doing at the beginning of the video. He thinks he’s imitating Marco’s form, but he’s not. (This is where a coach can help.) Marco’s feet stay flat and firmly planted on the ground at all times; his heels never leave the ground. Your ..read more

AN OPEN LETTER TO THAT THIRD BOULE Lee Harris, Portland Petanque Club, Portland, Oregon, USA (August 29, 2019) If I could be judged solely on the merits of you, my third boule, then I would be likened to the greatest players in petanque. But I must be honest with myself. Your greatness is no reflection on me. You are ever flawless in execution and I marvel at thee. Contrary to the first and second boule to leave my hand this end, you plot your own course, and refuse to follow in the ruts that your predecessors did. You are unlike your two fellows, who went where I threw them and not where I de ..read more

See our new All About Petanque Terminology page ..read more