The leisurely sport of Petanque.

Introduction

Petanque or French Boule is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK and the playing season starts for many in April and May when the suns warmth could be felt on the backs and the chilly boules no longer give an icy stab to the fingers, however generally in March the first qualifying heats to represent Great Britain in the World Championships are held. Great Britain? World Championships? surely its just a fun game played on the Beach or on dusty squares and camp sites. You will soon see there is a lot more to boule than meets the eye.

Petanque or Boule owes its extraordinary growth due to the fact it is the sport that everyone wants to play, can play, but have little information about. Most people have seen the game on the continent or on holiday programmes but were unaware the sport is played not only outside France in Europe but all over the World. The game is ideally suited to those among us who wish to be fitter but require a sport or activity that is accessible at their level. No great strength is required just a keen eye and most importantly a cunning mind. Therefore the sport of Petanque can be played by young, old, disabled, in fact by the spectrum of abilities. The sport is ideal for people getting to know each other in a open environment. Throwing metal balls around is fun, skilful and what's more most pistes in England are often situated at Public houses.

Petanque ?

Many of you who have visited campsites in France may have been puzzled by the game of boule being played on pistes on site or in the local village squares. Huge cheers erupt from the players, bursts of laughter shatter the peaceful village scene, but what is going on ? What are the rule's and how can they tell who's boule are who's, who's side are they on and why do the rule's seem to change throughout the game. Well, all will be explained over the next pages..

Let us look at the History of the sport, the development over the last few decades, a glimpse of the current game, a look at the boule themselves and what the future holds.

The History

Lets go back in time...... First seen in Ancient Greece and modified by the Romans to a "target" game the early versions of boule were stones. Large stones were thrown at a smaller target stone and the closest stone won! Vast sums of money were wagered on the game. This simple game featuring stones and wagers crossed the centuries and the game of "Stone throwing" was banned in England by Charles V in 1369 (one of many times the game has been outlawed in the UK).

Indeed playing a target game with balls remained such a popular leisure activity it was made illegal to play around 1415 so the English population could focus on defending their country and practicing archery. Therefore, whilst the English bent their bows the French carried on playing Boule. Remember Agincourt, You will need to practice if you are English and plan to take your boule over to France to play with the locals, you will lose by fair means or foul because we may have all forgotten Agincourt but, every time you step on to a Frenchman's piste he is after revenge and he has been practising for a very, very long time.

Stones were replaced by cannon balls in the 16th and 17th century and this leads us to one of England's most discussed sporting event of the modern age.

No, not 1966 but 1588.

In 1588, legend has it , Sir Francis Drake was playing Bowls on Plymouth Hoe. Bowls? If one examines the contemporary paintings it can be seen that Drakes group were playing with small metal bow cannon balls on a gravel surface. Some paintings even show Sir Francis tossing the ball, not rolling it. This sounds more like Boule than bowls. Bowls requires a flat, smooth playing surface, and when one considers that the first lawn mowing machine was not invented until 1832 it is not surprising that the official date for the establishment of Bowls as a game is 1856, nearly 300 years after the Spanish Armada! It is also of interest, there are no records, paintings, etc., indicating that there was any game remotely similar to Bowls in France until very much later than 1588. Boule was in fact so popular in England within the working classes that it was outlawed (Again!) by an act of Parliament. Perhaps this would explain why the sport died out in England and became popular in France where they played and adapted the game to Petanque as it is known today.

Boule or Petanque?

Boule is a generic term covering many ball and jack games i.e. Boccia, Pétanque, Boule Lyonnasie and Jeu Provencal all from the European continent. Boule Lyonnaise is a game similar to Lawn Bowls, played over long distances and a run up is required to launch a metal boule up to 17 metres. Just take a moment here to imagine an English lawn bowl thrown through the air to remove an opponents bowl hitting the bowl without hitting the ground first. Some shot! The athleticism required to play this game makes it a sport for the dedicated sportsman. However the sport of Boule Lyonnaise is the direct relation to Pétanque. A master of the sport of Lyonnaise suffered from arthritis in his latter years and found the running and throwing difficult to maintain with accuracy. In 1910 he devised a game where you stood with your feet together in a circle. With no run up allowed the game was played between six and ten metres from the circle. The game caught on very quickly and the game of Pétanque was born. One of the few sports played at World championship level that was created by a disadvantaged person. With this beginning the sport is indeed suitable for all.

The question is, Why has the sport spread from the mainland European continent where over 500,000 Frenchmen make Petanque the 2nd largest participant sport in France behind cycling?

The facts speak for themselves. The cost of a set of three competition boule and a jack can be under £55 and that's it, nothing else is required, thus Petanque is one of the least expensive sports to start playing. The sport requires a gravel or stony surface approximately 15M x 4M, any gravel drive or sports club car park for example could suffice. The rules are very straight forward to understand but the tactics involved can make chess look simple. The first team to score 13 is the winner and scoring is as bowls, the number of Boule closer to the jack than the closest of the oppositions count as points, but this is where Bowls and Petanque go their separate ways. In Bowls the teams take turns, whereas in Pétanque the team who are closest to the Jack do not throw until the opposition are closer. This is why to the casual observer, there appears no order to the players throwing. It is this simple rule that makes Petanque a game of advantage, good shots will force the opposition to throw, once they have used all their boule, or achieved a closer shot the other team can play. The team with boule left, if the opposition have run out of boule, can use them to score by putting them closer to the jack or by removing opponents boule. This is when Petanque becomes aggressive, ruthless, tactical and merciless. The game can be slow and thoughtful and then explode into action with everything relying on the last boule thrown. There are no draws in Petanque thus the game reaches an exciting and inevitable climax.

The Boule

The boule have moved a long way from stones and cannon balls. Early boule were crafted from a wooden core with hundreds of nails driven into the core to produce a metal shell, (As shown left ). Technology moved on to allow cast bronze boule such as the As De Carreau and then a welded construction using the cutting edge of technology shown as a 9 stage process. Shown right is the CZ boule from Integrale. Boule have come a long way indeed.

Modern boule and the choice to make.

The size and weight of boule varies depending on the player and the use the boule will be put to, either pointing (getting near to the jack) or shooting (knocking out opponents boule from the field of play). With differing weight, size and marking, the range of Obut boule (the leading manufacturer) has over 2000 possible permutations.

Soft boule are used by shooters to knock opponents boule from the head and the softness gives the boule a tendency to remain in the head once the impact has moved the oppositions boule. To replace an opponents boule into its exact position is known as a Spot carreau and is regarded as the perfect shot. Obut's premier shooting boule is the stainless steel semi soft IT115 and is in great demand from serious players. The choice of boule and sizes will be covered on later pages.