Boules Game

A little about the game

Many people play boules for an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon with friends but did you know that boules has been played for quite some time.

The Greeks were known to play a game with stone balls as early as the 6th century BC. The stone balls were eventually replaced with wooden balls the game commonly became known as boules played throughout Europe in the Middle Ages.

The latest branch of the game was created in Southern France in about 1907 is known as petanque. Also known as Jeu de Boules, it has become the beloved national beach sport of the French, played for centuries by fishermen using suitably weighted and shaped rocks and in Italy often in any open spaces in villages and towns.

It soon spread over France and after the Second World War the whole of Western Europe and several other countries. It is now played in more than 50 countries throughout the world.

The game can played with friends in the garden on a lazy afternoon and is also played at a very serious level at club level and international tournaments.

The Rules How to play

The aim is to cast one's boules (petanque balls) towards the wooden jack, knocking opponents' out of the way, with the winner being the person who ends up with the one closest.

The game is played with two teams of one, two or three players on each side. Each player has two or three boules each. Boules should be marked so each player can identify his/her boules.

Decide which team plays first by tossing a coin. Any player in this team chooses where to draw a circle on the ground in which every player will stand to throw their boules. The circle should be about 0.5m in diameter and at least 1m from any obstacle (wall, tree, edge of playing area, etc). He/she then throws the wooden jack 6 to 10 paces from the circle in any direction. It also must not be closer than 1m from any obstacle.

Any player from the first team then throws the first boule, trying to get it as close as possible to the wooden jack without touching it. Both feet must stay together on the ground and within the circle while throwing and until the boule has landed.

A player from the other team then steps into the circle and tries to place a boule closer to the wooden jack than their opponent, or to knock the opponent's boule away. The boule nearest to the wooden jack is said to be "holding the point".

The players in the team that is not "holding" continue throwing until they place a boule closest to the wooden jack, until they run out of boules. Players on the same team do not have to take alternate throws, but player must always play their own boules.

The players of the other team then throw their boules and try to place them as close as possible to the wooden jack.

The winning team scores one point for each boule nearer the wooden jack than the opponents closest. Only one team can score points in each round.

A player from the team that has won throws the wooden jack from a new circle drawn round the wooden jack's last position. The winners are the first team to reach 13 points (or whatever total you decide).

The author has a keen interest in all things croquet, boules (petanque) and runs an online boules and croquet shop. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box remains attached. http://www.boules-set.co.uk

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6361658

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