Petanque Coaching. Good or Bad?

Coaching.  Good or Bad?

Coaching is certainly the key, catching new players and young players alike and giving them the basics, not of the sport but of the coaching structure. Get the players asking how they can improve and develop their game. Any coaching with established players will bring a dip in performance until the problems they have are ironed out.  This is the frustrating problem with coaching however it is also the answer.  The improvement of players will push the keener players to try even harder. Play better and not accept the standard of hitting three boule an end is job done when not of those hits result in a carreau. The push will come with coaching. The bar needs to be raised but it is going to be a long hard road.

Improve your game

Players looking to improve their game will always benefit from coaching. Taking the time to want to get better at your sport is the first step, but for some players, it can be a difficult and sometimes a backward step. Here we look closely at the coach, the coaching and the players looking to improve.

Petanque is just one of those games you can play straight away. The rules maybe a bit complicated at first but nearly everyone can throw a boule in the direction of another. Players who play with experienced players will also get the backspin throw fairly quickly. They are then off to play the game and any bad habits get ground in to their play. This is not to say they are bad players. I have seen many people who have been playing for years adapting their stance, throw and tactics to accommodate the built in errors. This can be as simple as throwing the boule softer with no backspin to the more extreme action of landing two feet off line for the boule to screw sidways to the jack because the thumb is giving side spin and they are making allowances when they throw. These teams can be difficult to beat as sometimes their boule are not always where you expect them to be. Six boule thrown towards the jack can cover a lot of ground, back boule are placed there by a bad throws. Front short boule again find themselves in the way of your team.  To see an inexperienced player spin a boule in from the side round your great front boule can catch many players out.

The Coach

So the coach has a difficult task with these established players who win a fair few games in their current style. The coach will know these players will decline in performance and find it very hard to play to the new style. They enjoy the game and anyway, did they not beat you last week? You remember you had a bit of steam coming from your ears. How we laughed!

The decline in play is to be expected in any sport after coaching. It is recognised by coaches but they need to get this point over to players in their care. Most will scoff at the thought of getting worse before they get better and this is why many coaches do not offer their expertise.  Many wait for the request and to be honest I think this is the right approach.