Petanque
Plombée
The throw that goes up to come straight down. High, soft, and dead on arrival.
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La donnée
The throw of the jack that starts every mène. Six to ten meters, one throw, and the whole game begins with a small piece of wood.
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The 15-Year-Old Who Shot 59
Dawson Herlemann, 15, scored 59 in precision-shooting qualifying at the European juniors in Loutraki, Greece — one of the best scores in the discipline's history. Then he won his quarterfinal and semifinal, and took the silver medal in the final, losing 47-58 to Italy's Nicolo Dagati.
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Club Night
Every Saturday, in towns all over France, the boulodrome fills up for the concours — the weekly club tournament that is half competition, half neighborhood reunion. In America, the equivalent ritual is the ladder night. Same hunger, different scoreboard.
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Le Cercle
The throwing circle: the ring drawn on the ground from which every pétanque player must play. Thirty-five to fifty centimeters across, both feet inside, and the whole mène starts here.
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A throw that goes up to come straight down. Marcel explains.
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Carreau
The perfect shot in pétanque: the thrown boule strikes the opponent's boule dead-on, knocks it away, and stays exactly where it was. Part physics, part theater — and the word every tireur dreams of hearing.
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Tête-à-tête
One against one, three boules each — the duel format of pétanque, and a small theory of solitude, responsibility, and the apéro afterward.
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The US Open of Pétanque
In Manhattan's parks, La Boule New Yorkaise has turned a French village pastime into a New York institution — and with the US Open of Pétanque coming to town on October 10–11, the season is heading for its loudest weekend yet.
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Doublette
Two against two, three boules each — the most-played format in pétanque, and a small theory of friendship in three configurations.
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The Road to Thailand
An American men's triples team just did what no American team had ever done — winning both the Panamerican World Qualifier and the Panamerican Open. In November, they carry the Stars and Stripes to the World Pétanque Championships in Thailand.
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Pétanque's Olympic Dream: The Long Road to Recognition
For forty years, the boules federations have knocked on the IOC's door — and watched breakdancing walk in instead. What the quest says about sport, legitimacy, and the French and American ways of wanting something.
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