Cup loss · Petanque Performance Academy

Cup loss

We played the third round of the cup today — and funny enough, it was against my former team. I was actually looking forward to seeing some of the old folks again.

On paper we were clear favorites, but organizing a full squad for the day turned out to be difficult. Personally, I wasn’t planning to play at all. After a long pétanque weekend the week before, I wanted to spend this one with my kids and partner. But since we were short on players, I signed up — sorry family.

Têtes-à-têtes

After the Têtes we were already behind, winning only one out of six games.

My own game was a strange one. I played on the outer court, which was noticeably tilted. I tried several times to place the cochonnet close to the lower sideline, knowing my opponent usually plays high balls and that the terrain could cause trouble. But every time, the cochonnet bounced back toward the middle, and my game plan fell apart.

The game stayed fairly open. When I finally managed to land the cochonnet at the sideline, my opponent scored three points — suddenly I was down 8:10.

Next mène, I answered with a cracking carreau sur place, scoring three points: 11:10.

At 11:11, my opening boule was far too long, and my opponent placed his boule perfectly in front of the cochonnet, maybe 5 cm. I had to choose: shoot or point. It was a tough decision and took me a moment, but in the end I decided to shoot, hoping to send the cochonnet out of play. I missed and lost the game.

Afterwards, I was asked by the my own team player who won his Tête, why I chose to shoot. I told him that my shooting had been solid throughout the game and I was confident I’d hit. Looking back, I’d make the same decision again.

Would you have chosen too shoot?

Doublettes & Triplettes

In the Doublettes we won two out of three — I played well as pointer — but we were still behind overall, so we needed both Triplettes.

Knowing the opponent team inside out, I expected them to field their strongest players in the Mixed Triplette. We countered with what we believed was our best lineup: our lady plus my Doublette. We won our game against strong opponents, but unexpectedly lost the other Triplette.

Summary

Overall, we had the stronger team, but mentally we weren’t present early enough during the Têtes — and that’s why we deserved to lose.

What do you do to be totally focused straight from the beginning?

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Cup loss