Tight game. Last end. 10-11 to opposition. Long distance. Opposition fails to point in within a meter of the bouchon, handing us at least a point but we haven’t measured anything yet. Team mate relieved that we have been handed a lifeline responds to the opposition’s call for 1 point to us by muttering something like, one yes. At that moment the oppo kicks the bouchon after having realised that we were actually lying for two. I call it out and say it is bad gamesmanship. Oppo gets upset and personal about it and starts getting aggressive and explaining that it was well within the rights to do that once my team mate agreed the score. Everyone gets upset, we win the next end and the opponent refuses to shake my hand. What is the moral of the story? I must admit, I haven’t studied the rule book but I have come across people who like bending them in their favour sometimes.

I have been calling the bouchon the coach or cochonnet for decades. This weekend a friend in La Ciotat informed me that coche s an old French word for stagecoach! It's unlikely that we would throw a stagecoach 10 meters! Cochonnet is a Parisien term that the players in the South detest. Apparently the official term is Le But, the little ball and most players use Bouchon. What faux pas have you discovered in this game?

Interesting stuff, I had my 2nd 2nd place of the season last weekend we won 4 and drew 1 9/9 , the draw was against a good team, I was the weak link and pointed average all day but out pointed our opponents until the draw, pressure and lack of shot options cost me , my playing partners were kind but did say going forward I need to develop my pointing shot options so that's what im going to do , so I need a higher and a lower point , advice on practice routines needed please , the pressure was expected and the inner tennis book will help to cope with that im sure

I played the team of Hatchadorian/Riviera/Fernandez with a scratch team at Valréas last weekend in the afternoon session. My team was pretty good and we gelled quite well for a scratch team. I was pointing on a tough surface and playing 90-95% and I had managed to hit the shots I had to. So going into the afternoon we were confident. Then after a mix of barrage and a 4 hour wait we saw the draw. My team mates were intimidated but I was up for the challenge and truly excited. First end we played 5 perfect points and they shot well 5 times. The last boule was a miss by my shooter and we lost 1. So a decent start. Every end after that was pretty much rinse a repeat. We point well, they hit well but we find ourselves 10-0 down. So we change tactic and attack and shoot 6 and score 4. I miss my last shot by millimetres but it’s a miss. Next end my shooter misses once and casquette once. We are in trouble and I have to shoot the bouchon. I miss the first time but shoot well and the next is a shot that I prefer not to mention. So we lose and the lessons are interesting. They were totally relaxed until we attacked back. Then the cracks started to surface. This means when I meet them again I’ll play a different game in terms of boule placement. When the crowd was gathering after the first end they were under immense pressure. The Irishman as I’m now known was playing well and as an unknown I held an advantage. In future I’ll press that uncertainty even more. I should have used the crowd more. They were vulnerable at exactly 6 meters which my team didn’t want to play as they preferred longer distances. They don’t shoot a boule behind the bouchon. No matter how close it is. It’s an accepted rule in France. This makes them vulnerable and exposes a great opportunity to pressure the pointer and middle. They are not invincible and with the right team and lessons learnt I’m sure I could either beat them or score many more points

Tomorrow it starts, one week of pleasure. Im not putting any expectations on my shoulders regarding medals. I just gonna have fun, relax and do my best in every boule. Maby it will take me to a medal. We are starting with Mixed Triplets tomorrow morning. And over the week ill play, mixed double, double, triplets and single as the last class. Maby i skip single this year. Depends on how tired i am in the end of the week. Had some pain in my back for several months to so this will also be a part of my decision for the singles. Ill try to update my games here and reflections over the week. Maby i need some mental advice along the week 😂😎. And if the petanque turns to crap, ill do some Beer reviews instead 😂😂🍺🍺😂😂 Cheers!