The game is always played in teams. In competitions there are three different configurations:
- three players per team (two boules per player), called triplets
- two players per team (three boules per player), called doublets
- one player per team (three boules per player), called singles
The boules are made of metal and weigh between 650 g and 800 g, with a diameter of between 71 mm and 80 mm. The jack is made of wood or synthetic material and has a diameter of between 25 mm and 35 mm.
The playing area should be at least 15 meters (49 ft) long, by 4 meters (13 ft) wide.
A player from the team that wins the toss starts the game by drawing a circle on the playing field (35 to 50 cm in diameter). Both feet must be inside this circle, touching the ground, when playing. The player then throws the jack to a distance of between 6 and 10 metres from the starting circle. The jack must be visible and at least 1 metre from any obstacle or boundary, otherwise it must be thrown again.
A player from the team that wins the toss then plays the first boule, trying to place it as close to the jack as possible. Then the opposing team must get closer to the jack and keeps playing until they succeed. When they do, it is back to the first team to do better, and so forth.
A player may choose to 'place' a boule (get it as near as possible to the jack) or 'shoot' it (attempt to displace another boule). When one team runs out of boules the other team plays their remaining boules. When all boules have been played, that is the end of a 'round', and the winning team scores a point for each boule that is nearer to the jack than the opposing team's nearest boule.
Displacing the jack with a boule is allowed. It is an advantageous (albeit dangerous) play for a skilled player late in a round, when all or most members of his team have played long.
The team that wins a round starts the next one, and a new circle is drawn where the jack ended up in the previous round.
If a boule completely crosses any of the predetermined boundaries, it is considered dead and cannot be scored. Likewise, if the jack is moved and subsequently completely crosses a boundary, the round is scratched and the jack is thrown again. If only one team has boules remaining to throw when this occurs, they receive points for every unplayed ball. Accordingly, the (extremely difficult) play of deliberately shooting out the jack is a winning gambit in some circumstances. "Points for boules in hand" is not, in fact, part of the official rules of the game but is usually played anyway.
A complete game is usually played up to 13 points.
À la pétanque, l'objectif est de marquer des points en plaçant ses boules plus près du but que son adversaire.
Équipes. Dans ce sport, trois combinaisons sont possibles. La triplette, trois contre trois, la doublette, deux contre deux et le tête à tête, un contre un. Toute autre formule est interdite par le règlement officiel. En triplette, chaque joueur dispose de deux boules. Dans les autres configurations, chaque joueur en a trois.
Distance. En catégorie senior le jeu doit se dérouler entre 6 et 10 mètres.
Le terrain. La pétanque se pratique sur tous les terrains. La plupart du temps en compétition, des « cadres » (un cadre est un terrain sur lequel doit se dérouler une partie) sont tracés ; les dimensions officielles sont alors de 15 mètres de longueur pour 4 de largeur, et a minima de 12 mètres sur 3.
Le cercle (de lancer). C'est un rond, tracé sur le sol, dans lequel le joueur doit se tenir pour lancer sa boule. Son diamètre est compris entre 35 et 50 cm.
Début de la partie. L'équipe qui gagne le tirage au sort trace le cercle, lance le but et la première boule.
Déroulement. Une équipe lance ses boules tant qu'elle en a, et tant qu'elle ne fait pas mieux que l'adversaire. Lorsqu'une équipe reprend le point (une boule de l'équipe est la plus proche du but), c'est à l'équipe adverse de jouer, si elle a encore des boules.
Décompte. Lorsque l'ensemble des boules sont lancées, on comptabilise toutes les boules d'une équipe qui se trouvent plus près du but que la plus proche des boules adverses.
Fin de la partie. Une partie se joue en 13 points, éventuellement en 11, pour les parties de poules. Les finales des championnats du monde se déroulent en 15 points.
But nul. Si le but est sorti en dehors des limites autorisées (généralement suite à un tir) ou s'il n'est pas visible (caché par un arbre, de l'herbe, etc.) - sauf si c'est une boule qui le cache - ou encore s'il flotte librement dans une mare d'eau, on distingue deux cas. Si les deux équipes ont encore des boules, ou si, au contraire aucune des deux n'en a plus, la mène est nulle. Sinon, l'équipe qui a encore des boules comptabilise autant de points qu'elle a de boules en main.
As any other competition, HKPC event are based on common rules. These were written keeping in mind 2 objectives.
1- fairness
2- provide enough flexibility to allow a smooth competion and let a maximum number of people to play
It is common to face litigious situation during competitions. The mutual concertation will always be favored. But 2 parties doesn't succeed to find a mutual agreement, the following rules will apply.
- The Petantanque field used to play a game is picked out by the organisers. The purpose id to maximize the different fields occupency. If a team refuses to play on the designated field, it might be considered as a forfeit with a score of 0-13
- The Petanque games will be done in order of appearance
- A team can have some spare players. The spare players will have to pay the inscription fee as the main team members
- In case of late show up of 1 team member, the organisers can decide to nominate a temporary player for replacement. This point of the rules is subject to the following limitation:
- Only one player can be replaced and ONLY for a good reason (referee to give the final decision)
- The temporary player can't be an organizer or referee
- Before a game including temporary players, it will be annouced to the opponent that the team includes a temporary player
- Upon arrival of the official player, the temporary player will be required to leave even in the middle of a game.
- The replacement is only allowed during the pool games. No more replacement during the final phase
Note: The goal of this rules is to allow the competition to flow smoothly and give the opportunity to play to the most of the people - Each team must nominate a captain. The role of the captain is to:
- Decide the strategy
- Gather the team whenever a game has to be played
- Put back the balls and cochonnet at the end of the game in the appropriate basket - In case of contestation, the priority will be given to common agreement. But, if finally, no aggrement is reached, the organisers will act as juges and give the fairest decision possible. It shall be final and irrevocable decision.
- In case of no show the day of the competition, the inscription won't be reimbourse
- In case of exceptional circomstances leading to postpon the competion, a new date will be proposed. It will be given the possibility to the player already registered to keep their inscription for the new scheduled competition or to be integrally reimboursed in case of impossibility
