Brief introduction to Petanque

Pétanque in its current form originated in Marseille in the early 1900s, and is now a national sport in France, with the annual championship attracting 10,000 participants and 150,000 spectators. It is increasingly being played internationally, and the annual world championships have been held across Europe and as far afield as Thailand, Turkey, Canada and Africa. Not surprisingly, pétanque is also becoming more popular here in the UK, and has featured on TV several times recently.

Pétanque is played as singles, doubles or triples on a range of surfaces. Games can be time limited, so any number of people can play together for any amount of time without much waiting around. The only equipment required is a set of boules, and we have a wide selection of those for new players to borrow.

Points are awarded for the number of boules a team has closer to the jack than the other team when an end finishes, and the winners of the game are the team who are the first to score 13 points, or who are leading when the time limit is reached. The defining rule is that both feet must remain in contact with the ground when throwing - no run-ups allowed. It isn’t surprising that, amongst others, the sport appeals to people who used to play a physically demanding sport and who now want the fun and camaraderie of competition but at a less exhausting pace. That said, it can also be a great sport for younger players looking for something different and at which they can excel. Perhaps inevitably, many of the top England players are those who took it up at an earlier age.