by Jon Wills

Created on: May 25, 2009   Last Updated: June 01, 2009

There is hardly any really very noticeable differences between these two - that is to say bocce and petanque. Any self-respecting person who knows their geography or languages will be able to tell you that the former, bocce, emanated from the country of Italy, while the other, petanque, has its origins in France. But both have been played for centuries in village squares all over their country of origin. And both have since been exported to virtually the four corners of the globe with great success.

Both sports, which they are, involve tossing a ball at a jack, much in the same style as the more well known game of bowls. Whoever ends up with their balls nearest to the aforementioned jack gets more points. The person with the most points at the end of the game, is obviously the winner.

People who play the two sports jealously claim that their 'version' of bowls is the better one and they pride themselves hugely on the different techniques for tossing their ball down the court. And it is true, the skills needed to play either sport to a good standard are slightly different in that the way you toss the ball is different.

The courts where the two games are [played upon are in fact different too. The bocce court is a flat surface so that the thrower has much more control over the ball he throws. On the other hand, a petanque pitch is not necessarily flat, and the bowler has less control. Bocce fans say this is absurd because it takes away the element of skill in the initial throw. Petanque players, on the other hand, argue that it makes for a game of much deeper concentration to avoid a throw going off course if it hits a bump or uneven patch.

Petanque is perhaps the better known of the two. Before I wrote this article, I conducted a brief - and I guess unscientific - survey of my family, asking them what they knew of petanque and bocce. Most knew the basic rules of petanque and could describe seeing it being played in France. Only one of the several people I questioned had even heard of bocce, which speaks volumes of how well know it is - or, rather is not. What I would say about that point is that if you are on holiday, then maybe a game of petanque on the beach is for you. It is not that serious to the beginner. But if you want to practice and get better, then bocce is less infuriating because the hours you put in on the practise side of things will pay dividends and it is possible to get better quite quickly.

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