Petanque Triples Play. Focus on Team roles. The Shooter

Petanque Triples Play. Focus on Team roles. The Shooter

We looked at the steady pointer role and this session we will look at the Shooter, Yes you will have to wait until the next session to look at the king (or Queen) of triples play, the middle.

Shooters are a funny breed who must have nerves of steel. Shooting boule to boule means all those pesky little stones on the piste play no part of the shooters game. Unless the boule is half buried in the little blighters. So, no lame excuses can cover this players success or failure. A hit is a hit and should be taken as such. A carreau is always the aim unless a straight exit boule will cause problems in the head. They must try to hit every boule they go for and the support from the team is vital. Heads can go down quickly if three or four boule are missed on the trot. Do not hang the shooter out to dry if things are going wrong. No practice is allowed during a game so it is vital the shooter keeps focused and above all warm. At the end of an end even if you have decided to take the points on the ground the shooter should use his boule to hit a target boule. Somewhere the shot will cause no damage so long as you warn the opposition. Why? Well sometimes they will read the game and understand which boule the shooter is going for, accidents can happen when he shoots at a boule they are not expecting. This little practice can help but it can also antagonise so be careful and it is not recommended to do this in timed games.

As triples is a team game it may be decided before the game starts the limit on the number of misses allowed by the team on the shooters behalf. Five and you are out is a popular number. This helps for a few reasons. The team all know where they stand and no flexibility can creep in thus the unit works well. The shooter has a clear idea of how they are playing and understand the team concept. They are there to support the player, encourage and help. They are not there to pander to a false impression of superiority. The confident shooter will hit ten boule out of fifteen and dismiss the five misses as a mistaken exaggeration. Do not get me wrong, this confidence is a good thing and a 75% hit rate will win most tight games. The five misses and you are swapped just takes the pressure off the team and brings the shooter back into the real world for a moment.

The shooter may also point at some stage if the end is going wrong, however it may be that a shot can sometimes be more productive. A holding point can be shot to limit the score the opposition may get. This type of shot will require nerves of steel, as it is an attacking defensive shot. Risk is a difficult thing to assess. A point on the back of an oppositions boule can work superbly as a point limiter but it depends on how many boule the opposition have. We are slipping into tactics here but the fact is the shooter may have to point in key situations. It can be difficult to point after shooting with the last twenty boule but this is the role.

Responsibilities tend to skip around the shooter. Why? I have no idea. They should not throw the jack but could come in handy as a target player to judge the throw from the pointer. They tend not to measure and the scoreboard is a stranger to them. Most of the time you see them (illegally) throwing boule after boule up the side of the piste.

I guess the simple truth is you can win a game if your shooter is playing badly but you have no chance if the pointer and middle are having a nightmare. Positioning of boule in the head can be the way to control a game; the shooter brings the score zooming up the board with bonus hits and carreaus.

One of their key roles is to kill the jack. Never done lightly and demands focus and concentration. Can someone explain why after missing ten boule on the trot a jack wang’s off the piste in a blur?