Jumping jacks Last part
In this session we are looking at practice but also an explanation of why you are practicing the shot and how all types of situations can lead to different situations your team will find themselves in. In this end your first boule has held the first four of the oppositions boule. This means when opposition teams play their 5th boule and you still have five in hand, things can get a little desperate for the opposition. The oppositions 5th boule can do lots of things and maybe the opposition are going to go for a dead jack. This can be a controlled shot or a very hard point/shot/wang ( you get the idea and this is not meant to insult anyone). Desperate times call for desperate deeds. The boule the opposition will have in hand could be gold dust if the jack moves on the fifth boule they throw. If the jack goes dead it will be proudly held aloft like a sacrifice to the gods. If the jack jumps towards the back of the piste and stops 10cm from the dead boule line this sixth boule of the opposition may still win the end. 1 against five is not good odds but it can happen. So how do you solve the problem? Let us look at a situation where the jack has jumped to the back of the piste and they are holding with a boule they had missed your boule with earlier in the end approx. 5 feet from the jack. This boule is the closest and makes you play your 2nd boule of the end. This is a shot that you can practice on your own as there are a lot of factors to take into account. Distance is a factor as the jack could be over 10 metres from the circle. The task for your team is to make the opposition play their last boule. I know that is basic stuff but at this point in the end you just need to be on! Look at the scoring zone and make sure your boule is within that five foot circle. I know you have all noticed the five foot circle has a flat end across the back of it where the dead boule line is. Well done! To practice you could draw a circle that is the scoring zone and try to beat the closest boule. In a game situation the opposition will have to play the last boule they have and then you can have some fun and maybe score a few points. There is a debate that to put one of your boule right on the jack will make them play the last boule. Well, of course that is correct. A great point from your team trickles the jack over the dead boule line and the opposition hold up their last boule. You have blown the chance of a big end. What if the pointer of your team is not able to reach the distance to the jack but can beat the closest boule. Who plays next? Another member of your team? You knew the dilemma was coming. Petanque is all about thinking. I have an opinion that the next boule you play needs to be on so the opposition will be out of boule when you next visit the circle with your four boule left to play. But, you ask, what if you make them play the last boule and it is right on the jack because all you focused on was getting on. It could be the opposition are either very brave or very foolhardy as the jack is only 10cm from the dead boule line. A very risky shot to get near the jack. If it moves the jack 13cm with a must reach point, the score will be four to you without playing another boule. Good times! If they do manage to get a very close boule that needs shooting the jack could die as the impact on the boule shocks it over the line. A miss may kill the jack accidently on purpose or you could play a hard point on to the jack / boule in a percentage shot kind of way to kill either for points. I said you could have fun with your last four boule but the main focus on this tactic is to make the opposition play that last boule with your 2nd boule of the end.
Have fun
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