Team Play in petanque Cont....

Team Play Cont.  So we are coming to the end of the Petanque Coaching tips and soon launch a more technical group aimed at Coaches as well as players. Here we are rounding up the series with Team play, Roles and tips to all the team. These tips can play an active part in helping a team to victory even if they are playing total rubbish.

 Match Play Why do they do that?

In serious competitions you will see teams do lots of strange things not usually seen in local league or club play. Some seem odd and some seem quite bizarre. Here we will look at the odd ones to reveal why and how they do the things we snigger at. Also reflect on who gets the last laugh.

Hand slapping.

They play a good shot and the team all go up to the player who threw the boule and slap his / her hand. Well, they did what they was supposed to do, so why the congratulations? It comes from the World championships, both Senior and Junior. It is used as a team bonding method but it also can intimidate the opposition. These celebrations usually occur in the middle of the pitch, so play cannot continue until they move to the appropriate place. Does it help? It is difficult to say, but I have seen teams do it even when they miss! The congratulations are because the player did their best. It is like any fashion in sport. I have seen the opposite work to intimidate a team, when a perfect shot is met with dis interest from the team. We expect our team to play like that all the time attitude can be worrying.

Standing together well away from the head.

This is a method of bonding the team and keeping clear of any accusation of moving when the opposition are playing. It also shows dis interest of the opposition’s play. It literally means "we will come over when you have finished messing about. We will come if you want to check a measure but until then we are staying over here thanks!" I do like this team play. It keeps the team together and tactics can be discussed away from the opposition. You are also showing the team respect but doing this as rarely will they have to ask you to move. It is a blameless position and you are not in danger of keeping the jack live if you regularly get of the piste when you are not playing. The other point is, it stops you getting involved in looking to see what is happening. An opposition team member interfering when they are out of boule is an un necessary act. "Oh they have got a shot for five" can never really be whispered.

The last fact about standing away from the head until it is your turn to play is, you do not get involved with the team hand slapping when you are walking to the circle.

The player without the boule is stood in the circle with the other players.

Can be confusing this! I have waited for a boule to be thrown only to realise the guy squatting in the circle had thrown all his boule! The key here is having thrown their boule the player can give tips to the other players. Slight deviations seen from the circle might actually be shadows or different coloured gravel rather than a deep patch. This can be seen by the previous thrower and pointed out to the next player. Also tactics can be discussed to promote a boule or trail the jack. It is no point suggesting to a colleague something that is impossible when stood in the circle. This is another good play that can make the difference to a tight game, however you only have a minute to throw your boule and groups of players in the circle can draw the attention of the Umpire and opposition.

Standing either side of the head.

In triples it is often seen. I guess because it would be difficult to do in doubles! The shooter in the circle and their two team mates are stood three feet away from the target boule directly opposite. First they act as a focus to the shooter. They can gauge the depth and length of the target boule. The two also act as a giant pair of blinkers. I have called these people something close to that when they step onto another piste to stand in the right position while I was pointing but that’s an old story. Stood either side of the jack they are obscuring a great deal of movement behind the jack from the shooters eyes. They are also protecting the head from boule coming in from other games, but this is in reality very low down the reasons for standing there. They need to be nimble footed because a boule stopped by their feet could stay in the head. More importantly if the boule is marked it can be put back in it’s original position. Yes really! We will look at the new rules next month.