@Jeroen Saelens For me what worked is to use the full backswing. For a while it seemed awkward because i was used to do a short backswing. The full backswing is how I was able to improve my shooting without forcing especially at 9 or 10 meters. I still have a lot of progress and work to do but I see a big difference already. My shooting is straighter than before. I try to feel like my arm is detached from my body and is the only thing moving. Another thing that helped me is how to hold the boule. I noticed that the top of my fingers were resting in a diagonal instead of being perpendicular to the trajectory of the boule. To rectify this, I lay my thumb naturally on the boule and then I lay my fingers. The position of the thumb forces me to lay my fingers more centered on the boule and more perpendicular to the trajectory. I believe that is an improvement in the direction of the throw with less misses on the sides. But this change is quite recent, so I need more time to confirm that. One more thing is to make sure to break your wrist until the release and then open it. A lot of players open the wrist before the release and lose the benefit of the backspin.

I forgot to mention that after I lay my fingers, my thumb does not touch the boule during the throw.

As the French say: Merde

It means shit but it is a way to say good luck and it is not offensive in that way.

In south Florida we play club tournaments with 3 games three times a week all year. I was often feeling tired and had regular pain in my arm and/or shoulder. This had a big impact on my motivation and my shooting. One day during the summer (low season here) I started to go to Pilates/Yoga just to accompany my wife, instead of staying home. Now 2 years later, my wife has stopped to go to Pilates/Yoga and I am going alone because I realized a long time ago that I have no more pain and my motivation is much better. No pain was the click for me on progressing with my shooting. I feel like the Yoga is my recovery part after petanque. I could really work on my throw and not worried about having pain later. And I started to improve my throw. It is like everything is tied together.

The arm is the only thing moving. Impressive!