A simple question but as ever, there are a few things to think over.

The most obvious choice is:

• Does everybody consult together and agree a team decision? or
• Does one person makes the decisions?

Will this differ if?

• It’s early in the end and everybody has boules to play.
• Only one player has boules left to play.

In the latter case, is it better to let that player decide on how to play or should it still be a team decision? What should the player do they feel unhappy or not confident about following the team decision?

Without naming names, there was a notable case in France in 2011 where the pointer, a former French and World Champion, pointed a couple of ‘mediocre’ points and then asked his shooter to shoot the opponents’ holding boule. The shooter would NOT take the shot! He clearly thought this was the wrong tactical decision and an ‘animated’ discussion followed

There aren’t really any ”Right and Wrong” answers to the above points but they are the sorts of things that established teams should discuss and agree on how they are going to play.

Responses, please

Allez-y!

Ray Ager

(L to R) Ray Ager, Gareth Jarvis, Stephan Alfred, Tony Mann, David Alfred, Pat Connolly

Forget the FA Cup third round, forget the Test matches, forget the Australian Open, the club achieved its best ever result in the Euro Cup for Clubs by winning its third round match against Sandown and Shanklin PC on Sunday January 8.

Early on a mild, dry and, later, sunny winter’s day, David A, Gareth, Pat and Stephan drove down to the Isle of Wight to join Ray and Tony who were already there. (On the ferry there and back, David held an impromptu cryptic crossword tutorial.)

As usual, the match was the best of five games: two triples and three doubles, at least one of each being between mixed teams.

In the triples round, while our open team of David, Stephan and Gareth teeth-gnashingly surrendered a healthy lead to lose 11-13, our mixed team of Ray, Pat and Tony won convincingly 13-3*.

With the match score now 1-1, we had to win two games in the second round of three doubles games to take the match. Our two ‘open’ teams were David and Stephan, and Ray and Tony. Our mixed team was Gareth and Pat.

Ray and Tony apparently had a rather torrid time, losing 5-13. On any other day, they could just as easily have won. Meanwhile, father and son duo David and Stephan started off well to lead 11-4 (missing a good opportunity to wrap up the game), were then caught up to 11-10 before finally doing the business to win 13-10.

So the match score was now 2-2. Everyone gathered round – the weather still holding up beautifully – to watch the last few ends of the game that would decide the match.

We come in at the point where Gareth and Pat leading 10-4 then lost one point and then five more to make the score 10-10. Further very tight ends took the score to 12-12.

Under not inconsiderable pressure, Pat and Gareth were to play a memorable final end. It hots up when Gareth shoots the opposition’s then winning point by a dramatic, rolling semi-carreau that itself remains the winning point until the opposition play their last boule which just beats it on the other side of the bouchon (jack), about 8-9 inches away. This is game on the ground for the opposition. It cannot stand.

Fortunately, Gareth has one boule in hand and Pat two. They need to shoot the boule or outpoint it. They confer. The rest of the squad debates the complex tactical permutations, and calls in fresh reserves of fingernails from the mainland. The birds stop flying.

Here we go. They’ve decided. Gareth shoots. He misses. What now? The tension, already at fever pitch, rises even more. Just two boules left. What’s this? Pat assumes a shooting stance. She shoots. It’s about eight metres. Then: not only does the shot hit the (right) boule, but, just to make sure of the result, it also moves the bouchon towards Gareth’s boule.

That’s it. Yes, yes, yes. They win the point! They win the game! We win the match! The squad rushes onto the terrain to embrace Gareth and Pat with much emotion, many “well done”s, much smiling.

What a rollercoaster! One of the most exciting games any of us have seen, to go down in the club annals. It was the second great game Pat has been involved in since winning the EPA Over-50s Plate competition with Ian last Oct-ober.

The opposition took their narrow defeat graciously and both squads retired to the nearby clubhouse, ours enjoying a celebration round followed by home-made soup that tasted of nectar.

Our memorable win means the club progresses to Round 4 of this prestig-ious competition on March 4 where the last 16 clubs battle it out to secure a place in the final round of 4.

Good luck, squad!

1. Not Playing as a Team.
   Pétanque is a great team game but sometimes players play as isolated individuals, rather than playing and working together as a team. The key things that you should always do as a team:
   • Agree Team Roles, i.e. Pointer, Middle and Shooter.
   • Stand together as a team.
   • Evaluate the head and agree what shot to play. If you’re going to point, then the Pointer will play the shot, if you’re going to shoot, then the Shooter will play the shot, the Middle player usually comes in when the others have played their shots. Remember: THERE IS NO SUCH THING as ”first, second and third”!
   • Last but by no means least: TALK TO EACH OTHER!!! A good team will constantly talk to each other, agreeing what shot to play. Remember: even when you’ve played your boules, you’re still part of the team. Stay together, offer encouragement and advice.
2. Standing Behind the Circle.
   If you watch all the top teams, e.g. the French National, Masters series, World Championships, etc, one thing you’ll notice is how the teams always stand together at the jack. Why do they do this?
   • It demonstrates you are working together and supporting each other as a team. Having one player at the jack, one behind the circle and another off the terrain shows you are not working as a team!
   • You have a much better view to evaluate the head – the view from the circle is always deceptive.
3. Frustration Shots.
   This tends to happen more in Doubles than Triples – usually it’s the case where the Pointer has played a couple of boules but failed to win the point and then fires off a wild shot – invariably miles off the terrain! Again, a case of playing as separate individuals, rather than playing together as a team. What you will resolve to do next year:
   • Stand together as a team.
   • Evaluate the head and agree with the team what shot to play.
   • If you’re (i.e. the team) is going to shoot, then the shooter takes the shot.
4. Not Having a Tape.
   What equipment do you need to play?
   • A set of boules.
   • A jack.
   • A cloth to clean mud ”or any other substance” off your boules.
   • A TAPE MEASURE!!! Measuring is one of the key components of the game and every player should have a tape or suitable measuring device.

   NB Of course, you need to measure correctly and accurately. Another common fault is to attempt to measure to the centre of the jack. You should measure to the edge of the jack, as this is a clear line – the centre is not.

5. Walking Across Games.
   Walking across other games or in front of players practising shooting is at best impolite. At worse, you risk injury if hit by a boule.
6. Playing Up and Down the same terrain.
   One of the charms of pétanque is playing on Open terrain and varying the surface you play on. At Brighton, we are blessed with a large 40m long terrain that offers great scope for varying the game. If you spend all day only playing up and down the same spot you are really restricting the types of shots available to you.
7. Moving the Circle.
   This really follows on from the last point. The rules of the game state that you should draw the circle for the next end around the jack. The only exception is if you want to throw a longer jack and this is not possible. This can happen when playing on restricted terrains in competitions – which is why there is a rule to cover this – but 99% of the time playing on a large, open terrain it’s never an issue. What happens? Instead of playing on an open terrain, players move the circle back so they can play up and down the same spot. We have a local rule to cover this: You lose 1 point for every meter you move the circle and you must also move all the boules back!
8. Removing Stones.
   A) against the rules but more importantly B) against the spirit of the game. Pétanque is meant to be played on a slightly uneven, irregular terrain NOT a perfectly smooth, flat ”billiard table”. Slopes, dips, stones and other obstacles all add to the charm of the game and make for a more interesting and more skillful game. Removing stones removes this fundamental element of the game.
9. 12 – 15m Jacks.
   The rules state that the jack must be thrown between 6 and 10m. However, some players do tend to throw longer than this, more like 12 – 15m. A) against the rules but again more importantly B) against the spirit of the game. Although the jack can move up to 20m during a game, very few can shoot accurately at such distances – hence the 6 – 10m rule. This is again often a case of not playing as a team. Can your shooter shoot at such distances? If not, why are you throwing the jack so far? The tradition is that either the shooter throws the jack or at least agrees the distance they want it to be thrown. The best way is to know your team’s abilities, both pointing and shooting and consider the opponent’s abilities. Then agree with your team what you think is the distance that will best suit your own abilities whilst disadvantaging the opponents.
10. Walking Around the Jack.
    How often have you heard, “I think we’re holding – no, I think we’re on – look at it from this side – but if you look from this side, then we look on”, etc, etc!!! If you’re not sure which side is holding don’t spend 10 minutes with every player looking from every angle giving different opinions, instead measure straight away. Of course, you have got a measure, haven’t you!?

Ray Ager

He refused because ”I’ve lost my voice and wouldn’t take any pleasure from playing together”. A tall story? Maybe but it illustrates something really important about the game:

”It’s a team game and you need to talk to your team.”

If you look at The Dream Team, Philippe Quintais, Pointer, Philippe Suchaud, Shooter and Henry Lacroix, Middle, you can see how well they work together as a team.

The Dream Team, recently disbanded, won virtually every single pétanque title and are recognised as the most successful team of all time.

For me personally, the thing I enjoy most about playing is playing well together as a team. The worst thing is playing in a team where nobody talks to each other…

If you watch the top teams, they always:

• Stand together at the jack
• Consult with one another about what shot to play
• Support and encourage each other

What is your Dream Team?

Our thanks go to the outgoing President, David Alfred, Secretary, Pat Connolly and Treasurer, Olive Sacre. Pat and Olive will remain on the committee, joined by Gareth Jarvis, with Ann Wordsworth remaining as Competitions (and membership) secretary.  David will continue to be the newsletter editor.

Watch this space for a special feature on Tony’s meteoric rise in the world of English petanque.

STOP PRESS: We have just been notified that we have a bye in the second round, so we’ll be playing away to an Isle of Wight team in Round 3 sometime in December or January.

Our first-round match was against Crowborough SC. In the first round, Janice, Ian and Tony won 13-5 (having been 0-5 down) while David A, Stephan and Ray won 13-9. So 2 up, looking good.

However, in the second round Janice and Ray lost 2-13, Ian and Tony lost 10-13 and David and Stephan won 13- 6. So we just won 3-2: whew! Very well done, squad.

On the same day, four of our club members represented Sussex Petanque’s two triples teams:  David and Stephan Alfred and David Randall; and Tony Mann with Jeff Mitchell and Herbie Edwards from Crowborough.

The two best teams of (nearly) all the EPA regions were split into two groups of 12 teams each. Each team played four games in a ‘snake’ with only the top two teams from each group going into the semi-finals and final.

Although David, Stephan and David unfortunately only won one game in their group, Tony’s team won three games to come third in their group, thus only just missing out on reaching the semi-final stage – a fine achievement. Well done to everyone.

Your name Pat Connolly.

Age 69.

Occupation Retired.

What was the last book you read? The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.

Do you have a favourite film? Midnight Cowboy and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Favourite Music? Bryan Ferry, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young to name but a few.

When did you start playing? 2003.

What made you start? I was retired and looking for an interest. I liked the social aspect and of course the great location.

What do you like about the club? The combination of social and competitive play and the camaraderie.

What boules do you use? Intégrale 720g.

What position do you play? Mainly Pointer and occasionally Shooter.

What other hobbies and interests do you have? Reading, swimming, films and I am a volunteer at the Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham.

Tell us something about yourself that club members won’t know. My first job at 17 was in Soho and I spent many a lunch hour in a dive bar in Wardour Street – oh happy days!

What is your pétanque ambition? To carry on playing well into my dotage and continue to help take the club forward.

How have you seen the club develop? Having played since 2003 I have seen the club improve in leaps and bounds both competitively and socially and it is definitely well respected in the pétanque community.

What does being Club Secretary involve? My main job is recording Minutes of meetings. Also as a contact for other clubs and organisations wishing to play.

You’ve just won the EPA Over 50′s Plate Compeition – Congratulations! Can you tell us about the competition? I was over the moon winning (with my partner, Ian Maynard) the EPA Over 50′s Plate Competition. I thought the club excelled itself on all fronts in hosting this event, with a total of 40 teams entering. This was all due to the willingness to help by club members.

You’re also played in the European Cup for Clubs – can you tell us about this event? I am particularly fond of this competition because it comes at a time when the season is closing down and it keeps the momentum going. It is also quite a tough competition.

You’ve also played in the Sussex Regional Squad and the Inter-Regional Championships at Brean Sands – your thoughts, please? My first visit to Brean was a real eye-opener to see so many people playing and how well the EPA organised it. It is a great experience but a tiring one, for me, playing two long days. The social side is always fun which compensates for the hard work.

Do you pefer Singles, Doubles or Triples? I prefer to play Doubles – nothing like having three boules.

Can you give us a tip for playing? Always go to look at where the boules have landed because it often looks very different from the circle – something I should take note of!

How would you like to see the club develop? I feel the club has developed so much in the past few years it will be hard to top this. A junior team is lacking and this perhaps is something to be worked on. I just hope that we can continue to keep a good balance between social and competitive play. ”Onwards and Upwards.”

Pat, thanks you so much for taking the time to answer and for everything you’ve contributed to the club.

Ray Ager Oct 2011.