Most Petanque players think that the game is all about how they throw their boule. After all, whoever lands their boule closest to the cochon is the person who’s going to pick up the most points. However, Petanque isn’t all about merely throwing boules since there is also a psychological aspect to the game.
Just like when you play texas hold em online, you can outthink people in Petanque to gain an advantage over them during the course of play. In order to get this mental edge, you should be observing your opponent in the first few rounds. As you observe them, you’ll be able to tell what their tendencies are when throwing the boule.
For instance, some players like to roll their boules in order to get them closer to the cochon. And while this is an excellent strategy on smoother surfaces, it can cause nightmares on rough terrain. So if you’re playing against someone that likes to roll their boules, you should be looking to throw the cochon into really uneven terrain. This is especially true if you prefer to toss your boule instead of rolling it!
Another instance where you should be looking to use Petanque psychology is when your opponent spends a lot of time looking for a way to shoot your boules out of the way. With this being the case, you’ll need to provide extra protection around your best-placed boule every round. So a good strategy is to work on building a barrier around your closest boule to avoid having it knocked away from the cochon.
The key thing in all of this is to watch for tendencies from opponents and try to change your strategy to exploit their weaknesses. After playing enough Petanque games, you should get a good feel for how to spot opponents’ weaknesses.
Story contributed by Marcus Shaw.
Petanque PsychologyNew section. StrategyShooting the cochonetteCut your losses and protect the rearOne boule left and still without the pointOpponent have the point, but you have the wallOpening move strategyProper time to shootWall between you and the cochon
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