Anybody here play petanque? You know, the French version of bocce. We learned to play bocce and loved it, then decided to switch to petanque. In bocce, the bowling balls are of different colors so you can tell from a distance which of the balls belong to your team. In petanque, all of the balls are silver and each ball is etched with a differing number of rings. I’ve researched petanque rules, but can’t find anything telling me (a) how the hell you’re supposed to tell from a distance which balls are yours (particularly after making free with the grape); and (b) the significance of those little rings, which I’m guessing are the identification method. Anybody here in the know and willing to fill me in? Merci beaucoup.
Keep in mind that I’ve played petanque only once, and as we had little time, it was more of a demonstration than a real game.
Because there were more of us than there were balls, we had to take turns playing. What happened, more or less, is that those on the sidelines kept track of whose ball was whose, and if confusion erupted (and it often did), the players would ask those people for help.
As for making free with the grape, I wish.
My local pub had a league, and I played with them a few times. The only purpose of the rings is for identification. When playing doubles, the non-throwing partner would stand near the target area and would say which is which. When playing singles, you either walk back and forth alot, or trust your opponent to tell you what is what.
AudreyK and kferr, thanks for your replies. Apparently, then, this game depends upon the honor of your opponent (or your opponent’s buddies on the sidelines) to help you keep track, should your concentration for some reason become fuzzy. Can you say pastis?
For further clarification, I’ll point out that there are six balls total in a petanque set, and the balls are not simply marked “three have one ring, and three have two rings” so that you know you’re the team with either one or two rings. No; it’s “one has one ring, two have two rings, one has three rings, and two have four rings.” C’est logique!