About Us
Petanque in
the U.K. is a competitive game and it is not unusual for
players to meet only to compete in the various leagues
and competitions that are open to them. Botany Bay
Petanque Club was formed by a group of friends who wanted
to rekindle the social aspect of the game, whereby they
would meet on regular occasions for a light hearted but
competitive game with other friends. After several
attempts to establish a permanent home ground, they
approached the Botany Bay Cricket Club to see if it would
be possible to lay a playing surface (terrain) in the
grounds of the B.B.C.C. Here they found a welcome and
facilities beyond their wildest dreams and over the past
few years membership has doubled. The Clubhouse and
Terrain are pictured below and the Cl u b meets every
Wednesday evening at 7.00pm, when play commences with a
short practice session and continues to about 9.30pm.
There is a second meeting on Sundays at 11am, normally
followed by a visit to the Clubhouse for refreshments.
Additionally, there is also another meeting on Fridays at
11am for those lucky enough to be retired. Outside of
these times the Club plays competitively in a local
league and on the first Sunday of each month holds a
competition for Club members. The results of the latter
ar e recorded and from which the best six results for
each member taking part count towards the George Stout
award. George was a founding member who helped to build
and maintain the club terrain and who died suddenly in
2005. In addition to this, there is an annual competition
for the DJ Cup, presented by Dennis Johns, another
founding member.
Click on image
to enlarge.
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Find Us
From the M25 at J24,
take the A1005 in the direction of Enfield. The village
of Botany Bay is approximately one mile down this road.
At this village turn left towards Crews Hill, then as
next but one paragraph. \par \par If coming from Enfield
direction, turn into the A1005 at the top of Windmill
Hill, and follow through to Botany Bay village, where you
turn right towards Crews Hill, then as next paragraph.
About 50 yard from that point turn right into Botany Bay
Cricket Club grounds and park your vehicle in the car
park. Walk round the cricket pitch and past the Clubhouse
towards the nets on the far side. The Petanque terrain is
just the other side of the nets.
By public transport: Bus route 313 serves Botany Bay
village from both directions (Enfield & Potters Bar)
and runs every twenty minutes.
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Petanque. The Complete Game
Introduction
In compiling this section I
have researched widely the given wisdom of many far
better players than myself, and the views expressed are
those which seem to be most widely accepted. However, in
a game with over ten million practitioners world wide, it
is to be expected that many differing views will be
prevalent and all are valid. In this I have taken the
liberty of compiling a rough guide for all aspiring
players of this great game.
The Birth of Petanque.
Petanque originated in La
Ciotat, Provence in the first decade of the twentieth
century. The standard game at that time was known as the
"le jue la longue" (the long game). The
spectators would sit around the piste on chairs watching
the match. Given that the game involved throwing metal
boule weighing up to 3/4 of a kilo some 15 to 21 metres
accidents were not unknown and the spectators frequently
stopped shot boule as they were unable to get out of
their chairs in time. Eventually the chairs were removed,
with the exception of one for "Mr. Jules le
Noir", who, being crippled by rheumatism, could no
longer play but who maintained a keen interest in the
game.
This chair was placed alongside
the circle, adjacent to where the players kept their
unused balls and to amuse himself, Jules would throw the
unused boule, 1.5 to 2 metre, shooting and pointing on a
smaller scale. One day, Mr. Ernest Pitiot, offered to
play him over a distance of 2 to 3 metres while keeping
his feet together. The word "Petanque" is
derived from the French meaning "feet
together". The players watched Jules and Ernest at
play over the following days and when a competition was
organised for the Saturday eight teams of two players
entered with a first prize of 10Ff. From those humble
beginnings the game spread throughout the region and
finally much further a field, thanks to sailors who would
play in the ports they visited.
Since then "Petanque"
has spread and evolved on all five continents with many
millions of players world wide and all based on the
original game and rules that developed from those early
day. "Petanque" has arrived in no uncertain
terms and is the U.K's fastest growing sports.
The Basic Game.
The game is played with metal
balls ("boule") and a wooden Jack
("cosheron") on a uneven gravel, sand or clay
surface. Teams start with the toss of a coin to determine
who shall go first. The first team draws a circle of less
than 40cm diameter on the ground and tosses the cosh
between 6 and 10 metres away from the circle, followed by
the first boule. The second team then stands in the
circle and throws a boule also at the cosh. The aim is to
get your boule closer to the cosh than your opponents
boule. Play continues with the team who is not
"holding shot" (ie. whose boule is not closest
to the cosh) continuing to throw until they either get
closer to the cosh than their opponents (when their
opponents will throw), or run out of boule to throw. When
one team has no more boule to throw, the opposing team
throws the remainder of theirs. The winning team for each
end is the team with their boule closest to the cosh. If
they have more than one boule closer to the cosh than
their opponents, each boule counts one point. The winning
team for the match is the first team to get to 13 points
over several ends.
The Boule
Competition Boule come in sets
of three identical boule, ranging in size from 71mm to
78mm diameter and in weight from 660 to 800g. Some with a
heavy pattern, some plain and many in between.
Additionally they are tempered Hard, Semi Hard and Soft.
In Choosing a boule you should
try several sizes until you have ascertained the largest
size you can grip at arms length with the palm facing
down. A test to ascertain the correct size is to lightly
hold the boule as described above and tap the back of the
hand to try and dislodge the boule. If you succeed, the
boule is too large, if you don't, try a larger boule. The
weight is determined by your ability to easily throw it
in the prescribed manner a distance of 8 to 10 metres.
The maximum size and weight determined above is the
correct size for shooting, boule for pointing should be
smaller and heavier than this.
For Pointing the better boule
is small *, heavy **, patterned *** , 71 to 73mm
diameter, 720 to 740 grams in weight, heavily patterned
and hard tempered.
The smaller diameter gives a
correspondingly smaller contact with the ground, The
extra weight ensures that the boule is not easily
deflected from it's path. The pattern,
when combined with the back spin imparted by the action
of releasing the boule, helps to move small obstacles in
it's path. A boule being used for pointing, spends a lot
of time in contact with the ground, and being hard
ensures minimum marking of the surface. However, the
hardness helps it to bounce off any other boule (or
stone) with which it is in contact and not be stopped in
its track.
For Shooting the better boule
is large *, light **, smooth *** , of a soft temper, 74
to 78mm diameter, 680 to 720 grams in weight, smooth and
soft tempered.
Being large, a shooting boule
has more chance of hitting its object and being light it
is not as difficult to launch over a distance. It is
expected to spend most of is travel in mid air and only
contact the ground after striking another boule.
Therefore, it can be softer without becoming heavily
marked and smoother for a clean release The main purpose
of the softness, is to absorb the energy of a strike,
driving the opposition boule away from the area, while
not rebounding a corresponding distance. The perfect
strike is when the thrown boule hits the object boule,
driving it away and replacing it in exactly the same
spot. This is known as "La Carrau"
An intermediate boule is of
medium size * and weight **, lightly patterned *** , of a
semi hard temper and73 to 76mm diameter. The boule of the
all rounder, the great variety of patterns enable the
player to tailor the boule towards their main role in the
team (be it pointer or shooter) without precluding it's
other use. Favoured in triples for it's all round
ability, they are of necessity a compromise of the more
specialist attributes of the boule mentioned above.
* -- relative to your hand
** - relative to your build
*** See Below:
Some patterns that are
availlable
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