Jimmy Westfield send us his observations:
As a newcomer to the game of petanque from the Santa Barbara area of California, I was advised to become familiar with the rules of the game in order to avoid being cheated by some of the sharks who I’m told take advantage of beginners by imposing questionable interpretations in situations that most always favor their gambit.
THE OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL RULES OF THE GAME OF PETANQUE
Official Rules of the Game of Pétanque
General
Article 1 – Composition of Teams
Pétanque is a sport in which:
- 3 players play against 3 players (triples)
It can also be played by:
- 2 players against 2 players (doubles)
- 1 player against 1 player (singles)
In triples each player uses two boules.
In doubles and in singles each player uses three boules.
No other version of the game is allowed.
Well, I was driving through Sonoma recently and witnessed what I believed to be unusual activity on the petang courts there. Fortunately, I had my telephoto lens ready to go and snapped this picture (a little grainy…sorry), as evidence to what I believe to be an Illegal Petang Sighting.
I haven’t really gotten too far in my reading of the rules, just a couple of pages really. But I recalled having studied how many players can play and with how many balls they may play with.
On my return home, I immediately went to the Rules posting on your site because this was really bugging me. Imagine my surprise when I verified that I had actually witnessed a Page 1 violation!
I knew something was fishy as the players seemed to be masking their faces against identification…it was rather cold that day though… Upon reflection, it would have been far too great a coincidence for three different games to have converged on this one exact spot.
So, I forward this information on to you in the hopes that you will know better than I what authorities should be made aware. Perhaps a notification to the City of Sonoma is in order.
Lars Refn was one of the founders of the Copenhagen Petanque Club in Denmark. He is also an illustrator, and has produces a vast number of t-shirts with petanque as the theme over the years.
A positive newsflash fron Chiltern - the young ones have started playing petanque!
We often get questions about when you are to old to play petanque. Some say 90, some 100 and some 120..
A report from Tim Truluck in Charente, France.
This month we celebrated a big number - 10 years
Petanque.org is 10 years old! Illegal Petanque ExposedA Petanque calendar for 2008Hot club petanqe and Le mondial la marseillaise a petanque 2007Big balls of steel and a tiny wooden onePeterhof Maier cup - play a petanque tournament in Russia!New link policyPetanque blog feeds updatedPetanque in the Ukraine43'rd petanque world championship
Playing Indoos (2 )Illegal Petanque Exposed (5 )most difficult shot/throw? (5 )Nice one! (1 )Terrain for SANDY soils (Florida) (52 )petanque surface aggregates (2 )Right size boule (3 )Size (1 )Article 37 – Incorrect Behaviour, (5 )YouTube has some great clips (1 )2nd boule played although 1st one made it (7 )Sibu Petanque Association (PPS)- OFFICIAL WEBSITE (MALAYSIA) (1 )Where to play petanque in Thailand (9 )Marked Terrain? (2 )World Petanque Day June 2nd (7 )
