Keep your head up and all the best for the days to come!

Pretty sad for the sport

hey folks, Sorry, I spent the whole weekend playing a pétanque competition (it was freaking hot) and didn’t find the time to get back to you. So here we go… I‘ve been start playing pétanque roughly 3yrs ago and was immediately infected. Being an ambitious & competive road cyclist and half marathon runner in my younger ages, I hadn’t competed in anything for many years while moving around Europe for work. Then I accidentally run into a group of „senior generation“ Boule players. At first, I just liked to meet the people from my neighborhood that I would usually not cross paths with. Also the game seemed to be a bit too simple to me (as a pointer), but the game proofed me wrong (and still constantly is). Later the same year, we founded our own little Pétanque team/club, with the idea to compete in league games the coming season. Being the youngest player in my mid‑forties felt strange, and by the end of the season (we finished 3rd out of 8), I realized my understanding of how pétanque should be played differed quite a lot from the rest of the team. For the coming season I tried to found another „younger“ team that shared my ambition to play more „french style“. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out and therefore I continued with my old mates as one of their captains. In the meantime I did quite some significant changes to my game, adjusting my shooting and pointing technique, which was frustrating for quite a long time. Overall the season ended well, but despite being very connected to the team and the people, I did not enjoy it and retired from playing with them. Fortunately, a team I knew from my first season was looking for a replacement. Their style of play is different and much closer to what I’m striving for. Now playing two leagues higher (they were promoted twice in a row), I was extremely nervous during the first games and didn’t perform to my own standards. It’s impressive how much your mind dictates your game. If I had to describe myself: I’m not a monster of a player, but I’m strong in tactics. I tend to perfectionize my game, which leads to constant self‑observation and adjustments — something that often can hinder my performance.