Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings

Petanque is the French equivalent of the bocce sports game, except that the balls are made of metal and are about the size of an orange, and the playing surface is similar to that of a baseball infield (soil, gravel, or densely packed sand) and may not be marked. The goal is to stand in a circle drawn on the field and roll, throw or toss your ball high so that it is as close to the target ball as possible. Only one team gets points per round, several rounds are played until one of the teams scores 13 points. The first team to reach 13 points wins.

Steps

1. 1 Players are divided into two teams. You can play 1v1 (3 balls per player), 2v2 (3 balls per player) or 3v3 (2 balls per player).
2. 2 Teams toss a coin to decide who starts first.
3. 3 The starting team draws a circle on the ground and then throws a large ball, or coxonet, at a distance of 6 to 10 meters.
4. 4 The starting team then throws their first ball, trying to put it as close to the koshon as possible. Then the player of the second team becomes in the circle and tries to put his ball even closer to the koshon than the player of the opposing team. This can be done by rolling your ball, throwing it, or even throwing the ball away from the opposing team's ball.
5. 5 Be aware that if a team throws a ball closer than their opponents, this is called "capturing a point" - after that, the opposing team must try to throw the ball even closer.
6. 6 Be aware that the team whose ball is not closest to the cochon continues to throw balls until they either throw it closer or run out of balls.
7. 7 When all balls are thrown, only the balls of the team that hit closest to the cochon are added to the current score. For example, if team A "scored a point" and 2 of its 3 balls are closest to the cochon, in front of the opposing team's ball (in this example, the 3rd closest ball), then team A adds 2 to its score. points.
8. 8 Be aware that teams continue to play until one of them has reached 13 points (the team scoring a point starts a new round by drawing a circle near the koschon location and using it as a new throwing circle).

Tips

• After the first throw of the cochonet, it is allowed to move the cochonet with the ball (during the game) to another place.
• Players have different shooting styles. After a little practice, the player is usually assigned the role of a sniper (a player who can roll and throw a ball high or low close to the cochonet); shooter (one who is good at throwing or rolling a ball to knock out a ball already thrown by his team or the opposing team); or Milier (both a sniper and a shooter at the same time).
• The balls are called boules, and the target ball is called "cochonet" ('piglet' in French).
• The balls are usually thrown with the palm facing downward. This makes it possible to use reverse twist (which helps to stop the ball and prevent it from rolling too far on a smooth surface).
• There are many strategy options available when playing petanque. Protective "walls" of balls in front of the cochonet, for example, block the opponent's attempts to roll his ball and "take a point"

Warnings

• Each player must stand in the same circle and keep their feet on the ground until the ball is thrown.
• When playing on a marked court (usually using lines of twine on the ground), if the koshon goes out of the playing field (about 4 x 15 meters), then it is declared "dead".
• If the kosonet is declared dead and both teams have balls left, no point will be awarded and the team that rolled the kosonet in that round starts a new round. BUT, if only one team has balls left, that team wins, earning as many points as "it has balls left."