Petanque Fanny. Good or Bad

Petanque Fanny. Good or Bad

Petanque is a sport that has a lovely history and is enjoyed by so many people. Players of all ages play the sport that has moved from pastime to the World championship arena. One of the quirky details of our sport is the Fanny. Dreaded by some, ignored by others and the rest look on in disbelief as strange customs and rituals are carried out in a strange, almost religious manners.

The question is this. Does the public humiliation of players new to the game put people off the sport?  I can remember kissing a bare bum of an 18 inch high gnome elegantly placed in the surround of a loo seat at the Bank House pub in Maidstone. The whole play at the venue was stopped and a bell rang while this took place.  Very, very humiliating. From that moment on we always have two tasks in any game. 1. Score a point, 2.Win the game. 

The history of the fanny dates back to the games very beginning in Lyon, France. The shame of a Fanny was to, as legend tells us, kiss the backside of the ugliest prostitute on the square where the game was played. The bare backside can still be seen on fanny trophies and medals. How a gnome got involved we will never know.

So newcomers to the sport have a minefield of fannies awaiting them. Is this a form of bullying that should be driven from the game or just a nice quirky ritual carried out within the ranks of more established players? The two tasks we have in a game are not as unrelated as it may seem. Scoring a point gives you the jack and the position of said piece of wood. New players seem to always throw all their boule without thought to the consequences. Last week we were 8 nil up against a fairly new team. On a lightning fast pitch I placed my last boule 6 inches in front of the jack. They where holding with a boule 4 inches to the side with two boule to play. The fanny was off and we were happy with this result as we do not wish to fanny any one without due cause. One of these causes I must say is to stop a good team getting the jack. Anyway you all know what happened. The opposition threw both boule and with the last one knocked up my boule to put us on 9-0 instead of 8-1. So not all fannies are as blatant as they may seem. Some people fanny themselves though lack of thought.  Maybe the fanny is a method of coaching involving pain and humiliation. Remember you do not have to throw your boule. Take what you have if there is a risk of losing the end and get hold of that jack!

Generally it is always disappointing to lose. It is how you approach the game that will dictate how you respond to losing 13-0

As Sir Alan Sugar would say in his London Accent “You Lost. I am sorry but you bl**dy well lost. It’s as simple as that, you lost. It does matter by how much.“  You know, he has a point here. Petanque is one of those games played to a conclusion. The first to 13 points. I have lost to 11 and been far more disappointed with the result than a 13-0 loss. In some respects, it is much worse to score a point and still lose as it means you had a chance to control the game but blew it. You threw the jack and the opposition still beat you. If you get fannied it could be you just never got into the game because the opposition out played you. The jack position was totally dictated by them and you never got a chance. One occasion I was fannied was by a team who played at 6.1 metres the whole game. We knew they where rubbish at anything over 8 metres but we never had chance to get the jack longer. One discussion after the game was whether we should have pointed strongly onto the jack to move it back even though this may waste a boule to get it longer. This may be a tactic to keep up your sleeve. You may only ever use it once but it is worth remembering.

In the past we won a competition, accidents happen! With 5 wins plus 52 on a snake system. Our results included two 13-0 results. The 2^nd team were 5 wins plus 50. A close call and a 13-1 win against the two fannied teams may have pleased our opposition but we, by our gracious approach would have cost us the competition. We know it is not all about winning but next time you are playing a new team in a competition I suggest you just play and what happens, happens. A 13-0 result in most places is not dwelt upon and a loss is a loss. Will it put the newcomers off the game? Lose 13-0 to them and see!