Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Playing within the Distances

Distances for the initial throw of the cochonnet should be maintained within the 6 to 10 meters. [Article 7] Sure, there's times when the cochonnet may roll to 11 or 12 meters - and you all decide to "play it" but you're cheating yourself out of a nuance of the game: the experience of shooting & pointing to particular spans.

When the cochonnet consistently lands at 12 meters, you're taking shooters (and pointers) out of the realm of their experienced playing and introducing more luck to the round. You are also straining the arms of the shooters (not good) as well as defeating players who just can roll such a distance.

I think it is far better to take back the cochonnet and re-throw to a valid distance.

Of course, we're talking about everyday playing. For tournaments, throwing to valid Article-7 distances are a given! I would expect players to utilize Article-8 which allows a team to "take back" the cochonnet and the first thrown boule if the cochonnet is not at a valid distance (but if the opposing team has also thrown a boule - the distance is then considered valid).




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