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Pétanque resources for players in the US, Canada and Mexico
Thirteen free tools and reference pages: boule sizing, official court dimensions, a glossary of 120 French and English terms, printable scoresheets, bracket sheets and a beginner download that covers rules, gear and a first game.
Type what you are after or pick a category below. Nothing here is sold and no account is needed. Reviewed September 17, 2026.
Everything here is free to open. New players get most of their first questions answered between the starter kit and the boule selector: what the rules are, what a set costs and what weight suits your hand. Players who already have a club tend to come back for the court dimensions, the glossary and the scoresheet generator.
Start here
Boule Selector
Five questions about hand size, level, budget and throwing style produce a shortlist with full specifications and a link to each maker's product page.
Most adults land between 680 and 720 g at 72 to 75 mm. Pointers take softer steel and heavier sets, shooters take harder steel and lighter ones.
Beginner Starter Kit
Everything a first time player needs in one PDF: how the game works, what to buy, the rules, how to throw, where to find people to play with and a 30 day plan.
Seventeen pages and about a 30 minute read. It makes you playable the same day.
Rules, terms and settling arguments
Court dimensions and surface prep
Playing area sizes for competition and casual play, recommended surfaces, the layer depths underneath and a printable diagram for a grounds crew.
FIPJP competition terrain measures 15 m by 4 m (49 ft by 13 ft). Casual play works down to 12 m by 3 m.
Pétanque glossary
Every French and English term you will hear on a terrain, with phonetic pronunciation, from boule and cochonnet to carreau, milieu and plombée.
A carreau knocks the target boule out and leaves your own in its place. Say it kah ROH.
Pétanque vs bocce
The two games look identical from across a park. Rules, ball sizes, throwing technique, court layout and origins, side by side in one table.
Pétanque uses 650 to 800 g steel boules thrown from a fixed circle with both feet together. Bocce rolls larger resin balls after a run up.
The pétanque quiz
Test yourself on rules, refereeing, shots, formats, history and vocabulary. Set the length, pick a topic or a keyword, play, then read every question and answer in full afterward.
324 questions across 18 topics, scored per topic, with an explanation for every answer.
Boules and gear
What equipment costs to start
What a first set needs to have, what changes when you move to competition steel and how to read the numbers stamped on a boule.
A playable leisure triplet starts near 55 dollars. Competition sets approved for licensed play run from about 160 to 300 dollars.
Competition boules tested
Nine sets from Obut, La Boule Bleue, MS Pétanque, KTK and Toro, each scored on grip, balance, finish and value against the maker's published price.
Scores run 8.4 to 9.0 out of 10, and every price quoted comes from the manufacturer rather than a retailer.
Running club nights and events
Scoresheet and tournament tool
Build a scoresheet for a club night or a full draw for a tournament, fill in the team slots, then print. Swiss system and knockout are both covered.
Games run to 13 points. Timed formats cap at 45, 60 or 75 minutes plus one end, which is what the brackets assume.
Bracket and pool sheet generator
Print knockout brackets and pool sheets with your club name and logo, with typed names or blank lines for players to fill in.
Brackets run from 2 to 1,024 teams. A bracket too big for one page prints in parts with an overview page.
Tournament resources
Formats, draw sizes, timing, officials and what a competition day needs from the first sign up through to the final.
Triplette teams carry two boules per player. Doublette and tête à tête carry three each, which sets your equipment count.
Training drills
Solo and pair routines with targets and scoring, so a practice session has structure instead of drifting into a casual game.
Pointing drills work at 6, 8 and 10 m. Shooting drills hold one distance until the strike rate settles.
Club directory
Verified clubs across the United States, Canada and Mexico, with playing times, surfaces and who to contact before a first visit.
Most clubs lend boules to newcomers, and the listings say which ones charge nothing to drop in.