I am trying to find out if the legal size for competition pistes is 15 X 4 metres with an internal dead ball line of 1 metre. Or 15 x 4 metres with an external dead ball line of 1 metre thereby making the pistes 17 X4 metres long ( or 17 x 5 metres if it is an end piste) Can anybody point me in the right direction please?

Legal size? Hum! The FIPJP mentions National Championships and International Competitions. In those competitions, the pistes are USUALLY as you wrote: 15 x 4 metres with an external dead ball line of 1 metre thereby making the pistes 17 X4 metres long ( or 17 x 5 metres if it is an end piste).

Notice below, that the dead ball-line could be anywhere from 1 to 4-meter wide. So how about 23 x 8 metres if it is an end piste!


Article 5 – Terrain Regulations
The game of Pétanque is played on any ground. However, by a decision of the organising committee or the Umpire, the teams may be asked to play on a marked terrain. In this case, for National Championships and International Competitions, the minimum dimensions must be 4m wide and 15m long.

For other competitions the Associations may allow variations down to 12m x 3m.

If the terrain is surrounded by solid barriers these must be a minimum of 30 cm outside the dead ball line. The dead ball line will encircle the exterior of the terrain at a maximum distance of 4 metres.

Guy

The extra encircling dead ball line from 1 tot 4 meter wide has been abolished since Pattaya 2007! The normal outer line of all terrains together is since then the dead ball line as well!

In Holland we don't use 12 x 3, but 13 x 3 meters! And of course 15 x 4 m.

I am not denying what you wrote Jack about the abolition of the dead ball line since Pattaya 2007; however, I find it strange that as of October 18 the rules as posted in French still mention that the dead ball line will encircle the exterior of the terrain at a maximum distance of 4 metres.

Of course, the English version has not been updated!!!

Check it out Jack and report back with your explanation... you are closer to the FIPJP than we are in America (USA/Cananda).

Guy

The French made a rule change at the start of 2007 to their rules about the dead ball line.

Simply explained they have removed the dead ball line that surrounds the playing area and instead use the outside line marking the lane as the dead ball line.

I am not aware of any agreement by the world congress to make this an international rule, most certainly the International Umpires Commission have not discussed it.

OK, I see no major problem with this idea but it cannot be correct for one nation to make changes to the rules without the agreement of the other nations.

I would also question making changes to the rules within a few months of what was agreed at the World Congress, if we allow this to happen we would be printing new rules books every month...

The rules posted on my website www.britishpetanque.org are correct and up to date.

Regards
Mike Pegg - International Umpire

The French version of the Official Rules of the Game of Petanque shown on the F.I.P.J.P. web site include the latest modification such as the removal of the dead ball line separating pistes that are back to back. The line separating the playing area between back to back pistes are used as the dead ball line. This is the only dead ball line that has been removed.

Another modification is that the jack or balls are dead when crossing more than one contiguous adjacent piste and also dead when they cross the line separating back to back pistes.

The English version of the Official rules on the same site was amended on 3rd October 2202!!!

I repeat, this is from the FIPJP web site, not the FPJP site.

Guy

The English version of the Official rules on the same site was amended on 3rd October 2002.

Guy

I told that already to Mike !

Hi Guy and Jac,
I have no idea why the FIPJP website has an old set of rules in English, it is not the version that has been sent to all nations.

A copy of the Official Rules (English version) can be found on my website www.britishpetanque.org

This is the version which was translated from the French version and was agreed at the 2006 World Congress in Grenoble.

Mike