The petanque quiz

1. 11
2. 13
3. 15
4. 21

A game runs to 13 points. Qualifying rounds and league play may be cut to 11 points, which FIPJP article 5 allows.

The rules

1. Two
2. Three
3. Four
4. Six

Triples gives each player two boules. Singles and doubles give each player three. FIPJP article 1 allows no other combination.

Formats

1. 4 to 8 meters
2. 5 to 9 meters
3. 6 to 10 meters
4. 8 to 12 meters

The jack lands 6 to 10 meters from the inside edge of the circle for seniors. Juniors and younger categories throw shorter distances under FIPJP article 7.

The rules

1. 600 to 750 g
2. 650 to 800 g
3. 700 to 850 g
4. 680 to 720 g

A competition boule weighs 650 to 800 grams. The weight and the maker's mark must be engraved on it. An umpire can check both.

Boule Selector

1. 65 to 75 mm
2. 70.5 to 80 mm
3. 72 to 78 mm
4. 75 to 85 mm

A competition boule measures 70.5 to 80 mm across. Hand size decides where inside that range a player should sit.

Boule Selector

1. 25 mm
2. 30 mm
3. 35 mm
4. 40 mm

The jack measures 30 mm with a tolerance of plus or minus 1 mm. Painted jacks are allowed. Synthetic jacks need FIPJP approval.

The rules

1. 25 to 40 cm
2. 35 to 50 cm
3. 40 to 60 cm
4. 50 to 70 cm

A drawn circle measures 35 to 50 cm across. A rigid circle placed on the ground must measure 50 cm inside. It stays fixed during play.

The rules

1. The instant the boule leaves the hand
2. Once the boule touches the ground
3. Once the boule stops
4. At any time

Both feet stay on the ground inside the circle until the thrown boule touches the ground. Lifting early is the most common breach of FIPJP article 6.

The rules

1. Play continues
2. The jack is dead
3. The jack goes back to 20 meters
4. The end is replayed

Past 20 meters the jack is dead for juniors and seniors. Under 3 meters from the circle it is dead too, under FIPJP article 9.

The rules

1. Yes, always
2. Yes, if two boules hide it
3. No, it stays live
4. Only in competition

A jack hidden behind a boule stays in play. An umpire may lift the boule for a moment to check where the jack sits, then put it back.

The rules

1. No, it is dead
2. Yes, until it lies entirely beyond
3. Only if it touches the jack
4. Only in friendly play

A boule stays alive while any part of it sits on the line. It dies once it lies entirely beyond, viewed from directly above.

The rules

1. A warning
2. The boule is dead
3. The player and team are disqualified for that game
4. One point to the opponents

Stopping a moving boule on purpose disqualifies the player and the whole team for the game in progress. An accidental stop is treated far more gently.

The rules

1. Yes, if both teams agree
2. Yes, outside competition
3. No, proper instruments are required
4. Only for gaps over 50 cm

Measuring needs a proper instrument. Each team has to carry one. Using a foot or a stride draws a penalty under FIPJP article 26.

The rules

1. Everything goes back
2. Their team loses the point
3. The end is dead
4. A warning only

A team that displaces the jack or a contested boule while measuring loses the point. That is why the position gets marked before anyone reaches for a tape.

The rules

1. Nothing
2. Those boules are dead and no claim is admitted
3. The opponents lose a point
4. The end restarts

Boules lifted before both teams agree the score are dead. No later claim is accepted. Agree the count first, then clear the terrain.

The rules

1. Each team scores one point
2. The end is dead
3. The closest thrower wins
4. The jack is rethrown from where it lies

The end is dead and nobody scores. The jack goes to the team that scored in the previous end, failing that the team that won the toss.

The rules

1. Nothing is scored
2. One point for that team
3. One point per boule that team still holds
4. Two points

That team scores one point for every boule it still holds. If neither team holds boules, the end is dead.

The rules

1. 30 seconds
2. One minute
3. Two minutes
4. No limit

One minute runs from the moment the previous boule stops. It also runs from the moment a point is agreed or measured. Team talk does not pause the clock.

The rules

1. Nothing
2. One point to the opponents
3. Immediate elimination
4. Loss of one boule

One point goes to the opponents at 15 minutes, then one more for every five minutes after that. At 30 minutes the team is out.

Tournament resources

1. Yes
2. Yes, with the opponent's consent
3. No, it is forbidden
4. Only on gravel

Sweeping in front of a boule that is going to be shot is named and forbidden in FIPJP article 10. Filling the hole left from an earlier boule is allowed.

The rules

1. Never
2. Once
3. Up to three times
4. Without any limit

Up to three taps are allowed. Only the player about to throw the jack may do it. Nobody else on either team may prepare the ground.

The rules

1. Yes
2. Yes, in hot weather
3. No, closed shoes are required
4. Only for spectators

Shoes have to cover the toes and the heels. The rule sits in the dress section of the FIPJP text and exists for safety.

The rules

1. Allowed between ends
2. Allowed for scoring apps
3. Forbidden
4. Allowed with umpire consent

Phone use during a game is forbidden. Continuing after a warning leads to exclusion from the competition.

The rules

1. Anywhere off the terrain
2. Beyond the jack or behind the player, at least 2 m away
3. Directly behind the circle
4. Beside the circle

Opponents stand beyond the jack or behind the thrower, to the side, at least two meters clear. Silence is required while the player is in the circle.

The rules

1. The boule is dead
2. A warning, the boule counts and is swapped back
3. The team loses a point
4. The end is replayed

The first time brings a warning. The boule counts where it lies, then gets replaced with the right one, after measuring if needed.

The rules

1. Valid where it stops
2. Dead, removed at once
3. Replayed
4. Valid if it touches nothing

The boule is dead the moment it leaves the marked area. Anything it moved after that goes back to the marked position.

The rules

1. Allowed on a free lane
2. Allowed between ends
3. Forbidden
4. Allowed before the jack is thrown

Practice throws during a game are forbidden anywhere, including away from the lane in use. The penalty scale of article 35 applies.

The rules

1. It stays where it stopped
2. It is thrown again
3. The opponent places it
4. The end is dead

A jack stopped from outside the game gets thrown again with no loss of turn. A jack stopped from the thrower's own team hands placement to the opponents.

The rules

1. The end is dead
2. The circle goes back and only the opponents play on
3. Nothing
4. Both teams lose their remaining boules

The circle goes back to its place. Only the opponents may play their remaining boules. Marking the circle before lifting it avoids the whole problem.

The rules

1. It is replayed
2. That boule is dead
3. It counts where it stops
4. A warning is given

A boule that a team-mate accidentally stops is dead. When an opponent stops it, the thrower may replay it or accept where it lies.

The rules

1. Ask the umpire
2. Mark the positions on the ground
3. Lift the jack
4. Count the boules aloud

Marking the boules and the jack protects both teams. A team that moves either during measuring loses the point, so the mark is the cheapest insurance in the game.

The rules

1. One, always
2. One for every boule closer than the opponent's best boule
3. One for every boule on the terrain
4. Two for a carreau

The winning team counts every boule closer to the jack than the opponent's best one. That is how an end can be worth six points in triples.

The rules

1. The losing team
2. A player from the team that scored
3. The umpire
4. Alternating each end

The team that scored in the previous end throws the jack for the next one. At the very start of a game, the toss decides.

The rules

1. They keep trying
2. The opponents position the jack in a valid spot
3. The end is dead
4. The circle moves back

The throw passes to the opponents, who position the jack anywhere valid. The right to throw the first boule stays with the original team.

The rules

1. Nothing, the boule is dead
2. The largest fragment
3. Both fragments
4. The end is replayed

The largest fragment counts and stays where it lies. If the end is still running, the player finishes it with a matching replacement boule.

The rules

1. Play stops at once
2. The end in progress is completed unless the umpire decides otherwise
3. The game is void
4. Both teams score

An end already started is normally played out. Only the umpire can suspend or abandon a competition for weather.

The rules

1. Normal
2. A breach handled under the penalty scale
3. Allowed between ends
4. Allowed with a team-mate's consent

Players stay on the terrain during a game and need the umpire's permission to leave. Repeated absence carries penalties up to disqualification.

The rules

1. A one-point deduction
2. Exclusion from the competition
3. A fine
4. A replayed game

The scale moves from warning, to a disqualified boule, to exclusion of the player, then to disqualification of the team. Umpires signal each step with a card.

The rules

1. Wherever the umpire says
2. Freely from the team that won the toss, within the rules
3. In the center of the terrain
4. Against the end line

The team winning the toss picks the spot, keeping the circle clear of obstacles and other games. Later ends start where the previous jack lay.

The rules

1. Back to the start
2. Around the spot where the jack lay at the end of the previous end
3. Anywhere
4. At the far end line

The circle is drawn around the jack's final position from the previous end. If that spot leaves no valid throw, the circle moves back along the axis.

The rules

1. Yes, always
2. No, the team chooses who throws each boule
3. Yes, in age order
4. Yes, alphabetically

A team decides who plays each boule while the end develops. Only the alternation between teams is fixed. It follows the point.

The rules

1. Stops
2. Continues from the new jack position
3. Restarts
4. Is measured immediately

The jack stays live wherever a valid shot leaves it inside the boundaries. Everything is measured from its new position.

The rules

1. Valid
2. Not valid and thrown again
3. Dead
4. Worth a point

Nothing counts until the jack sits in a valid position. The boule comes back and the end starts properly.

The rules

1. Someone reaches 13
2. Every boule has been played, failing that the jack has died
3. The jack is measured
4. Fifteen minutes pass

The end runs until both teams are out of boules or the jack dies. The points are then counted and the next end starts.

The rules

1. Dead
2. At zero distance, so it holds the point
3. Worth two points
4. Replayed

Touching the jack means nothing can be closer, so that boule holds the point. Only another boule touching the jack can match it.

The rules

1. Always allowed
2. Not allowed, the ground is played exactly where it lies
3. Allowed for the pointer
4. Allowed once per end

Players take the ground in the state they find it, apart from the hole a played boule left. Reading the surface is part of the skill.

The rules

1. Yes, the line is part of the circle
2. No, both feet stay fully inside without touching it
3. Only the back foot
4. Only in friendly play

Both feet sit entirely inside the circle and may not touch its edge. No other part of the body may touch the ground outside it.

The rules

1. The umpire, always
2. The player who threw last, or a teammate
3. The team holding the point
4. Either captain

Measuring falls to the player who threw last or a teammate. The opponents keep the right to measure afterward.

The rules

1. Players measure with their feet
2. Only the umpire measures
3. Measuring is skipped
4. Teams swap lanes each end

The organizing committee can reserve measuring for the umpire, particularly in televised games. Everywhere else, the teams measure first.

The rules

1. The team that threw the last boule
2. The team that won the toss
3. The team with more boules left
4. Nobody, the end is dead

The team that played the last boule plays again. The teams then alternate until one of them wins the point.

The rules

1. The end is dead
2. That team plays its boules and scores each one closer than the opponent's best
3. Each team scores one point
4. The jack is thrown again

That team plays out its boules and scores one point for each boule closer than the opponent's nearest. The other team has no reply left.

The rules

1. The team holding the point scores one
2. The end is void
3. Each team scores one point per boule held
4. The jack goes back to its last position

Nobody scores. The jack then goes to the team that scored the previous end, failing that the team that won the toss.

The rules

1. Valid where it stops
2. Dead
3. Put back on its marked spot
4. Valid if it stays visible

A jack that enters an out-of-bounds area is dead, even when it rolls back onto the terrain. The dead-jack rules then decide the end.

The rules

1. Valid
2. Dead
3. Moved to dry ground
4. Valid until it sinks

The rules list a jack floating freely in water among the dead-jack cases. The dead-jack rules then decide the score for the end.

The rules

1. A win for the team that threw last
2. Void
3. Replayed from the same circle
4. Worth one point to each team

With no boule left inside the authorized area, the end is null. Nobody can hold the point, so nobody scores.

The rules

1. It stays in its new spot
2. It goes back to its original spot, provided that spot was marked
3. The end is void
4. The team that threw it loses the point

Wind, slope, an animal or a jack from another game all lead to the same result: the jack goes back if its position was marked. A jack that a boule from the same game moves stays where it lands.

The rules

1. It stays in its new spot
2. It goes back to its place
3. It is dead
4. Its team loses its next boule

When wind or slope moves a stationary boule, it goes back to its place. A boule that another played boule moves stays where it ends up.

The rules

1. The jack is dead
2. The leaf is removed and play continues
3. The end is replayed
4. The next player throws blind

A leaf or scrap of paper that masks the jack is removed. A jack hidden behind a boule is a different case and stays live.

The rules

1. Yes, if both teams remember the spot
2. No, no claim is accepted for an unmarked boule
3. Only with the umpire's consent
4. Only for the jack

No claim can be accepted for a boule or jack whose position was not marked. Marking takes seconds and protects both teams.

The rules

1. Yes, at any point in the end
2. No, the jack is now valid
3. Only through the umpire
4. Only if it sits under 6 meters

After the first boule, the opponents may still object. Once they also play a boule, the jack is valid and no objection is accepted.

The rules

1. Yes
2. No
3. Only in triples
4. Only if it is the spare

Carrying a boule in the other hand while playing the last one is forbidden. Boules are played one at a time.

The rules

1. Yes, a line in the gravel
2. No
3. Only a chalk mark
4. Only for the jack throw

No object or drawn line may help a player aim or mark a landing spot. Players pick their spot with the eye alone.

The rules

1. Allowed on dry days
2. Forbidden
3. Allowed for the jack only
4. Allowed with the opponents' consent

Moistening the boules or the jack is forbidden. Removing mud from a boule before throwing it is required.

The rules

1. Replayed
2. Dead, and anything it moved goes back if it was marked
3. Valid where it stops
4. Worth a point to the opponents

The boule is dead. Anything it displaced on its way goes back to its marked position.

The rules

1. 2
2. 3
3. 4
4. 6

Each singles player holds three boules, so three is the ceiling for one end. Doubles and triples both top out at six.

Formats

1. 12 m long, 3 m wide
2. 15 m long, 4 m wide
3. 18 m long, 5 m wide
4. 20 m long, 4 m wide

National championships and international events use a terrain of at least 15 meters long and 4 meters wide. Other competitions may drop to 12 meters long and 3 meters wide.

Court dimensions

1. 20 cm
2. 30 cm
3. 50 cm
4. 1 meter

The jack has to lie at least 50 cm from an obstacle or from the nearest dead-ball line. Closer than that and the throw is invalid.

Court dimensions

1. 50 cm
2. 1 meter
3. 1.5 meters
4. 2 meters

The circle stays more than one meter from any obstacle and from the edge of a forbidden area. It also keeps 1.5 meters from another circle or jack in use.

Court dimensions

1. Mown grass
2. Compacted gravel or crushed stone
3. Poured concrete
4. Loose beach sand

Compacted fine gravel gives a boule enough bite to stop and enough consistency to roll true. Grass kills the roll and concrete removes every reading of the ground.

Reading terrain

1. The score
2. The chosen landing spot for a pointed boule
3. The circle
4. The last boule played

The donnee is the spot a pointer aims to land on before the boule rolls to the jack. Picking it well matters more than arm strength.

Reading terrain

1. Stop sooner
2. Roll further
3. Bounce higher and stop
4. Behave identically

A hard surface gives less resistance, so the boule carries further after landing. The landing spot has to move back to compensate.

Reading terrain

1. They stop entirely
2. They move to covered boulodromes or indoor surfaces
3. They play on snow
4. They switch to bocce

Covered boulodromes and indoor halls keep the season running where the ground freezes. Softer indoor boules let clubs use gym floors without damaging them.

Court dimensions

1. Color
2. Drainage and load bearing
3. Grip for the boule
4. Boundary marking

The sub-base carries the load and moves water away. A fine surface layer sitting on poor drainage turns to soup after the first heavy rain.

Court dimensions

1. Look neat
2. Separate games and define dead-ball lines
3. Slow play
4. Meet a legal requirement

Lines keep games apart and tell players where a boule dies. Without them, two games on one strip interfere constantly.

Court dimensions

1. 4 meters wide, 15 long, minimum
2. Around 3 meters wide, 10 long, perhaps a little more
3. 10 meters wide, 30 long
4. Any size at all

Recreational play fits comfortably in a strip around three meters wide and ten or more long. Competition sizes are larger and set in the rules.

Court dimensions

1. Lighting
2. Drainage beneath the surface
3. Lines
4. Edging

Standing water points to the layers below rather than the top surface. A permeable sub-base and a slight fall move water away.

Court dimensions

1. Mark the score
2. Hold the surface material in place
3. Stop boules
4. Meet the rules

Edging keeps gravel from migrating into the lawn. It is not a boundary in the playing sense, so boules can leave the terrain over it.

Court dimensions

1. Roll a long way
2. Stop close to where it lands
3. Bounce high
4. Curve

Loose material absorbs the landing and kills the roll. The landing spot moves much closer to the jack on ground like that.

Reading terrain

1. Color
2. Competition boules are approved and carry engraved weight and maker
3. Leisure boules are heavier
4. Nothing

Competition boules come from an approved maker and carry the weight and the brand engraved. Leisure boules carry neither, so an umpire will refuse them.

Boule Selector

1. Never mark
2. Develop a patina and can rust if neglected
3. Weigh less
4. Cannot be used in competition

Carbon steel builds a patina that many pointers like for grip. It rusts when left damp. Stainless holds its finish with far less care.

Boule Selector

1. Shooters
2. Pointers
3. Nobody
4. Only beginners

Grooves bite into the ground and slow a boule down, which suits pointing. Shooters more often pick smooth boules that release cleanly.

Boule Selector

1. Bounce more on impact
2. Absorb impact and stay put more
3. Weigh more
4. Roll faster

Softer steel deadens impact, so the boule moves less when struck and marks more easily. Harder steel resists marking and rebounds more.

Boule Selector

1. Height
2. Hand size
3. Arm length
4. Shoe size

Hand size decides diameter. No playing role changes that. A boule too large releases badly, one too small turns in the palm.

Boule Selector

1. Forbidden
2. Allowed
3. Allowed only for umpires
4. Allowed only in leisure play

A magnetic lifter is a normal accessory, alongside a cloth and a measuring tool. Nothing about it helps a throw, so nothing in the rules blocks it.

Equipment

1. Forbidden
2. Allowed
3. Allowed once per end
4. Allowed only in dry weather

A cloth is a permitted accessory and players use one constantly in damp conditions. Wiping the ground is a different matter and stays forbidden.

Equipment

1. Two boules
2. Three boules
3. Four boules
4. Six boules

Sets come in threes, which covers singles and doubles play. Triples players use two of the three and keep the spare.

Boule Selector

1. Forbidden
2. Allowed alongside the required markings
3. Allowed only on the jack
4. Allowed for umpires only

Players may add their initials or a first name. What can never be altered is the engraved weight and the maker's mark that an umpire checks.

Boule Selector

1. Polish them weekly
2. Dry them after play and store them dry
3. Keep them in a freezer
4. Oil them heavily

Drying after play prevents almost all rust. A damp bag left in a car boot does more damage than a full season of throwing.

Boule Selector

1. Rubber
2. Approved synthetic
3. Glass
4. Stone

The rules recognize wooden jacks and approved synthetic jacks carrying the maker's mark. Painted jacks are allowed for visibility.

Equipment

1. Buy top-tier signature boules
2. Start with an affordable approved set or leisure boules
3. Borrow forever
4. Buy the heaviest available

Time on the terrain improves a player faster than a premium set. An affordable approved set covers club play and holds its value.

Boule Selector

1. It looks better
2. It puts backspin on the boule so it holds its line
3. The rules require it
4. It throws further

A palm-down release rolls the boule off the fingers and gives it backspin. That spin steadies the flight and shortens the roll after landing.

Grip and stance

1. A dead boule
2. A shot that removes the target boule and leaves your boule in its place
3. A jack thrown too short
4. A tied point

A carreau knocks the target out and parks the shooting boule on the same spot. It is the most admired shot in the game.

Shooting

1. Hitting the ground first
2. Striking the target boule directly in the air
3. Shooting the jack
4. A slow roll

Tir au fer strikes the target boule without touching the ground first. It is the cleanest shot and the least forgiving of error.

Shooting

1. Tir au fer
2. Tir a la rafle or raspaille
3. Carreau
4. Portee

A rafle or raspaille skims in low and arrives along the ground. Beginners find it forgiving, though loose terrain can deflect it badly.

Shooting

1. Rolls the whole way
2. Is lobbed high and lands close to the jack
3. Is thrown flat and fast
4. Bounces off another boule

A portee flies high and drops near the jack with little roll left. It works on rough or uneven ground where rolling is unpredictable.

Pointing

1. Rough, stony ground
2. Smooth, even ground
3. Wet grass
4. Steep slopes

A roulette rolls almost the whole way and needs a clean, even surface. One stone in its path ruins it.

Pointing

1. At the player's feet
2. Halfway between the circle and the jack
3. Right on the jack
4. Behind the jack

A demi-portee drops around the midpoint, then rolls the rest of the way. It blends the control of a portee with the accuracy of a roll.

Pointing

1. The shooter
2. The pointer
3. The captain
4. Whoever is closest

The pointer opens the end and tries to place a boule near the jack. That first boule sets the pressure for everything that follows.

Strategy

1. They alternate
2. The team that does not hold the point
3. The team that holds the point
4. The team that scored last

The team not holding the point keeps throwing until it takes the point back or runs out of boules. That single rule drives all petanque tactics.

Strategy

1. It scores double
2. It lets you answer whatever the opponents do
3. It is required
4. It resets the jack

The team with the last boule replies to everything and never gets answered. Losing that advantage early often costs several points at once.

Strategy

1. You are winning comfortably
2. The opponents hold several points in the end
3. It is the first boule
4. The terrain is short

Killing the jack cancels an end the opponents were about to win big. It costs boules, so it works best when the alternative is worse.

Strategy

1. Playing full games
2. Scoring a fixed number of attempts at a fixed target
3. Throwing until tired
4. Watching video only

A fixed target and a fixed count turn practice into a number. Twenty attempts scored out of twenty give a baseline to beat next time.

Training drills

1. Arm strength
2. A repeatable pendulum swing and clean release
3. Boule weight
4. Foot position width

The swing and the release decide where a boule goes. Strength matters far less than repeating the same motion every time.

Grip and stance

1. The jack
2. The target boule
3. The ground behind
4. The circle

The shooter aims at the target boule itself. A ground shot aims at a spot just short of it. Aiming at the jack is a separate tactical decision.

Shooting

1. More roll allowance
2. A landing spot closer to the jack
3. A heavier boule
4. A flatter trajectory

Wet ground grips and kills the roll, so the landing spot moves closer to the jack. Dry hard ground asks for the opposite adjustment.

Reading terrain

1. Scores immediately
2. Forces the opponents to answer under pressure
3. Ends the end
4. Doubles the points

A tight first boule hands the problem to the other team. They either point better or spend a boule shooting. Both cost them.

Strategy

1. Makes it roll further
2. Shortens the roll after landing
3. Makes it curve
4. Adds weight

Backspin kills some of the forward roll on landing. That is why a palm-down release gives better distance control.

Pointing

1. Using the wrong boule
2. Releasing too early or too low
3. Standing badly
4. Unlucky

Consistent shortness usually points to the release, not the arm. Raising the release point is the first adjustment to test.

Shooting

1. Land the boule further out
2. Land the boule shorter
3. Throw harder
4. Aim at the jack directly

A slope adds roll, so the landing spot moves back toward the circle. Reading slope before the first boule saves the whole end.

Reading terrain

1. You are winning
2. The opponents hold several boules close and pointing past them is unlikely
3. It is the first boule
4. The jack is short

Shooting earns its place when pointing cannot realistically take the point back. Spending a boule on a low-percentage point is the more common error.

Strategy

1. The stronger shooter
2. The team more comfortable at close range
3. Nobody
4. The team behind

Jack distance is a tactical weapon. The team that throws it should pick the range that suits them. Watching the opponents first tells you which range hurts them.

Strategy

1. Holding too lightly
2. Letting the thumb sit on top of the boule
3. Bending the knees
4. Looking at the jack

A thumb on top interferes at the moment the boule leaves the hand. Fingers carry the boule and the thumb stays out of the way.

Grip and stance

1. The rules
2. Comfort, balance and the shot being played
3. The boule brand
4. The score

Both positions are legal and both are used at the top level. Squatting suits some pointing styles, standing suits most shooting.

Grip and stance

1. Two against two
2. One against one
3. Three against three
4. A knockout round

Tete a tete is singles, one player each side with three boules apiece. It is the purest test of a player, with nobody to cover a mistake.

Formats

1. Two boules
2. Three boules
3. Four boules
4. Six boules

Doubles gives each player three boules, so six per team. Only triples cuts the count to two each.

Formats

1. Teams register in advance
2. Partners are drawn at random
3. Only singles are played
4. Only licensed players enter

A melee draws partners at random, often redrawing every round. Clubs use it to mix newcomers with regulars on a social night.

Formats

1. The score limit
2. Partners change every round
3. It uses four boules
4. It runs on one lane

A melee tournante redraws partners each round and scores players individually. A fixed melee keeps the drawn team together for the whole event.

Formats

1. At random each round
2. Winners against winners, losers against losers
3. Club against club
4. On ranking, fixed at the start

Swiss pairs teams on equal records, so nobody goes home after one loss. It suits clubs that want everyone playing all day.

Tournament resources

1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. All four

A poule of four sends two teams forward. Every team plays at least twice, which is the reason clubs like the format.

Tournament resources

1. A youth event
2. A second competition for teams knocked out early
3. A final round
4. A referee training session

The B competition gathers teams beaten in the first rounds of the main draw. It keeps a full field playing rather than sending half the entry home.

Tournament resources

1. Partners are drawn
2. Players choose their own partner in advance
3. Only club members play
4. Only one boule each

Select events let players register with a chosen partner. Melee events draw partners instead. The two attract very different fields.

Tournament resources

1. Two losses
2. One loss
3. Three losses
4. A points deficit

One defeat ends the run in a straight knockout. It resolves a large field fast, at the cost of sending many players home early.

Tournament resources

1. Two players of any gender
2. One man and one woman
3. Three players
4. Two women

Mixed doubles pairs one man with one woman. Mixed triples applies a comparable composition rule the organiser sets.

Formats

1. Speed
2. Set shooting situations at marked distances
3. Pointing accuracy
4. Games won

Precision shooting runs through fixed target situations at marked distances, scoring each attempt. The men's world record stands at 67 points.

Tournament resources

1. Only the winner
2. The running score end after end
3. Boule serial numbers
4. Player heights

A scoresheet tracks the score end after end, with both signatures at the finish. Organisers need it to settle disputes and to rank teams on points.

Scoresheet generator

1. Further than seniors
2. At shorter distances than seniors
3. At the same distance
4. From outside the circle

Younger categories throw the jack over shorter ranges set in the rules. Everything else about the game stays identical.

Tournament resources

1. Against the rules everywhere
2. The standard doubles allocation
3. A triples rule
4. A youth rule

Doubles gives three boules per player, six per team. The count only drops to two per player in triples.

Formats

1. Marseille
2. La Ciotat
3. Lyon
4. Aix-en-Provence

The game took shape in La Ciotat, a coastal town near Marseille, in 1907. The site carries the name Jules Lenoir Boulodrome today.

What is petanque

1. 1887
2. 1907
3. 1927
4. 1947

The first game with planted feet was played in 1907. The first tournament under the new rules followed in 1910.

What is petanque

1. Ernest Pitiot
2. Jules Lenoir
3. Joseph Pitiot
4. Paul Ricard

Jules Lenoir could no longer take the run-up that jeu provencal demanded. Ernest Pitiot, a local cafe owner, proposed throwing from a standing circle instead.

What is petanque

1. Small ball
2. Feet planted
3. Iron sphere
4. Southern game

The name traces to the Provencal Occitan pes tancats, feet planted or feet anchored. The rule in the name is the rule that created the sport.

What is petanque

1. Use wooden balls
2. Take a run-up before throwing
3. Play indoors
4. Score to 21

Jeu provencal, also called la longue, keeps a run-up and a longer terrain. Petanque removed both, which is how it got its name.

Formats

1. The FIPJP
2. The Pitiot brothers
3. The city of Marseille
4. Jules Lenoir

Ernest and Joseph Pitiot ran the first tournament in 1910 at La Ciotat. The format spread across Provence within a few years.

Tournament resources

1. 1910
2. 1945
3. 1958
4. 1972

The Federation Internationale de Petanque et Jeu Provencal formed in Marseille in 1958. The first World Championships followed in 1959.

Tournament resources

1. 1949
2. 1959
3. 1969
4. 1979

The first World Championships took place in 1959, one year after the federation formed. The event has run on an international calendar ever since.

Tournament resources

1. Masters de Petanque
2. Mondial la Marseillaise a Petanque
3. Petanque Amelia Island Open
4. European Championships

The Mondial la Marseillaise runs every July in Marseille and draws well over 10,000 players. It was first held in 1961 and takes its name from the newspaper that backed it.

Tournament resources

1. Yes, since 1992
2. Yes, since 2024
3. No, though it features at the World Games
4. No, never at any level

Petanque is not on the Olympic program. It does appear at the World Games, where precision shooting is contested.

Tournament resources

1. Ernest Pitiot
2. Jules Lenoir
3. Paul Ricard
4. Marius Cartier

The ground at La Ciotat now bears the name Jules Lenoir Boulodrome. It carries the name of the player whose rheumatism forced the new rule.

What is petanque

1. Northern France
2. Provence, then the rest of France
3. Belgium
4. Spain

The game moved out from Provence and reached the whole country within a few decades. Its southern origin still colors the culture around it.

What is petanque

1. Louis Pasteur
2. Paul Ricard
3. Gustave Eiffel
4. Auguste Escoffier

Paul Ricard, founder of the pastis brand, backed the event for many years. The association between the drink and the game is part of the culture.

What is petanque

1. Latin
2. Provencal Occitan
3. Italian
4. Catalan

The name comes from the Provencal dialect of Occitan. Its literal sense, feet planted, is the rule that created the sport.

What is petanque

1. Stone
2. Wood studded with nails
3. Glass
4. Rubber

Wooden boules covered in nails were the standard before steel took over. La Boule Bleue made exactly those in 1904.

Boule Selector

1. 1903
2. 1923
3. 1955
4. 1975

The bronze boule patent dates from 1923. Steel later became the standard for competition play.

Boule Selector

1. Matches a calendar
2. Gives a game long enough to turn around and short enough to repeat
3. A law fixed it
4. Matches the boule weight

Thirteen gives room for a comeback without stretching a game past an hour. Qualifying rounds drop to 11 where time is short.

What is petanque

1. One world title
2. Fourteen world titles
3. A refereeing record
4. The longest jack throw

Quintais, born in Chartres in 1967, is a fourteen-time world champion. He also took four world precision shooting titles in a row from 2000 to 2003.

What is petanque

1. Dylan Rocher and Diego Rizzi
2. Philippe Suchaud and Henri Lacroix
3. Marco Foyot and Daniel Monard
4. Claudy Weibel and Michel Loy

Quintais, Suchaud and Lacroix played together under that nickname. All three sit among the most decorated world champions the sport has produced.

What is petanque

1. 16
2. 18
3. 22
4. 26

Rocher took the Mondial at eighteen in 2010. Born in Le Mans in 1991, he became world triples champion in 2012.

What is petanque

1. Spain
2. Italy
3. Belgium
4. Madagascar

Rizzi competes for Italy and holds a share of the men's world precision shooting record at 67 points. He has also won French championship titles alongside Dylan Rocher.

What is petanque

1. Thailand
2. Cambodia
3. Laos
4. Vietnam

Ke Leng of Cambodia took four consecutive women's world precision shooting titles between 2013 and 2019. Southeast Asia is a genuine power base in the sport.

What is petanque

1. Canada and Mexico
2. Thailand and Madagascar
3. Japan and Brazil
4. Sweden and Ireland

Thailand and Madagascar produce world-class teams in both men's and women's categories. Belgium, Italy and Spain are also regular medal contenders.

What is petanque

1. To win 13-0
2. To lose 13-0
3. To referee a final
4. To throw the jack out

A team beaten 13 to 0 is said to kiss Fanny. Many clubs keep a Fanny figure for the ceremony. The tradition is older than the sport itself.

Glossary

1. Carreau
2. Bouchon
3. Mene
4. Donnee

Bouchon, cochonnet and le petit all name the small target ball. Regional habit decides which word a club uses.

Glossary

1. A tournament
2. One end, played until both teams run out of boules
3. A type of shot
4. A club team

A mene runs from the jack throw to the last boule, then the points are counted. A game is a string of menes to 13.

Glossary

1. A type of boule
2. A dedicated playing venue
3. A tournament format
4. A French club league

A boulodrome is the ground or building set aside for play, holding several marked lanes. Covered boulodromes keep clubs playing through winter.

Glossary

1. A carreau
2. A biberon
3. A portee
4. A rafle

A biberon touches the jack and is very hard to dislodge without moving the jack too. Players also call it a besace in some regions.

Glossary

1. Only shoots
2. Only points
3. Does both, depending on the end
4. Keeps the score

The milieu points or shoots according to what the end needs. It also covers whichever team-mate runs out of boules. It is the most demanding role to fill well.

Glossary

1. Talk tactics loudly
2. Stay quiet and still while an opponent throws
3. Stand behind the target boule
4. Walk the terrain freely

Silence and stillness while someone is in the circle is both a rule and the first habit a club teaches. Movement in a thrower's eyeline is the most common complaint at club level.

The rules

1. Anyone, at once
2. Nobody, until both teams agree the score
3. The losing team
4. The umpire

The terrain stays untouched until the score is agreed. Boules lifted early are dead. No later claim will be heard.

The rules

1. Slows the game
2. Prevents disputes later in the game
3. The rules demand it
4. Helps spectators only

Saying the score aloud and getting a nod from both teams stops nearly every scoring argument. A written sheet does the same job in a tournament.

Club directory

1. Formal dress
2. A sociable drink and conversation after play
3. Betting
4. Silence off the terrain

The game and the gathering afterward belong together in club culture. That social frame travels well and explains much of the sport's spread abroad.

What is petanque

1. A carreau sur place
2. A shot devant or a short shot
3. A biberon
4. A portee haute

Landing just short lets the boule skid into the target. It forgives small errors in distance, though a stone in the path can throw it off line.

Glossary

1. Rolls slowly
2. Jumps over a blocking boule to reach the target behind
3. Removes the jack
4. Is thrown backwards

A sautee clears an obstructing boule and lands on the one behind it. It is a specialist shot and one of the hardest in the game.

Glossary

1. A boule devant
2. A carreau
3. A biberon
4. A mene

A boule devant sits in front of the jack and makes pointing past it difficult. Club players repeat that a boule devant is a boule d'argent, a boule worth money.

Strategy

1. The first
2. The thirteenth
3. The seventh
4. The fifth

The final point carries the most pressure and the tightest margins. Teams that practice closing ends convert far more of them.

Strategy

1. A referee
2. A clear path with no boule in the way
3. A flat stone
4. A shorter jack

The lane is the clear route to the boule a player wants to hit or the spot they want to reach. No lane means choosing another shot or another target.

Glossary

1. Rolls away after impact
2. Stops exactly where the target was
3. Misses
4. Hits the jack

The shooting boule takes the target's place without moving on. It is the purest version of the shot.

Glossary

1. A dead boule
2. A boule sitting right against the jack, hard to displace
3. The circle
4. The score

A palet sits tight on the jack and blocks the lane behind it. Displacing one without moving the jack is difficult.

Glossary

1. To win the game
2. To hold the closest boule to the jack
3. To measure
4. To throw the jack

A team holds the point while its best boule lies closest. The other team keeps throwing until that changes.

Glossary

1. Made a carreau
2. Made a hole
3. Pointed
4. Scored

Missing everything leaves only a mark in the ground, which players call a hole. It costs a boule and changes nothing.

Glossary

1. Hold the jack
2. Lead
3. Have the hammer
4. Be dead

Leading describes the score, not the end in progress. Holding the point describes the end.

Glossary

1. An outdoor court
2. A covered playing venue
3. A tournament
4. A boule bag

Covered venues let clubs play through rain and winter. Northern clubs depend on them for half the year.

Glossary

1. Wins 13-0
2. Loses 13-0
3. Draws
4. Forfeits

Losing without scoring a single point triggers the tradition. Clubs keep a Fanny image for the ceremony, usually with good humor.

Glossary

1. Little stone
2. Piglet
3. Small cork
4. Target

Cochonnet comes from cochon, pig. Bouchon, another name for the jack, means cork.

Glossary

1. Takes the target's place
2. Clips the top of the target, which barely moves
3. Hits the jack first
4. Rolls the whole way

The word means cap. The shooting boule glances off the top of the target and flies on, leaving the target where it was.

Glossary

1. A grip fault
2. A small stone or bump that knocks a boule off its line
3. A short jack
4. A scoring term

Grattons are the pebbles, roots and ridges that spoil a good throw. Players scan for them before choosing a landing spot.

Glossary

1. A boule behind the jack is safest
2. A boule short of the jack is worth money
3. Always shoot first
4. Never point short

The saying calls a short boule a money ball. It can still be pushed closer, while a long boule rarely comes back.

Strategy

1. A rolling throw
2. A very high lob that lands and stops almost dead
3. A shot at the jack
4. A boule touching the jack

Plombee means leaded. The boule drops almost vertically, which suits rough ground or a lane blocked with boules.

Glossary

1. USA Boules
2. FPUSA
3. FFPJP
4. FIPJP North

The Federation of Petanque USA is the national body affiliated to the FIPJP. Many North American players compete without ever holding a license.

Petanque in the United States

1. New Orleans
2. Amelia Island, Florida
3. Napa, California
4. New York City

The Amelia Island Open in Florida runs each November and draws the largest US field. Louisiana, California and New York hold the other big fixtures.

Petanque in the United States

1. Ontario
2. Quebec
3. British Columbia
4. Alberta

Quebec carries the largest concentration of clubs in Canada, with a dense network around Montreal and the Saguenay. French-language club culture runs deep there.

Petanque in Canada

1. Their own approved boules
2. Nothing, clubs usually lend boules
3. A license
4. A club membership card

Most clubs keep loaner boules for newcomers and expect nothing in advance. Turning up on a club night is the standard way in.

Club directory

1. Uses larger wooden balls
2. Is played with small steel balls thrown from a fixed circle
3. Has no target ball
4. Needs a walled court

Petanque uses hollow steel balls thrown from a standing circle onto rough ground. Bocce uses larger composite balls, often rolled along a prepared court with side walls.

Petanque vs bocce

1. It needs a permit
2. It needs no built court and little space
3. It needs a license
4. It needs a coach

A flat strip of gravel or packed dirt is enough. A set of boules fits in a bag. That low barrier is why the sport spreads through parks rather than stadiums.

Club directory

1. Too much sun
2. A season cut short from frozen ground
3. No opponents
4. No boules

Frozen ground closes outdoor play for months across much of Canada and the northern United States. Covered venues and indoor sets carry clubs through.

Petanque in Canada

1. Nevada
2. Louisiana
3. Idaho
4. Delaware

Louisiana's French and Acadian heritage runs through its petanque clubs and tournaments. Lafayette holds one of the country's better-known events.

Petanque in the United States

1. Yes, always
2. No
3. Only in Canada
4. Only in tournaments over 50 teams

Social play needs no license anywhere. Licenses matter for official national competition, which most North American players never enter.

Club directory

1. Buying competition boules
2. Finding a club night and turning up
3. Reading the full rulebook
4. Entering a tournament

Clubs lend boules and teach the game in an evening. Equipment decisions get much easier once a player knows how they throw.

Starter Kit

1. FPUSA
2. Federacion Mexicana de Petanca
3. Petanque Canada
4. FIPJP Americas

The Federacion Mexicana de Petanca runs the national calendar. Petanque Central lists its events alongside the FPUSA and Petanque Canada calendars.

Petanque in Mexico

1. Petanque Canada
2. FPUSA
3. Bowls Canada Boulingrin
4. Federacion Mexicana de Petanca

Petanque Canada is the Canadian member of the FIPJP. It runs the national championships and selects the team for international events.

Petanque in Canada

1. It needs no movement
2. It is low impact and needs no running or jumping
3. It is played sitting down
4. It has no scoring

The throw is underhand and short, with no run-up and no overhead load. A player walks the terrain between throws, which keeps sessions gentle and steady.

What is petanque

1. They play from outside the circle
2. At least one wheel must rest inside the circle
3. They throw from a shorter distance
4. They are not covered

At least one wheel, the one on the throwing-arm side, sits inside the circle. Standing and seated players compete in the same events.

What is petanque

1. Heavy weight training
2. Gentle shoulder, wrist and back mobility plus a few practice throws
3. Skipping breakfast
4. Throwing at full power immediately

Light mobility work and a handful of easy throws settle the swing before it matters. Full power from cold is how shoulders and elbows get hurt.

Training drills

1. They throw from 4 meters closer
2. They may keep only one foot inside the circle
3. A teammate may throw for them
4. They skip the throwing circle

Players with a lower-limb disability may place only one foot inside the circle. A player in a wheelchair keeps at least one wheel inside, on the throwing-arm side.

What is petanque

1. Disqualification
2. A warning
3. A dead boule
4. End of the game

Yellow is the warning step on the FIPJP penalty scale. Repeating the offense moves the umpire up to the next card.

The rules

1. Yellow
2. Orange
3. Green
4. Blue

Orange takes the boule out of play. It is the second step, sitting between a warning and exclusion of the player.

The rules

1. A warning
2. The player is excluded
3. The jack is dead
4. The end is replayed

Red excludes the player from the game in progress. A further step disqualifies the whole team from the competition.

The rules

1. Overrule it, if both teams agree
2. Appeal it to the jury on a point of fact
3. Accept it, since fact decisions are final
4. Replay the end

Decisions on facts belong to the umpire and stand. An appeal reaches the jury only where the question concerns the rules themselves.

The rules

1. Drawing the rounds
2. Deciding cases the rules do not cover and hearing appeals
3. Selling entries
4. Measuring points

The jury handles questions the rules leave open and hears appeals on their application. It never replaces the umpire on a point of fact.

Tournament resources

1. No, never
2. Yes, then put it back
3. Only with both captains present
4. Only between ends

The umpire may lift the boule for a moment, check, then replace it. The position is marked first so nothing is lost.

The rules

1. Ignore it
2. Stop the game and remind everyone that outside advice is not allowed
3. Award a point
4. Disqualify the team at once

Outside advice does not belong in the game. The umpire stops play to say so. Persistent interference can see the spectator removed.

The rules

1. Overrule the umpire
2. Speak for the team and raise questions with the umpire
3. Play an extra boule
4. Change the format

The captain speaks for the team and raises questions with the umpire. That role carries no authority over the umpire or the organiser.

The rules

1. It is dead
2. It counts where it stops
3. It is replayed
4. The end is dead

An outside body that stops a boule counts like part of the ground, so the boule holds where it comes to rest. Only a person in the game changes the ruling.

The rules

1. The player throws anyway
2. The umpire decides if the disturbance justifies a pause
3. The end is dead
4. The team forfeits

Judging outside disturbance belongs to the umpire. A player who simply refuses to throw runs down the one-minute clock instead.

The rules

1. It goes back to its mark
2. It stays where it now lies
3. It is dead
4. The end is dead

Displacement through normal play is part of the game, so the boule stays where it now lies. Marks matter only where the rules order a position restored.

The rules

1. Their color
2. The engraved weight and maker's mark
3. Their price
4. Their age

The engraving proves the boule is an approved model at a legal weight. A boule worn past legibility can be refused.

Boule Selector

1. Allowed in leisure play
2. Forbidden and grounds for disqualification
3. Allowed with an umpire's consent
4. Allowed for shooters

Modifying a boule after manufacture is forbidden, with a penalty running to disqualification. Approval covers the boule in the state the maker produced it.

The rules

1. Freely
2. Only under the conditions the organiser publishes
3. Never
4. Only between rounds

Replacement follows whatever the organiser set out before entries closed. Nothing in the rules grants an automatic right to swap a player.

The rules

1. Forfeit at once
2. Play on with the boules the rules allow an incomplete team
3. Borrow a player
4. Play four boules each

An incomplete team may start with the boules the rules assign it, without borrowing anyone. A missing player who arrives later joins under the published conditions.

The rules

1. Encouraged
2. Not allowed
3. Allowed between ends
4. Allowed for juniors only

Instructions from outside the game are not part of it. Advice between team-mates on the terrain is normal and stays inside the one-minute clock.

The rules

1. The umpire only
2. The organiser
3. Each team
4. The home club

Each team carries its own instrument. An umpire measures only where the teams cannot settle it themselves.

The rules

1. Measure again themselves
2. Accept the decision
3. Call the jury on the measurement
4. Replay the end

The measurement is a fact, so the umpire's reading stands. Marking beforehand is what protects a team that doubts the outcome.

The rules

1. Replay the end
2. Measure, then call the umpire if it stays unresolved
3. Split the point
4. Ask a spectator

Teams measure first and call the umpire only where measuring leaves it open. Positions get marked before anyone starts.

The rules

1. The winners keep it
2. Signed from both teams, then returned to the table
3. Thrown away
4. Signed from the umpire alone

Both teams sign and the sheet goes back to the organizing table. It is the record that settles a dispute after the fact.

Tournament resources

1. Any time that day
2. Before the jack is thrown for the next end
3. After the game
4. At the prize-giving

A problem is raised while it can still be put right, which means before the next end starts. Once the jack goes out again the position is gone.

The rules

1. The teams
2. The organiser or the umpire
3. The first team to arrive
4. The home club captain

Lane assignment belongs to the organiser and the umpire. Teams moving themselves to a lane they prefer is a common cause of chaos at club events.

The rules

1. April
2. July
3. September
4. December

The Mondial runs every July in Marseille. It has been held since 1961 and takes its name from the newspaper La Marseillaise.

Events and tournaments

1. A boule maker
2. A newspaper
3. A street in Marseille
4. A former champion

The daily newspaper La Marseillaise backed the event from the start. The name stuck. Paul Ricard supported it for many years afterward.

Events and tournaments

1. The invention of the sport
2. The founding of the FIPJP
3. The first Mondial
4. The Second World War

The FIPJP formed in Marseille in 1958 and the first World Championships followed in 1959. Both events sit at the root of the international calendar.

Events and tournaments

1. 45
2. 55
3. 67
4. 80

The men's record stands at 67 points, a mark Diego Rizzi shares. Each round scores set shooting situations at marked distances.

Events and tournaments

1. A single one-day tournament
2. A touring invitational circuit in France
3. A world championship
4. A youth competition

The Masters tours French towns across the summer with invited teams and a wild card. Philippe Suchaud holds the most titles in it.

Events and tournaments

1. March
2. June
3. August
4. November

The Amelia Island Open takes place each November in Florida. It draws the largest field of any annual United States tournament.

Petanque in the United States

1. The Olympic Games
2. The World Games
3. The Commonwealth Games
4. None

Petanque appears at the World Games, where precision shooting is contested. The Olympic program has never included it.

Events and tournaments

1. False, never
2. True
3. True, but only for juniors
4. True, in demonstration form only

Petanque carries medals at the Mediterranean Games. Diego Rizzi took two golds there in 2026. The games gather nations around the sport's home region.

Events and tournaments

1. Club
2. National team, continental
3. Regional French
4. Youth only

European Championships gather national teams from across the continent. They run alongside the world calendar rather than replacing it.

Events and tournaments

1. Direct entry
2. Through departmental and regional qualifying
3. On invitation only
4. Through a lottery

Qualifying runs upward from departmental rounds to regional level, then to the national. The route is why a national title carries the weight it does.

Tournament resources

1. Singles only
2. Team formats including triples and mixed
3. Precision shooting only
4. There are none

Canadian championships run across team formats, triples and mixed among them. Quebec clubs supply a large share of the entries.

Petanque in Canada

1. The federation
2. Entry fees, often topped up locally
3. Television rights
4. Ticket sales

Entry fees make up most of the pot, with local support adding to it. That is why entry numbers decide the prize list at club level.

Tournament resources

1. Thanksgiving
2. Bastille Day, July 14
3. New Year's Day
4. Labor Day

Bastille Day fills the calendar with events across the United States and Canada. French cultural associations often run them alongside local clubs.

Tournament resources

1. Select triples
2. A melee
3. A national qualifier
4. A precision shooting round

A melee draws partners for you, so a player without a team can still enter. Select events need a team arranged in advance.

Tournament resources

1. Warming up
2. Skipping food and water through the early rounds
3. Arriving early
4. Marking boules

Concentration falls away long before the legs do. Players who eat and drink on a schedule hold their form into the late rounds.

Tournament resources

1. The final placings
2. Who plays whom in the first round
3. The prize money
4. The format

The draw sets the opening pairings and the shape of the bracket. Late arrivals are penalized against the clock that starts when the draw is announced.

Tournament resources

1. No channel
2. National television
3. Radio only
4. Cinema screens

French national television carries the big finals, which is a large part of why the sport holds its audience there. Streaming now covers much of the rest.

Events and tournaments

1. Nothing
2. The B competition
3. The final directly
4. A precision shooting round

The B competition gathers early losers and gives them a second day of play. It is the reason a bad draw does not end a trip.

Tournament resources

1. Tradition
2. The bracket size has to be fixed before the draw
3. To limit noise
4. To set the weather

A bracket cannot be drawn until the field is known. Late entries force a redraw and delay every team already waiting.

Tournament resources

1. A dead round
2. A bye for one team
3. A replayed round
4. A forfeit

One team passes through without playing, which is the bye. Good software distributes byes so the same team does not receive two.

Tournament resources

1. Television
2. Keeping a big field on schedule
3. Player fitness
4. Reducing noise

A cap keeps hundreds of games moving through a fixed number of lanes. Organisers announce it before the draw so nobody is surprised mid-game.

Tournament resources

1. About 20
2. About 50
3. More than 100
4. Exactly 7

More than a hundred national federations are affiliated. The sport reaches five continents, from Argentina to Japan and Vanuatu.

What is petanque

1. Indonesia
2. Thailand
3. Philippines
4. Singapore

Thailand fields world-class teams in men's and women's categories alike. Cambodia and Laos also produce international champions.

What is petanque

1. Mauritius
2. Madagascar
3. Seychelles
4. Comoros

Madagascar produces teams that reach world finals. Its players are a regular presence in precision shooting too.

What is petanque

1. Portugal
2. Spain
3. Austria
4. Poland

Spain holds a deep club network, with regional federations across the country. The Spanish name for the sport is petanca.

What is petanque

1. Bocce
2. Boules
3. Bowls
4. Skittles

Boules is the usual English-language term across Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It covers the family of codes along with petanque itself.

What is petanque

1. Belgium
2. Denmark
3. Norway
4. Estonia

Belgium is a consistent presence at the top level, Claudy Weibel among its best-known names. Italy and Spain also contend for medals.

What is petanque

1. A few thousand people
2. Millions, especially in summer
3. Licensed players only
4. Only in Provence

Millions play casually each summer, far beyond the licensed membership. The gap between casual and licensed play is the sport's defining feature.

What is petanque

1. Only in mixed teams
2. In its own championships and categories
3. Not at all
4. Only in precision shooting

Women compete in their own world championships across team formats and precision shooting. Mixed formats run alongside rather than replacing them.

What is petanque

1. 1995 and 2001
2. 2013 and 2019
3. 2020 and 2026
4. 1980 and 1986

Her run of four straight titles came between 2013 and 2019. Cambodia has produced several champions in that discipline.

What is petanque

1. Government programs
2. French and francophone communities abroad
3. School curricula
4. Television alone

Alliance Francaise branches, French cultural associations and francophone communities carry the sport abroad. Local clubs then outgrow that original base.

Club directory

1. The northern desert only
2. Cities including Mexico City, Guadalajara and Merida
3. Coastal resorts only
4. One single club

Mexican clubs cluster in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Merida, Leon and Ensenada. The sport there is called petanca.

Petanque in Mexico

1. One state only
2. Several regions including Florida, California, Louisiana and New York
3. The Rocky Mountains only
4. Alaska

Florida, California, Louisiana and New York carry the deepest club networks. Louisiana's French heritage gives it a particular history with the sport.

Petanque in the United States

1. Accepted for 2028
2. Not selected
3. Accepted in demonstration form
4. Never attempted

Bids have been made and none has succeeded so far. The sport continues at the World Games and the Mediterranean Games instead.

What is petanque

1. Sell boules
2. Unite international boules organizations
3. Run French championships
4. Certify umpires

Several international boules bodies formed the confederation in 1985. Its purpose is to speak for the whole family of codes.

What is petanque

1. Guessing
2. A club and court directory
3. Calling a federation office
4. Waiting for a tournament

A directory lists clubs, public courts and playing days in one place. Many clubs play on a fixed weekday evening and welcome anyone who turns up.

Club directory

1. Members only
2. Free to use
3. Rented at an hourly rate
4. Reserved for tournaments

Public courts are usually free and open. Clubs often meet on them at a set time rather than owning a private ground.

Public courts

1. Ski resorts
2. Wine regions
3. Airports
4. Shopping centers

Wine country in northern California and comparable regions have adopted the sport widely. The pairing of a terrace, a glass and a gravel strip carries the culture intact.

What is petanque

1. A stadium
2. Little space and little equipment
3. A license
4. A coach

A strip of rough ground and a set of boules is the whole requirement. That is why the sport takes root in places with no sports budget at all.

What is petanque

1. French communities
2. Italian communities
3. British communities
4. Government programs

Italian immigration carried bocce into North America, where it built its own club culture. Petanque arrived on a separate track and is a different sport.

Petanque vs bocce

1. It is fast
2. It is low impact and highly tactical
3. It needs strength
4. It is played indoors

The low physical load and the tactical depth fit those events well. A player can compete seriously into their eighties.

What is petanque

1. Marseille
2. Saint-Bonnet-le-Chateau
3. Lyon
4. La Ciotat

Obut has made boules in Saint-Bonnet-le-Chateau, in the Loire, since 1955. The town is now widely called the world capital of the petanque boule.

Boule Selector

1. A baker
2. A mechanic
3. A champion player
4. A journalist

Frederic Bayet, a locksmith, founded the firm with Antoine Dupuy, a mechanic. The Souvignet family joined in 1958 and industrialized production.

Boule Selector

1. 10 percent
2. 30 percent
3. 50 percent
4. 80 percent

Around eighty percent of competition boules worldwide come from Obut. Its factory turns out thousands of boules every working day.

Boule Selector

1. Three years after petanque appeared
2. Three years before petanque appeared
3. The same year
4. A century after

Felix Rofritsch made the firm's first studded boules in 1904, three years before the game was invented at La Ciotat. The family still runs it.

Boule Selector

1. Wooden jacks
2. Balancing and sphericity precision
3. Leisure sets
4. Court construction

Boulenciel builds its reputation on balance and sphericity, machined under digital control. It also produces a signature model developed with Diego Rizzi.

Boule Selector

1. The oldest maker
2. A newer brand that grew through champion endorsement
3. A Thai leisure brand
4. A jack manufacturer

KTK started in the late 2000s and rose quickly, helped through its association with Dylan Rocher. It makes FIPJP-approved competition models.

Boule Selector

1. France
2. Thailand
3. Italy
4. Spain

La Franc produces approved competition boules in Thailand at lower prices than the French makers. Thai manufacturing has widened access to approved boules worldwide.

Boule Selector

1. A budget import
2. A premium maker with distinctive designs
3. A jack specialist
4. A clothing brand

MS Petanque sits at the upper end, known for technology and design rather than volume. It is one of the smaller French makers competing against Obut.

Boule Selector

1. Grams
2. Millimeters
3. Kilograms per square millimeter
4. Degrees

Hardness is quoted in kilograms per square millimeter, typically between about 110 and 145 on competition models. Lower numbers mean a softer boule.

Boule Selector

1. Very hard
2. Very soft
3. Mid-range
4. Not approved

Around 110 sits at the very soft end of the competition range. Soft boules absorb impact and mark easily, which many pointers prefer.

Boule Selector

1. Extra weight
2. Low maintenance and a stable finish
3. Softer impact
4. Lower price

Stainless holds its surface with little care and does not rust. Carbon steel changes over time, which some players want and others avoid.

Boule Selector

1. Hollow
2. Solid through, with a distinct feel and sound
3. Lighter
4. Banned

Bronze models are solid rather than hollow and behave differently on impact. They occupy a small niche beside the steel mainstream.

Boule Selector

1. Cast in one solid piece
2. Two half shells shaped, heat treated, then welded
3. Molded from resin
4. Carved from bar stock

Two half shells are formed, heat treated to set the hardness, then welded and ground true. Balance and sphericity are checked after that.

Boule Selector

1. Belongs to a single player
2. Carries a champion's name and specification
3. Is illegal
4. Is hand made only

Makers build signature models with a champion, tuning weight, hardness and finish to that player's game. Anyone can buy one. The approval rules still apply.

Boule Selector

1. The maker itself
2. The FIPJP
3. The retailer
4. The national club

Approval comes from the FIPJP. Only approved models may be used in official competition. The approval covers the boule exactly in the state it leaves the factory.

Boule Selector

1. FIPJP approved
2. Chrome-plated and unapproved
3. Solid bronze
4. Hand finished

Supermarket sets are typically thin chrome-plated shells with no approval and no engraving. They are fine for a garden and refused in competition.

Boule Selector

1. Look decorative
2. Change how the boule grips the ground
3. Reduce weight
4. Identify the owner

Grooves change how a boule bites and slows on landing. Some makers offer a wide choice of patterns so a player can tune that behavior.

Boule Selector

1. It loses weight
2. The surface develops a patina that alters grip
3. It shrinks
4. It softens

Carbon steel builds a patina through play, so the feel in the hand changes with it. Stainless stays far closer to how it arrived.

Boule Selector

1. Refuse to help
2. Can supply a matching replacement
3. Require a whole new set
4. Send a different model

Most makers can supply a single replacement in the same model, weight and diameter. Keeping the engraved specification makes that request straightforward.

Boule Selector

1. Color choice
2. The range of diameters and weights offered
3. Packaging
4. Advertising

A maker offering the full legal span of diameters and weights can fit any hand. Ranges that stop at the middle sizes leave some players without a proper match.

Boule Selector

1. Faster games
2. Indoors without damaging floors
3. In water
4. At night

PVC sets let a club use a gym or hall floor without marking it. They are a winter solution in cold regions rather than a competition product.

Equipment

1. Playing more games
2. Scoring a fixed number of attempts at a fixed target
3. Buying better boules
4. Watching finals

Twenty attempts at one target, scored out of twenty, gives a number to beat. Without a number, a session is only exercise.

Training drills

1. Changing distance every throw
2. Holding one distance until the score stabilizes
3. Using a different boule each time
4. Playing against someone

Holding one distance lets a player read the ground and repeat a motion. Changing everything at once hides what is working.

Training drills

1. Impresses team-mates
2. Turns a vague feeling into a trend you can watch
3. Replaces technique work
4. Decides team selection

A percentage across sessions shows if a change helped or hurt. Feeling in the arm is a poor judge of a small improvement.

Shooting

1. No, a partner is required
2. Yes, pointing and shooting both train solo
3. Only shooting
4. Only with a coach

Both disciplines train alone, which is one of the sport's practical advantages. A target, a circle and a notebook cover most of what a session needs.

Training drills

1. Slows the opponent
2. Repeats the same physical and mental start every time
3. Looks professional
4. Saves energy

Doing the same thing before every throw removes variables the player controls. Under pressure, that routine is what holds the motion together.

Grip and stance

1. Long and detailed
2. Short and clear
3. Silent
4. Loud

A stressed player processes short, clear instructions and loses long ones. Teams that practice saying less late in a game convert more of it.

Strategy

1. The first end
2. Playing at 12 to 12
3. The warm-up
4. The draw

Closing a game is where matches are lost, so it repays rehearsal. Setting a practice game to start at 12 to 12 trains exactly that.

Strategy

1. Throw at full power
2. Walk the lane and look at the surface
3. Change boules
4. Warm up elsewhere

Walking the lane reveals slopes, hollows and loose patches before they cost a point. A minute spent looking beats three ends spent guessing.

Reading terrain

1. Nothing
2. A game that falls apart when the jack goes long or short
3. Better scores
4. Slower play

Opponents set the jack where it hurts. A player comfortable only at seven meters gets exposed the moment it lands at nine.

Training drills

1. Improves steadily
2. Falls once fatigue builds
3. Stays identical
4. Depends only on the boule

Accuracy drops with fatigue, sooner than most players expect. Teams plan who shoots late with that in mind.

Shooting

1. Change boules
2. Identify the two or three ends that decided it
3. Practice more of what you already do well
4. Blame the terrain

Two or three ends usually decide a close game. Finding them turns a loss into a training plan rather than a mood.

Strategy

1. It looks good
2. The arm feels nothing wrong even when the motion varies
3. It replaces practice
4. It measures distance

A player rarely feels the difference between two slightly different swings. A phone on the ground shows it in seconds.

Grip and stance

1. Nothing
2. The first ends of the first game
3. The whole day
4. Only shooting

Cold starts show up in the opening ends, where the points count the same amount. Ten minutes of easy throws removes most of that loss.

Training drills

1. Attempt a spectacular shot
2. Take the most reliable route to the point available
3. Shoot the jack
4. Pass

One point conceded is cheaper than an end lost through a low-percentage attempt. Spectacular choices belong where the alternative is worse.

Strategy

1. Shooting
2. Pointing
3. Jack throwing
4. Measuring

Pointing wins ends from the first weeks and trains alone easily. Shooting needs a consistency that takes seasons to build.

Training drills

1. Their boules
2. The distances and shots they avoid
3. Their club
4. Their score

Players reveal their comfort zone quickly. Setting the jack outside it is the cheapest tactical gain in the game.

Strategy

1. One long session a month
2. Short regular sessions
3. Only tournaments
4. Only watching

Frequent short sessions build a repeatable motion faster than rare long ones. Twenty focused minutes beats two distracted hours.

Training drills

1. Arm speed alone
2. A repeatable release point and arc
3. Boule weight
4. Foot position

The height and timing of the release set the arc, which in turn sets the distance. Players who rush the release lose distance control first.

Grip and stance

1. Throw faster
2. Slow the breath and keep the routine
3. Change technique
4. Talk more

Slowing the breath and holding the routine keeps the motion intact. Rushing is the usual first symptom of pressure.

Strategy

1. Stand further back only
2. Shrink the target circle
3. Use heavier boules
4. Play faster

Shrinking the target keeps the same motion and raises the standard. Distance can then be varied separately once the score holds.

Training drills

1. A federation license
2. A patch of ground, a few sets of boules and a fixed playing time
3. A clubhouse
4. A sponsor

Ground, boules and a time people can rely on carry a club through its first year. Everything else can follow once people are turning up.

Club directory

1. To sell them later
2. So a newcomer can play on their first visit
3. For umpires
4. To replace broken sets

A newcomer who has to buy boules before trying the sport usually never comes back. Loaner sets remove that barrier entirely.

Club directory

1. Loses members
2. Holds attendance better
3. Needs more courts
4. Plays worse

A fixed evening lets people build the club into their week. Arranging each session over messages costs more effort and draws fewer people.

Club directory

1. Select triples
2. A melee with drawn partners
3. Singles knockout
4. Precision shooting

Drawing partners puts a newcomer beside an experienced player without anyone choosing sides. It is the format clubs use to keep the door open.

Club directory

1. Two
2. Eight or more
3. One
4. Thirty-two

Sixteen games run at once in a first round of 32 teams, so a club needs enough lanes to avoid a long queue. Running in two waves is the usual answer when space is short.

Tournament resources

1. Look official
2. Record results and settle later disputes
3. Slow the day down
4. Replace umpires

A signed sheet is the record an organiser needs when two teams remember a score differently. It also feeds the ranking where points decide placings.

Scoresheet generator

1. Bad weather
2. Every task resting on one person
3. Poor boules
4. Too many members

Clubs collapse when the single organiser stops. Splitting the calendar, the equipment and the communication across three people is what prevents it.

Club directory

1. Paid advertising
2. A listing in a club directory with its playing time
3. Printed flyers only
4. Waiting

Most new players search before they ever visit. A listing carrying the playing time and the meeting point does the recruiting on its own.

Add a club

1. It needs training
2. Anyone can play a real game within ten minutes
3. It is expensive
4. It requires a stadium

The rules are learnable in minutes and mixed ability plays together without handicaps. That combination is rare in any sport.

Tournament resources

1. Repaving yearly
2. Raking level, filling hollows and watering when dry
3. Nothing
4. Replacing the surface each season

Raking, filling and occasional watering keep a surface playing true. Left alone, hollows form where players land boules week after week.

Court dimensions

1. Buying boules
2. Checking with whoever manages the land
3. Printing shirts
4. Setting a fee

Parks departments decide what a group may do on their ground and when. A conversation first avoids the club losing its spot later.

Club directory

1. Shooting first
2. Rules, then how to hold and release, then pointing
3. Scoring rules only
4. Buying equipment first

A beginner needs to know what the game is asking, then how to release a boule, then somewhere to aim. Shooting can wait until pointing is comfortable.

Club directory

1. Iceland
2. Spain
3. Finland
4. Brazil

Spain runs petanca escolar in a standing category with its own competitions. School play is far less developed in English-speaking countries.

Club directory

1. Adult boules only
2. Approved boules suited to their category
3. Plastic boules
4. No boules

Approved junior models exist at lighter weights and smaller diameters. The rest of the rules are identical to the adult game.

Boule Selector

1. Longer games
2. Short games and a shorter jack distance
3. Heavier boules
4. Silence

Shorter distances and shorter games keep attention and produce success early. Success early is what brings a child back.

Club directory

1. Physical strength
2. Aim and judgment rather than power
3. Height
4. Speed

A child can beat an adult through better judgment, which is unusual in sport. That leveling is why families play it together.

What is petanque

1. Tournament training
2. Somewhere the whole family can play together
3. Resale value
4. Storage

Most home courts get built so several generations can play in the same place. That motivation shapes the size and the setting more than any rule does.

Club directory

1. The same distance
2. Over shorter distances set in the rules
3. Further
4. From outside the circle

Shorter jack distances are written into the rules for younger categories. Everything else about the game stays the same.

Formats

1. Steel competition boules
2. Soft indoor boules on a gym floor
3. Wooden balls
4. No boules

Soft indoor sets let a school use a gym floor without damaging it. The game plays the same way at a shorter distance.

Club directory

1. Minimes
2. Pointeurs
3. Tireurs
4. Milieux

French youth play runs through benjamins, minimes, cadets and juniors. Pointeurs, tireurs and milieux are team roles, not age groups.

Formats

1. Wooden balls rolled slowly
2. Metal balls, with a running throw
3. Plastic balls indoors
4. No target ball

Volo uses metal balls and allows a run-up before the throw. Petanque removed that run-up, which is where its name comes from.

Petanque vs bocce

1. Its scoring
2. Its longer terrain and larger, heavier balls
3. Its jack color
4. Its indoor setting

Lyonnaise plays on a long terrain with balls larger and heavier than petanque boules. It is a separate code with its own federations.

Petanque vs bocce

1. The target ball
2. The bias, which curves the bowl
3. The scoring
4. The team sizes

A lawn bowl is weighted to curve, so players read a line rather than a landing spot. A petanque boule is symmetrical and runs straight.

Petanque vs bocce

1. On open rough ground
2. On a prepared court with side boards
3. On grass without limits
4. Indoors only

Bocce courts carry side boards and a prepared surface. Petanque asks for rough ground and no enclosure at all.

Petanque vs bocce

1. None
2. Up to three
3. Ten
4. Any number

Jeu provencal allows a short run-up of up to three steps, plus a longer terrain. It is often called la longue for that reason.

Formats

1. The 1900s
2. Ancient Rome and earlier
3. The Middle Ages only
4. The 1800s

Boules games trace back through the Middle Ages to Rome, then earlier still. Petanque is the young member of a very old family.

What is petanque

1. The cochonnet
2. The pallino
3. The boliche
4. The but

Bocce calls its target ball the pallino. Petanque players say jack, cochonnet or bouchon.

Petanque vs bocce