By Ray Ager.
Most guidelines for building terrains emphasise the basic requirement for a rectangular piste, e.g. 12 or 15 x 4m. Whilst this is obviously the basic requirement for marked-out terrains for competitions, it tends to result in rather dull, featureless terrains being built.
Remember, in France, terrains are frequently "natural" terrains, typically the village square, areas in parks, etc. The shape will be irregular and the surface is likely to be uneven and irregular, often with a slope, some areas hard and smooth, others rough and stony, with ruts where the rain drains across, etc. Especially in the South, terrains will be tree lined, essential for protection against the fierce sun but also creating additional features and obstacles, with the roots providing more uneveness to the playing surface.
All these features are what traditionally make up the charm and typical nature of the game. Players will choose different areas to play on, using the different features to test each other's pointing skills.
May I suggest that any guidelines on building terrains should pay as much attention to the traditional nature and feel of the game. Such terrains are much more interesting to play and look far more attractive than a plain, rectangular terrain.
We just got word of a new petanque-game, for all of those of you with a PC. It's called "petank party", and looks quite unique...
We have integrated petanque.org with yet another newcomer to the web, this time it is youtube. So please give us your ideas!
Here are some pics from the 2nd Johannesburg Open played at the Boulesdust piste at the Zoo Lake Sports Club in Johannesburg (see Google Pic). There were 10 doublets who played in 2 round robin leagues. The top 2 teams then played in the semi-finals. The final was won by Paul and Howie who beat Gerald and Bridget in a tense final that finished well after 8pm.
We have received word that we have supplied quite a lot of images to a story by the municipal Library in Lyon, France. And the story is worth a read!
Many years ago there was no way of getting your pictures online unless you knew someone with a homepage. Or you mailed them to petanque.org, and we'd put it on the web for you. But nowadays nobody does this thing anymore, there are thousands of ways to get your images online, and our pictures-section is about as dry as the sahara. So we have had to make some changes
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