Sick and tired of the old "lined" patterns for boules. Want to exhibit some personality when you play petanque? Obut has eight new boule designs!
SUNFOLIES offers Bubbles (Ronds); a type of safety tread plate looking design (Chevrons); dots (Points); and diamonds (Losanges)
The Tatou (Tattoo) designs are VERY cool, with a type of Frank Lloyd Wright pattern (Carreau); a type of Tattoo design (Big Tatou); Floral; and Frise
VERY cool, and it'll make things easier to determine whose boule is whose.
Good news, Petanque-America has them in stock and they will be posted online soon!
6 comments:
I wonder why no company has studied boules patterns closely for performance. The answer may be that the patterns don't affect play at all, hence, the popularity of smooth balls in competition play. But, I've heard that MS' Tortue is used by the Belgium team for its' versatile pattern (use the scaled part for backspin or the smooth center strip for rolling in).
Anyways, seeing different designs made me wonder why boule patterns aren't studied as closely as say, a golf ball.
It's quite clear that there's a difference between a waffle pattern (for pointing) and a smooth boule (for shooting). That waffle pattern is so sharp it can be used as an exfoliating tool. Other than those extremes, its just personal preference.
I haven't done my own personal "study" as proposed, but its my guess: How many times would the pro's need to play a specific boule pattern then swith to a different pattern to see if the different pattern was more or less significant in their gameplay?? I think it answers itself.
(PS When you measure distances from the cochonette, do you technically have to measure in to the grove of the pattern? ;-)
yes, there are those large differences but what about a dimpled surface...would that be better for pointing than a waffle pattern? I don't know.
Good topic of discussion!
I own the MS Cara (the stainless steel version of the MS Tortoise) boule [incidentally, I got them from Petanque-America]. I like amount of backspin I can put on this very tactile boule. As for shooting, I haven't noticed any problems - this is because the edges of the "tortoise scales" are not sharp like on some other "deeply waffled" boules.
When it comes down to it, I think it is the player and his/her skills - not the equipment.
Traditionally, I think shooters prefer the smooth boule additionally because you always have a consistant feel in your hand--no need to fumble a boule around in your hand to get it to feel just right. Since the shooter has a very precise and concentrated throw to perform, the fewer distractions the better.
Just wanted to know if these Tattoo boules are competition certified?
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