The benefits of playing the sport of pétanque

Although pétanque is not an aerobic sport, it does demand a high degree of physical stamina to play throughout an entire day, a requirement of many tournaments and competitions. Equally, it does not require speed or athleticism but precision and consistent rhythm to achieve good results. For these reasons, it allows players who may not feel able to compete in more physically explosive sports to experience the enjoyment of taking part in a genuinely competitive environment, often for the first time in their lives.

If players are not physically capable of racing around a football field or a tennis court they often 'switch off' sport at a very early age and never return. Pétanque gives them the opportunity to compete on level terms because the emphasis is on skill and accuracy, rather than power or reaction time. It requires judgement of distance and line and the ability to vary your technique and delivery depending on what type of surface or slope is being used, in many ways having more in common with golf than most other sports.

The sport was developed from Jeu Provencal, a game which required players to run several steps before releasing a boule in shooting style or to balance on one leg whilst trying to get close to the target jack.  An experienced player, so affected by arthritis that he could no longer play, devised a version in which you had to stand in a circle whilst delivering your boules and so the sport was born at La Ciotat in France in 1907.

 Thus one of its merits is that it was devised for, and can be played by, people with any of a number of disabilities which would otherwise debar them from competition. The rules actually incorporate clauses for those who need to play from a wheelchair or who suffer the loss of a lower limb.Asthmatics, amputees and even those with cerebral palsy can enjoy a social, yet competitive involvement.
 
It is also one of the few sports in which men and women, boys and girls, the retired and their grandchildren can compete on equal terms, either in discrete competitions or altogether. It is promoted as a family sport. Particularly with youngsters, it helps to develop the ability to concentrate for long periods, a quality less obviously employed in today's culture of instant gratification and rapid technological response.

In England, it is played, with one exception, in an outdoor setting so, at the very least, it gets people outside breathing fresh air away from the computer environment in which they may be obliged to work and live. It is also a very social sport which encourages and enables interaction with others.

To succeed in pétanque, as in any other sport, the self-discipline of practising technique to produce accuracy and consistency is important.  Another benefit is that it puts teamwork, strategy and tactical awareness at a high premium. Decisions have to made constantly about which team member should play next (as there is no predetermined sequence of play as in, for example, bowls), what shot should be attempted, when to defend and when to attack, etc.

Players have to learn to observe the relative strengths and weaknesses of their own and the opposing team and to create strategies which give them the best opportunity of winning the game. Many of these skills have their application in the decision-making which may be needed in careers later in life.

The heightened importance of the role of psychology in modern sport, in particular the process of finding out about your own capabilities and limitations in terms of mental strength, is just as prominent in pétanque as any other competitive situation.  World Championships are won as much in the mind as with the body and, occasionally, a team with lesser skills can beat one deemed to be generally stronger because of their better preparation, concentration and mental strength – and maybe the odd bit of luck!

                                                                                               Brian Stote – November 2010

We are here...

Bressingham Pétanque Club

Bressingham Village Hall

High Road

Bressingham

IP22 2AT

View Bressingham Petanque Club in a larger map

Note, the village shop is in the wrong place.  It should be more or less opposite the entrance to the car park

Surrounded!

While the Diss club were re-surfacing their piste, I was busy putting together the timber surround at ours.

The fence posts came from the auction rooms at a cost of £30.  A few smaller lengths were salvaged from Lindsay's old fence.  Half-lap joints were used to connect the timbers, and then screwed together.  Still need to finish off (I ran out of screws) but it is looking neater and hopefully will stop boules from running away.

Results...

Laxfield Ladies 0, Bressingham 4

Could easily have ended in a draw as there were a couple of close games... Dave/Jordan won 13-4, Lindsay/Adam won 13-12, Dave/Adam won 13-10, Lindsay/Jordan won 13-8.  Adam and Jordan hadn't played for years, so well done to them.

Yaxley Cherry Tree v Cotton - match moved.

Next match is at home against Yaxley on April 1st at 1pm... just hope the weather is a little better then.

Suffolk Coastal League - Explorer Division results

Well it's more a case of non-results...

Bressingham v Yaxley Cherry Tree - rearranged for 1st April
Trowel & Hammer Cotton v Laxfield A - rearranged for 1st April
Laxfield B v Laxfield Ladies - postponed

Bressingham will be away to Laxfield Ladies on Sunday March 18th.  Start due at 1pm.