Advanced PointingHard Piste

Advanced Pointing

Hard Piste

Over our coaching tip series we have focused on soft pitches and how to adapt your tactics to suit. We examined the idea of shooting a boule that will not move and how that maybe a bad choice of tactic. Pointing into a crowded head may seem a little dull but, levering the jack out of a head for points will turn a stalemate game into a winning one. A close game on a deep piste may sometimes feel like a battle in the trenches. The game will always be tight because the point’s circle (the distance between their closest boule and the jack) will usually be tiny. Moving the jack with three or more of your boule left will help the situation. Remember continued tight ends may leave the result down to chance as well as skill. Taking a big end on a deep piste may win the game early on with the odd point between the teams here and there you should get to thirteen first.

However we have looked at deep pistes before. Battling in confined heads in a war of attrition. As the soldiers in the trenches longed for movement they could only look skyward at the fast and furious air battles where speed won or lost the day.

In Petanque adapting to different terrains is the key to success. Fast and furious battles can be a factor on rock hard pistes. Here we will look at lighting fast pitches where the boules never seem to stop rolling. We have all had nightmares on fast pitches as we bring the landing spot of our throw closer and closer to the circle to try and control the boule. Successful teams on fast piste will shoot anything they can. The point’s circle may become the entire piste. The reason for this is simple, it can be very difficult to point on a fast pitch but shooting boule to boule is the same on any surface. This is why we have included this tip under focus and concentration. You cannot get away with a bad shot on a fast pitch. The boules seem to have a mind of their own and boule that look good turn out to be very poor indeed. Every boule played needs thought and focus.