“A simple fun game to play for people of all ages, genders and sizes”
Pétanque
The Sidcup Petanque Club started with only one team in 2014. They played in the Kent Petanque League (KPL) Summer League, which is normally from April to September, and added another team a year later. In 2018 we became an official section within the Sidcup Recreation Club.
In 2023 our first team, the Sidcup Reckers, will be in Division One of the KPL, with our second team, the Sidcup Rollers in Division Four, just 4 seasons after starting at the bottom in Division Seven.
We also have some of the hardy squad members that compete in the KPL Winter League under the name Sidcup Sleighers during the winter months, October through to March.
All the League games are played on a Wednesday evening. We start at 8pm and normally finish around 10pm so there’s time for another drink. All the other clubs are based in Kent and these are all either clubs (like us) or local country pubs.
If you are wanting to join our section and play in a league or simply be a social player and have some fun, all newcomers are welcome. The rules are very simple to follow, and are very similar to lawn bowls.
When the weather is kind we normally come to the Club on a Sunday (12 – 2ish) for fun practice sessions and in the summer, we also have evening sessions on Tuesdays from 7ish.
We also have spare boules so if you fancy trying Petanque, aka French Boules, feel free to play or just pop along to one of the weekly practice sessions and say hello (or Bonjour).
Feel free to give me a call for more details or you can find all the relevant details via the KPA website – click here
Martin
Chairperson – Pétanque Section
The Basic Rules
The main objective of the game is to throw small metal balls (boule) as close as possible to a wooden ball – known as cochonnet or jack – from the player’s fixed position in a circle. Petanque loosely translates to ‘feet together’ and refers to the player having both his legs together firmly on the ground while making a throw.
Played by two teams either consisting of up to three players (triples), two players (Doubles) or Singles, the game is played on either open space or marked terrain. For sporting events, it is played on marked terrain, traditionally marked using strings that are wound around nails that have been driven into the ground.
The game begins with both teams tossing a coin to decide who goes first. The team that wins the coin toss will then place the circle, before throwing the jack, and the first boule to start the game. A boule is considered the act of throwing a ball towards the jack. The first player has to ensure that the jack is thrown between six to 10 meters away from the circle.
Once the first boule is thrown, the opposing team will then throw a boule. After which, the team with the ball further away from the jack will be given a turn to throw another boule. This continues until the team that has the turn gains a point by having a ball closest to the jack, or until they run out of boules. Once a team has run out of boules, the opposing team will then continue throwing the boules until they have also run out.
Each game consists of several rounds (which is also known as ends). Each round ends when both teams have finished their boules. If the ball completely crosses the boundary line in a marked terrain, then it is considered a dead ball and will not be counted.
At the end of the round, the team with the ball closest to the jack scores a point for every ball that is closer than the opposing team’s balls. The winner of each round will begin the next, and rounds proceed until one of the team reaches 13 points in total, whereby they are considered the winner of the game.