Pétanque in the US, Canada and Mexico
The pétanque reference for North America: club directory, independent boule reviews, the rules in plain language, throwing and pointing technique plus tournament calendars for the United States, Canada and Mexico. Published in English, French and Spanish.
Washington Sq Park
What is pétanque?
Two teams throw hollow steel boules toward a small wooden target called the jack, trying to finish closer to it than the other team.
Both feet stay inside a circle drawn on the ground, which is where the name comes from: pès tancats, Provençal for feet anchored.
Only the closest team scores each round, one point per boule beating the opponent’s best. First to 13 wins. For where the game came from and a round in full, read what pétanque is.
The game
Fifteen minutes to learn. A lifetime to master
Learning the rules takes about fifteen minutes. Working out which throw a situation calls for takes rather longer, and that gap is what keeps people at it for decades.
It runs on any flat surface. Gravel and packed dirt play best, though a hard park path or a stretch of crushed stone does the job. A game takes twenty minutes to over an hour depending on how the scores fall, and needs no referee, no net and no marked court.
Ernest Pitiot created the fixed-circle version in La Ciotat in 1907 so his friend Jules Lenoir, whose rheumatism ruled out the running throw of jeu provençal, could keep playing. The first tournament under the new rules followed in 1910. The sport was built around someone who could not run, which is a large part of why a single club roster can span four generations.
| Game ends at | 13 points |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 to 6, singles, doubles or triples |
| Boules per player | 3 in singles and doubles, 2 in triples |
| Boule specification | Metal, 70.5 to 80 mm, 650 to 800 g |
| Jack | Wood or approved synthetic, 30 mm, 10 to 18 g |
| Throwing circle | 35 to 50 cm across, both feet inside |
| Jack distance | 6 to 10 m from the circle |
| Marked terrain | 15 m × 4 m in national and international play |
| Surface | Any flat ground; gravel plays best |
Pétanque quiz
Pick 5 to 50 questions on scoring, fouls and the throwing circle, with the reasoning behind every answer.
Learn the game
The beginner section
Where the game came from, what you are trying to do, and how a round plays out from the coin toss to the final measurement.
The FIPJP rules in plain language, plus the conventions nobody writes down: silence in the circle, marking your boules, who is allowed to measure.
Singles, doubles, triples and mêlée change how many boules you hold and how a team gets built around pointers and shooters.
Short answers to the disputes that break out in real games: a dead jack, a displaced boule, equal measurements, and what to do when nobody is sure.
Pick 5 to 50 questions on scoring, fouls and the circle, with the reasoning behind every answer rather than a score and nothing else.
The beginner kit
The rules, a boule sizing chart, court dimensions, the French glossary and a club visit checklist, in one printable PDF.
Club directory
120+ clubs and public courts
Every listing carries the playing schedule, the surface, the guest fee and the loaner-boule policy. Details are confirmed through direct contact where possible, and clubs that stop playing get marked inactive rather than quietly removed.
Most clubs run open sessions and expect newcomers to turn up unannounced, with no equipment, no partner and no membership. Country pages cover the federations and where play concentrates: United States, Canada and Mexico.
Five of 120+ listings across the three countries. Spot one that is missing or out of date? Send us the details.
Newsletter
One email a month
New club listings, upcoming events, technique and gear.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
Competition
Tournaments and organizer tools
Club-level competition takes no ranking and no federation card, and most events welcome first-timers. Pétanque Central is independent of every federation in the region and cites their calendars as sources, nothing more.
Improve your game
From first throw to real technique
Mechanics, common errors and drills for each one.
Equipment
What to buy, and what to skip
Boules get tested in the categories people buy them in, competition, leisure and junior, with manufacturer pricing recorded on the day of review. Sets that underperform get said so.
A leisure set covers a first year of park play. Competition boules have to be metal, 70.5 to 80 mm across and 650 to 800 grams, and leisure sets will disqualify a team at a sanctioned event.
From the blog
Longer reads
- Building a backyard pétanque courtGround preparation, drainage and the surface layers that decide how it plays.
- Handling disagreements on the terrainTurning a tense moment into a ruling both teams accept.
- Pointing consistently on gravel courtsWhy loose surfaces punish the throw that works everywhere else.
- Breaking in a new set of boulesWhat changes in the first weeks of play, and what does not.
Reference