At our first AGM on 1st November,
2000, we adopted the BPA rules as our
club rules with certain exceptions. You
can find a
full version of the rules on the British
Pétanque Association’s web site. They also have a page where the
national umpire discusses the rules.
If you don’t know the rules, this is the page
for you!
The game can be played by:
individuals (3 boules each)
pairs (3 boules each)
triples (2 boules each)
To start, a coin is tossed and the winning side
has control of the jack - called the cochonnet, or “coche” for short. A
circle 35-50 cm is drawn on the ground and all boules are thrown from
inside it. The coche is thrown out to between 6 and 10 metres from the
circle. The first player throws a boule as near the coche as possible
(this is called pointing). Then:
A player from the other side either tries to knock the first boule
out (this is called shooting), or tries to get nearer the coche.
The team whose boule is furthest away continues to throw until
they get nearest.
When all boules have been thrown by both teams all those nearest
the coche belonging to the same team score one point each.
The scoring team again throws the coche to begin a new end.
The game is played up to 13 points.
The club owns copies of ‘The BPA Competition
Organiser’s Manual’ and ‘PÉTANQUE: A Comprehensive and Structured
Coaching Course’, which are both available for members to borrow.
