The name pétanque comes from ‘pieds tanqués’, which means ‘feet planted on the ground’. This relates to one of the fundamental rules, boules must be thrown with both feet planted on the ground.
To get you started, simply ask at the Clubhouse or Boathouse for equipment.
1. Decide what type of game you want to play (number of players)
2. Flip a coin - decide what team/player goes first
3. The first team/player 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).
4. When throwing the cochonnet (the jack – small wooden ball) The first team/player throws the "cochonnet" between 4m and 6m, from the circle in any direction.
5. The first team/player then throws the first boule, trying to get it as close as possible to the "cochonnet". Both feet must stay together on the ground and within the circle while throwing and until the boule has landed.
6. The other team/player then steps into the circle and tries to place a boule closer to the cochonnet than their opponent, or to knock the opponent’s boule away. The boule nearest to the cochonnet is said to be “holding the point”.
7. Who plays when? The players in the team that is not “holding” continue throwing until they place a boule closest to the cochonnet, and so on. Players on the same team do not have to take alternate throws, but player must always play their own boules.
8. When one team/player has no more boules has no more boules to be played, the players of the other team throw theirs and try to place them as close as possible to the cochonnet.
9. When both teams have no more boules, you stop and count up the points. The winning team scores one point for each boule nearer the cochonnet than the opponents closest. Only one team can score points in each round.
10. A team/player from the team that has won throws the cochonnet from a new circle drawn round the cochonnet’s last position starts the next round.
The winners are the first team to reach 13 points (or whatever total you decide).A round ends when both teams have played all of their boules. Pétanque is played in as many rounds needed for the first team to score a total of 13 points.