Though darkness was falling swiftly in Wyandotte, I knew that my shooting would need much more development if I wanted to win a few games for Sunday. My usual boules partner, Don was over, so we took to the backyard terrain (ballfield) and played a semi-decent game in the semi-light of the evening. Don won 13 to my 5, not a particularly Foyot-level of play on my part, but I was trying more shots off the boule than would normally be performed.
Welcome to the Midwest Petanque Alliance BLOG. The MPA includes: Zanesfield Petanque Club, Chicago Petanque Club, Minneapolis Petanque Club, Rocket City Petanque Club, and Detroit Petanque Club. The main purpose of this BLOG is the promotion of petanque and petanque related news and photos for the Midwest community. See the links to actual club sites on the right...
Monday, September 27, 2004
Sunday, September 26, 2004
A Nice Cool Sunday for Boules
More and more members are showing up for our Sunday Petanque game - we'll need to expand the piste soon!
Teamed up with Jimmy, I had an opportunity to shoot a few boules - and at 12/12 with only 1 boule left, it was sheer luck that I was able to get the point (the opposition had a near boule) and keep the point.
Ken brought along his "power boules" - very nice indeed, I'll have to consider getting the stainless steel.
Jimmy & I played his team, (Don, Jack, & Ken - 2 boules per to our 2 player-3 boules per). We had a hard time beating the pointing of Don & Ken - and Thierry's father-in-law, Jack was quite a good player for being his first time.
Next week is the tournament (everyone shows at 12:00pm) and so I hear from Michel, it is Tete-a-tete (One Player to One Player). It should be quite a few games, good luck to all.
I'm going to be practicing my shooting, as I rarely shoot, and 1-on-1 Petanque, you have to be both: Pointer/Shooter.
Until then...
Teamed up with Jimmy, I had an opportunity to shoot a few boules - and at 12/12 with only 1 boule left, it was sheer luck that I was able to get the point (the opposition had a near boule) and keep the point.
Ken brought along his "power boules" - very nice indeed, I'll have to consider getting the stainless steel.
Jimmy & I played his team, (Don, Jack, & Ken - 2 boules per to our 2 player-3 boules per). We had a hard time beating the pointing of Don & Ken - and Thierry's father-in-law, Jack was quite a good player for being his first time.
Next week is the tournament (everyone shows at 12:00pm) and so I hear from Michel, it is Tete-a-tete (One Player to One Player). It should be quite a few games, good luck to all.
I'm going to be practicing my shooting, as I rarely shoot, and 1-on-1 Petanque, you have to be both: Pointer/Shooter.
Until then...
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Two Games Played at the Ballfield
Don and I have been practicing our boule shooting by purposely playing games with close cochons. In so doing, we're able to work out strategy, practice our shooting/pointing at a workable range, and get in a couple of competitive games before darkness falls on the Wyandotte piste.
The second game was close: 12-12 before I pointed a biberon (baby's bottle) to the cochon with my last boule, bringing me to 13.
The second game was close: 12-12 before I pointed a biberon (baby's bottle) to the cochon with my last boule, bringing me to 13.
Monday, September 20, 2004
Don & Jeff Practice at the Ball Field
This cool Michigan weather makes for comfortable petanque playing, but also signals the arrival of Winter and it's Anti-Petanque Snow. I'm contemplating a nice sized pole barn somewhere close wth a dirt floor we could convert into a gravel/dirt surface. We can always dream.
Last Sunday's match had Don shooting to an applause, so we've been trying out hitting away "opponent" boules and staying close to the cochon. We've drawn a meter circle around a cochon and a very close "enemy" boule and pretend it is a 4-player, 6 boule game, and we have to dislodge the close-boule and get at least 3 points to the cochonnet.
We tried a mixture of high-lobs, and direct hitting - depending on the surface flatness, one works better than the other.
Not too bad, we removed the opponent's boule, and got 2 points on the cochon before darkness fell sufficiently that we couldn't see.
Last Sunday's match had Don shooting to an applause, so we've been trying out hitting away "opponent" boules and staying close to the cochon. We've drawn a meter circle around a cochon and a very close "enemy" boule and pretend it is a 4-player, 6 boule game, and we have to dislodge the close-boule and get at least 3 points to the cochonnet.
We tried a mixture of high-lobs, and direct hitting - depending on the surface flatness, one works better than the other.
Not too bad, we removed the opponent's boule, and got 2 points on the cochon before darkness fell sufficiently that we couldn't see.
Sunday, September 19, 2004
We Played For Hours...
Today was a bit cooler at the Royal Oak Terrain de Petanque than normal, hence, very few "Scoreboard" T-Shirts on display and plenty of long sleeves.
There were quite a few familiar faces, as well as a few new ones ("Terry"). We broke up into 6-pairs, playing 3 doublette matches for a while. Strangely, the two biggest fans of Petanque were not present, namely Monsieur Ken and Monsieur Joe. I delayed as long as I could, but then it was game-time, and we all tossed out our boules for team selection.
A few games in, and Joe arrived, letting us know that he was delayed due to the fact that he couldn't hasten the Christening ceremony he had attended that morning. I asked him if he dunked his boules in holy water to give them extra "carreau" power.
Ken still missing in action, and knowing he had his new boules to show us, I guessed he may have been sent, much to his dismay, on an emergency mission to Istanbul or Kzakahstan.
The piste is in need of some gardening, as testament to Michel pulling weeds from the eastern portion of the field during the many times his team was well ahead in points. I've heard he sometimes sprays down the terrain with a backpac-tank of weed killer, a photo I hope to capture and post here one day. Perhaps a flamethrower would also prove effective.
We played until 7:00pm (usually we end at around 5pm) - and all had a very good time.
See you next Sunday, I'll be practicing on the local ballfield out back.
There were quite a few familiar faces, as well as a few new ones ("Terry"). We broke up into 6-pairs, playing 3 doublette matches for a while. Strangely, the two biggest fans of Petanque were not present, namely Monsieur Ken and Monsieur Joe. I delayed as long as I could, but then it was game-time, and we all tossed out our boules for team selection.
A few games in, and Joe arrived, letting us know that he was delayed due to the fact that he couldn't hasten the Christening ceremony he had attended that morning. I asked him if he dunked his boules in holy water to give them extra "carreau" power.
Ken still missing in action, and knowing he had his new boules to show us, I guessed he may have been sent, much to his dismay, on an emergency mission to Istanbul or Kzakahstan.
The piste is in need of some gardening, as testament to Michel pulling weeds from the eastern portion of the field during the many times his team was well ahead in points. I've heard he sometimes sprays down the terrain with a backpac-tank of weed killer, a photo I hope to capture and post here one day. Perhaps a flamethrower would also prove effective.
We played until 7:00pm (usually we end at around 5pm) - and all had a very good time.
See you next Sunday, I'll be practicing on the local ballfield out back.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Welcome to the Michigan Petanque Club
The Michigan Petanque Club meets in Royal Oak on Sundays, beginning at 2:00pm (usually we play until 5:30pm) at the VFW Park located at the corner of 6th Street and S. Campbell Street (near 11 mile).
We welcome any local or visiting petanque players to boule with us. The playing terrain is a dirt/gravel piste bordered by wooden ties under shade trees.
Our designated "Chief" is Michel DeChape from Novi, Michigan.
-Jeppy
We welcome any local or visiting petanque players to boule with us. The playing terrain is a dirt/gravel piste bordered by wooden ties under shade trees.
Our designated "Chief" is Michel DeChape from Novi, Michigan.
-Jeppy
Rochester Arts and Apples - Petanque Tournament
Sunday - Sept. 12, 2004 - Rochester, Michigan
We had quite a turn out thanks to Joe. There were about thirty of us in all, with four strung courts set-up on the ball field. Quite professional looking too, with court signage, and a nice big banner hoisted up high for the foot-traffic from the arts festival to check-out.
We played triplets (3 people on a team, throwing 2 boules each) - and had 6 teams in all playing each other. It was a beautiful day, especially if you remembered to wear a cap, and we played from 2:00 pm until around 7:30 pm where the prizes were given out.
I hope to get some of the digital photos from the event to put in the blog. Keep posted.
See you this Sunday. Ken has his new INOX Integrale boules - WATCH OUT!
We had quite a turn out thanks to Joe. There were about thirty of us in all, with four strung courts set-up on the ball field. Quite professional looking too, with court signage, and a nice big banner hoisted up high for the foot-traffic from the arts festival to check-out.
We played triplets (3 people on a team, throwing 2 boules each) - and had 6 teams in all playing each other. It was a beautiful day, especially if you remembered to wear a cap, and we played from 2:00 pm until around 7:30 pm where the prizes were given out.
I hope to get some of the digital photos from the event to put in the blog. Keep posted.
See you this Sunday. Ken has his new INOX Integrale boules - WATCH OUT!
Sunday, September 12, 2004
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