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Shooting for Dummies
This article describes a single
training session plan, which
should ideally be done by a
small group 2 to 8 players. It
takes about 1.5 hours to
complete. Or it can be two 45
minute sessions as there is a
natural break. It is a session
that helps develop good shooting
skills and habits.
Shooting is the petanque skill
of removing an opponents boule
from the terrain by hitting it
with your own boule. It is a
skill that most NZ players still
need to develop more. As an
observer of the recent National
Doubles I was disappointed to
see how few players are shooting
consistently well. If you want
to succeed as a competitive petanque player you must be able
to consistently shoot with skill
and confidence.
If you shoot in a game and get a
carreau. (replacing the
opponents position on the
terrain with your own) this
usually transforms the end
played. It is in effect giving
your team one extra boule. If
your team do it once per end,
and the opponents can't, it is
effectively 7 boule playing 6
boules and a significant
advantage to you. Top
international shooters seem to
achieve about a 40% carreau
rate, but this can vary
according to the terrain. The
carreau is the pinnacle shot in
our sport.
The Session
This session is not for
newcomers to the sport, but for
anyone who is familiar with the
rules and objects of the game,
so from beginners to senior
players. It ideally requires
about 4 or 5 terrains, but could
be achieved on just one,
terrain.
The equipment needed is:
-
car tyre(s)
-
high hurdle (I adapt a portable
garment hanger)
-
carpet circles, about 30 - 40cm
diameter
-
boules for targets
-
cochonnet
-
grid mat, 1200 x 600mrn canvas
-
grid mat record sheets
Purpose
The purpose of the session is to
improve shooting skills. To
achieve this in this session the
players have to be aware of
three concepts.
-
Eliminate Shooting.
The word
shooting sends our body and mind
the wrong message. Shooting
tells us hard, fast, straight,
direct.
Fig 1. shows what a player often
imagines when using the word
shooting. This is the most
frequent cause of one of the
common faults landing short of
the target.
In fact a far better concept is
the idea of putting your ball on
the opponents. This should
create an idea in your mind of
being more relaxed, a looping
arc to your shot, controlling it
throughout the movement. So put
your ball on the opponents,
because shooting is for dummies.
Fig 2 shows the imaginary arc of
a player putting her ball on the
opponents.
-
Visualise each throw.
Develop
a very stable pre-shot routine.
This should cover how you
approach the circle, where in
your hands you hold your balls,
where you put your
attention/concentration as you
prepare. Consistently step into
the throwing the circle -
leading in and setup the line
with your throwing-arm foot. And
visualize your shot.
Visualising your shot should
only be for a short time, but it
must be clear and confident.
Make it as clear and vibrant as
possible. And not just visual
seeing your ball in the air -but
develop a neuro-muscular feel
for how that shot feels when
played correctly. But don't let
your visualisation extend past
the throwing movement and ball
in the air outcomes, or the
impact of your thrown ball on
the game situation are
irrelevant.
Don't throw until your mind is
very clear of what shot you are
throwing and you have visualised
it clearly.
-
Judge success by quality of
the throw.
In training don't
judge success just by whether
you hit the ball/target or not.
Judge by whether you executed
the shot correctly, and whether
the reality matched the vision
you had for the shot. Did you
play the shot with the right
“feel”? How well did you control
the ball in the air?
These three principles should be
explained and demonstrated to
the players at the beginning of
the session. You should look for
clear understanding from the
players of these points.
Warm Up
Players should spend 5 or 10
minutes easing and preparing
their body for a shooting
session. They should be
physically warm first, then
start with some pointing at
shorter distances, move to
shorter shooting, and a few 8 to
10 metre shots before finishing
the warm up.
The warm up should take each
player through the complete
range of shots they play in a
game.
Skill Points
If a trainer or coach is running
the session, they should also
identify a number of technique
points for each player to
improve on.
These points should be agreed on
between the player and
trainer/coach. Not just as a
directive from the coach. Skill
points could be the W.R.A.P
technique:
W: Wrist bent before pull-back
R: Return the arm with a
straight elbow, as far back as
is comfortable
A: Accelerate through the
forward swing. This is a very
important concept from the back
point the ball moves slowly
through the down arc, then
accelerates faster through the
upwards arc.
P: Point your hand and fingers
at the release
These skill points should be
explained and demonstrated so
they are very clear for each
player.
Shooting Circuit
Figures 3 to 6 show five
stations to be setup prior to
the session. Fig 3 and Fig 4
could be a single station. Coach
or trainer should explain these
stations and demonstrate.
Players spend about 5 to 7
minutes working on their own (or
in pairs) with each exercise.
For safety reasons players
should be shown that boules can
easily get dangerous bounces off
the tyre rims and players
throwing to the tyre should be
made aware of this. Players
should avoid standing near the
tyres.
Players start at 6 metres and
move to different distances once
consistent throws are made.
Players should remember to
judge quality of throw, not to
set performance targets or count
successes such as getting 7 out
of 10 into target.
Fig 3, Throw to tyre - Visualize
ball to enter the back center of
the tyre. Make sure this is a
shooting shot, not pointing. If
the arc is too flat you will hit
the front of the tyre. Optimum
arc is firmly into the back of
the tyre.
Fig 4, Action - Throw to tyre
with a 4 foot high barrier about
5 metres back from the tyre.
The barrier is quite close to
the player and the ball goes
just over the bar. Again make
sure it is a shooting shot, not
too looping like pointing.
Players learn that the ball
always travels upwards when the
ball is released. You can also
use the barrier to see if a
players eyes are staying in the
same plane through the throw
Fig 5. Action - Throw 5 boules
to land on the circle, then the
6th boule is thrown at the
adjoining target boule. The
circles shown are 35cm
(beginner) and 20cm
(experienced). The ground
circles ensure the player is
putting their boule on the
target, not shooting. And by
asking them to put their 6th
boule on the target boule, we're
looking to see there is no
change to setup and tension.
Many players tense once they
change to hitting a boule.
Fig 6. Shoot cochonnet - Object
is to land your boule on the
cochonnet
This circuit can be completed
within 30 minutes. And this is
the natural break for one 45 to
50 minute session. Warm down and
review session if finishing
here. Or continue on for full
1.5 hour session.
Shooting Gridmat
The shooting gridmat is a way of
measuring progress as a shooter.
It shows clearly if you are
consistently putting your boule
on the target. It adds a little
more pressure to the training
knowing it is a measuring
exercise, and so is closer to
the pressure of a game. I
recommend it's done once a
month, and if you do this it
gives you great feedback.
Setup
The mat is best made from
synthetic PVC canvas. A
rectangle 1200 x 600mm marked
into 200mm grids, as per setup
on Fig 7. A hole is cut for the
target boule to sit in. Throwing
circles are at 6.5m, 7.5m, 8.5m
and 9.5m from the target boule.
An accompanying scoresheet is
used to record where each ball
thrown by the player lands. The
player/coach also replaces the
shot target boule.
Action - The object for the
player is to shoot the target boule on the full.
5 boules are thrown from each
distance, giving 20 boules in
total. All 5 boules are thrown
at 6.5m then moving to 7.5m etc.
The recorder uses a coloured
feltpen to put a solid dot on
the scoresheet where each ball
landed.
Analysis
This is vital to the benefit of
the exercise.
Once each player is finished,
each boule can be assigned a
value from 0 to 5, these ratings
being on the scoresheet. So the
player gets a score out of a
possible 100 giving them an
overall rating that they can
compare to others and their
previous efforts. They also get
a sub-score for each distance,
showing them what distances they
are more accurate at, and where
they should put more training
effort.
The player, preferably with a
coach/trainer, can also look at
the overall pattern of the
landing spots. Are they
consistently to the right, too
short, very erratic?
I have found a certain progress
with players. Beginners show a
wide scattering of shots.
Intermediates start getting them
all in line (in the central
vertical row) but often too
short or too long, and
experienced shooters show a
strong concentration all around
and on the target boule, with
very few erratic. An
international standard shooter
should score 80 or more
consistently.
If players achieve the 80 or
more score consistently, I
recommend they then change to
shoot one boule at each
distance, making it much harder
as they have to adjust for each
shot. And the order of throwing
is 7.5m, 9.5m, 6.5m, 8.5m.
Warm Down
After the analysis is done,
players should complete a warm
down where they relax their
body, review the lessons from
this session, and form a
positive mental anticipation for
their next petanque play be it a
club day, tournament, another
training session or social
games.
Summary
This is an excellent training
session for improving shooting
skills for players of all
levels. In particular it will
help new or improving players to
develop good habits. This
explanation of a single training
session has also included some
coaching instruction, so it is
too wordy and complex to ideally
use as reference through a
session. It can be easily
summarised on a 1 page training
session plan and laminated.
I have a summary of this plan,
and I also have the gridmat
record sheet available. Please
email me at
michael(at)jvcentre.co.nz with
training and grid sheet as the
subject, and I'll send them to
you.
For players keen to improve
their game, this 1.5 hour
training session should form
part of your regular training.
And remember Shooting is for
Dummies, we want to put our
boule on the target!
Michael Emerson
The Special Needs Petanque
League
And still they come minibus
after minibus, 13,14,15 of them
driving into the club grounds
under the direction of Traffic
officer Terry, past the
Clubhouse and onto the old
bowling green.
Then a quick pirouette before
they reverse up to the central
concrete pier which borders our
terrain.
With military precision
they line up, the drivers get
out, open the rear doors and
lower the ramps. The caregivers
remove the chair restraints and
the wheelchair students exit
onto the pier and down the ramp
to wait in the shelter of the
shade sails.
It is Wednesday, the day of the
Special Needs Petanque League
for over 100 students who take
part in this School Sport
Canterbury competition organised
by Christchurch Petanque . The
more mobile students head for
the notice board and cluster
around to find out where their
team plays that day.
Jinny (aka
Hiawatha) has taped coloured
feathers to the score boards and
these designate the various
coloured pools. Helpers wear a
shirt or cravat in the
appropriate colour for their
pools. Other helpers have
already set out the boules, 6
blue or coloured boule plus 6
silver for each terrain.
Chief organiser Diane has spent
hours on the draws and
instructions and provides each
caregiver with a list of which
terrains their teams are playing
on. Each helper has a pool to
supervise and a draw to follow.
Are you Allanvale A? Have
Papanui arrived? And organised
chaos is the "word".
Miraculously at 1.00pm most are
playing their first game of the
day and then at 1.30 the hooter
sounds, the pool organisers
record the scores for game 1 and
then direct their pool players
to the correct piste to play
another team for game 2.
Only
those who have ever tried to
herd petanque players (or cats)
know that length of time in
proper preparation leads to the
success of the day's play.
After three years most of the
caregivers know the basics of
petanque and without them, the
league could not operate. We
have also given our world famous
one minute lesson the several
accompanying teachers and even
recruited the mini bus drivers
to look after some of the teams.
The first two playing days are
grading days and this enables
the teams to be graded into
pools of similar ability. After
each day's play, the results are
collated and emailed to School
Sport Canterbury accompanied by
the next week's draw and a
Playing List in School Order for
their website.
One pool
comprises mainly wheelchair
students, some with limited arm
mobility as they require more
physical room and use a chute to
deliver the boule.
Warwick Pfahlert of Upright
Scaffolding Ltd has donated the
trophies for each pool including
a handsome trophy for the
Championship section. The pool
organizers each select a "Most
Improved" player from their pool
for a medal and Diane selects
the "Most Promising" player over
all the pools for a special
award.
We have been favoured with fine
warm days for every day the
league has played in the past
three years and the petanque
magic works for Special Needs
students as well. Lots of
laughter and encouragement is
heard all over the terrain.
The dedication and care shown by
teachers and caregivers is
amasing. Equally Christchurch
Petanque helpers what can you
say - they all come with a ton
of patience, a warm heart and a
friendly smile. This is not an
easy project and does not sit
comfortably with everybody and
the pool organisers and helpers
are to be congratulated for
their caring efforts.
The students enjoy something
new, and enjoy some exercise and
fresh air in a safe enclosed
environment. Some players show
genuine skill and just to see
one student enjoy a good shot
and say "Hey, I can do this"
makes it all worthwhile.
Diane Findlay
France in the Slow Lane
Our love of Petanque, wine and
good food, saw my wife Jean and
I enjoying the company of five
others during Sept/Oct being
driven by mini van from Paris to
Nice. The journey took 21 days
and was largely via the back
roads through countless villages
and mile after mile of grape
vines.
We had taken up the idea of the
trip after seeing an advert in
our local newspaper. These trips
are organised by a Dunedin
couple who know France well and
do all the accommodation
bookings before leaving NZ.
Robert does the driving and
Barbara navigates and translates
the menus when needed.
We stayed most nights in simple
but interesting small two and
three star hotels and we tended
to move on each day to more
places of interest. French
villages are quite charming,
particularly the ancient ones
situated on tops of high hills.
They were built as fortified
villages and have surrounding
protective walls. The narrow
winding cobbled streets,
interesting old houses and shops
together with the inevitable
church in the village centre are
just made for exploring.
We travelled through
Burgundy,
Beaujolais and Provence regions
and visited many a vineyard,
chateau, museum and even a
mustard factory. A highlight for
Jean and I however, was when we
came across our first village
petanque piste. We had seen
earlier in a
Burgundy
village a group playing “Boules
de Lyonais” using larger boules.
On entering this village we
could hear laughing and raised
voices, and we said to our
companions "I bet that's a game
of boules" and sure enough there
was a group of villagers having
a great time. The men were
playing while the ladies
watched. The rest of the place
seemed to be deserted, but
perhaps they were having their
siesta.
When we hit the
Provence
region, we encountered as
expected, petanque pistes in
most villages. We had brought
our boules with us so were into
playing whenever possible. The
locals accepted us but did show
surprise that Kiwis play the
game, not only Rugby. They were
even more taken aback when I
mentioned my agency for Obut and
JB boules.
Some pistes we noted, consisted
of smooth fine limesand while
others were very rough indeed
and made for an interesting
game. The trees, fountains,
stone walls etc that got in the
way on some terrains made for a
few local rules, which only
served to make the games more
fun.
We managed to avoid having
to “kiss the fanny”, no doubt
more by good luck than good
management.
We saw one fanny plaque imbedded
in a stone wall beside a piste
which by the look of it, may
have been there for centuries.
Towards the end of the trip we
arrived at the seaside town of
Cassis on the Mediterranean. It
was a delightful place where we
spent three nights in a hotel
directly opposite a large
terrain set in gardens, with the
usual fountain and plane trees.
The roots of the latter along
with the many ruts in the ground
made for interesting petanque.
We were invited to play with a
couple of men who looked pretty
expert to us. It was with some
trepidation we accepted the
invitation to join them in a
double. Somehow we managed to
take five points off the first
end and it was noticeable the
change in their body language.
They went on to win 13 - 10. One
evening in Cassis Jean joined
some ladies for a game of
triples against some local men.
Our next destination was Nice
and we partook in a farewell
Michelin restaurant meal as a
last supper. After all the trip
was billed "Taste of France"
Ian Baine
2005
Singapore International Petanque
Championship
Late last year, having seen a
report on the Australian
Petanque website about the
Singapore International, I
suggested to both Brian and Dirk
that we should look at going to
the next event. Having missed
out on the automatic entry to
the World Championship,
Singapore offered an interesting
alternative.
In June, PNZ asked for
expressions of interest in
competing in Singapore and a few
weeks later the team of Ian
Baker (Herne Bay),
Michael Rocks and Dirk Winnie
(Khandallah) were chosen. We had
the option of taking a manager,
but the three of us thought we
could cope on our own. As it
happened, we picked up Terry
Lambert as the official
(mascot).
The next few weeks were spent
organising uniforms, flights and
accommodation. In our spare time
we all did some training. I'm
not really sure what practising
at night in 6 to 8 degree
temperatures actually does when
you end up playing in 30 plus
degrees, but it helped fill in
the time.
On the Tuesday evening, Dirk and
I flew to Auckland and Michael
Emerson took us to Herne Bay. We
met up with Ian, had some pizza
and then three games against the
World Champs team. This was our
first ever game together and we
won 13 - 12.
Unfortunately, the
next two were not quite so
successful. On that note, we
headed to bed. Next day we had
breakfast at the Atomic Cafe and
a few games on the famous piste.
Michael dropped us off at the
airport and away we went.
We arrived early in Singapore,
and having told Terry (who had
arrived the day before) not to
meet us at the airport, caught a
cab to the hotel. On arrival,
the desk had no idea who we
were. Terry phoned. He was at
the airport with Eddie Lim (the
just retired President of Sports
Boules Singapore) looking for
us. We told him where we were
and waited for them to arrive.
Meanwhile, the desk worked out
who we were and we checked in.
We talked to Eddie for an hour
or so and found out quite a lot
about petanque in the region.
The
Singapore competition has been going for about twenty years and was
initially between
Singapore and Thailand.
Over the years it has grown and
now it has about a dozen
countries competing. New Zealand
had been invited in the past,
but this was the first time a
team had come.
The Asian Federation has been in
existence for about fifteen
years and the Constitution is
being changed to allow
Australia and New Zealand
to participate in the Asian
Championship.
On the Thursday evening we spent
some time at the piste. It was
situated about 10 - 15 minutes
away by taxi. The terrain is in
a sports area (soccer/ athletics
field, swimming pool, basketball
stadium, and I think the other
building was used by either
table tennis or badminton).
There were 10 terrains in 3
blocks of two (one covered), and
a long one that probably doubled
as the bocce court, which was
divided into four.
The surface
was different in each of the
areas. The covered terrains were
dusty and the nearest to a lime
terrain in NZ. The other two
double pistes were stony, while
the bocce court was pretty flat
with some stones, a number of
dead spots and large stones that
were just below the surface.
On Friday we went down during
the day to get used to playing
in the heat. At least that was
the plan, but it had been
raining and the temperature was
relatively cool! We had several
games against the
Singapore
juniors and managed to avoid the
Mauritius team, whose coach was
quite keen to see how we would
play. If we ended up playing
them in the tournament we wanted
the element of surprise!
In the evening the team
officials met to discuss the
format and do the draw for round
one. After the Pan Pacific in
Vietnam,
Eddie had promised the
Australians and New Zealanders
that they would definitely get
more games.
Nineteen teams from eleven
countries had entered, so the
format was four pools of 4 and
one of 3. The first round was a
barrage format. The top two
teams in each pool would qualify
for round 2, the bottom teams
would have the rest of the day
off!
After the draw, we headed out
for some dinner and had an early
night.
Day 1 - Saturday
Up at 6.00am, breakfast etc,
onto the coach and off to the
terrain. I don't think the
driver had been there before as
we took a very curious route. We
had some time on the piste and
then the official welcome
ceremony.
We were introduced to
our flag-bearer, scorekeeper and
general minder, Jowie, and
proceeded to march in. After the
introductions, we were called
upon to do a haka. Thankfully, I
had sent Terry back to the hotel
to collect our giveaway tossing
coins, so there is no evidence
of what a three-person haka
looks like.
Round 1, Pool B, Barrage
New Zealand was drawn in the same pool as the
Philippines, Port Authority of
Thailand (PAT), and Malaysia B.
In the first game we beat the
Philippines 13 - 3 in 9 ends with one killed. We found out later
that not only was this their
first appearance at
Singapore, but their first
international competition. We
can therefore claim to have
inflicted the first
international defeat on the
Philippines.
In the second game we faced PAT,
the defending champions. After
five ends, we were 5 - 2 up.
After the next three, we were 6
- 7 down. However, their pointer
went off and we wrapped up the
match
13 - 7.
We had qualified for the second
round as top of our pool and had
the luxury of watching some of
the other matches.
Round 2, Pool A, Round Robin
Terry was sent up to do the draw
and depending upon your point of
view we either got the pool of
death or the best draw we could
get.
In the first game we played
Thailand B, who were second in
the Pan Pacific Championships in
Vietnam. The encounter was brief and possibly exciting for anyone
that might have captured a
glimpse of it. On the first end
we scored 5, on the second we
conceded 4. The third end we
conceded 3, followed by another
3 on the fourth. Score 5 - 10.
On the fifth end Ian shot twice
and we were holding two. Their
third boule was short, their
last three points were all shot
out and we pointed in for six.
Score 11 - 10. Unfortunately, we
couldn't repeat the effort on
the next end and conceded 3,
losing
11 -13.
In game two we faced PAT again
and there was no mucking about
as they quickly raced to 10 - 1
after four ends. Over the next
six ends we mixed aggression
with good defence to claw back
to 7 - 12. On the next end we
were holding three (one in
front, one at the rear and one
to the left, with the dead boule
line protecting the right) and
they had one to play.
Under the circumstances, you had
to feel pretty confident that we
would hold out their boule and
probably pick up a couple of
points. Unfortunately, it was
not to be as their melieur
pulled off an amazing point
between the front boule and the
boundary to take the game. A
loss, 7 - 13.
In game three we played
Thailand A, who like us had had two losses (12 - 13 to
Cambodia and 3 - 13 to PAT).
After eight ends it was 4 - 4
(two ends killed) and then the
wheels fell off and three ends
later it was all over.
We had the bye and watched a
very passive Thailand B lose to
Thailand A 1 - 13. That
effectively put us out of the
competition as all the other
teams now had two wins.
In the final game we played
Cambodia and we had our worst game of the day. Six games in
35 degree heat and high humidity
finally took its toll and we
lost 2 - 13 in five ends.
Talking to one of the
Australians at the end of the
day he commiserated with us on
not qualifying for the top
eight. He also stated that they
had survived a tough draw.
Ian had the shooting competition
to look forward to. It was the
World Championship format played
on the covered terrain. Ian was
a little unlucky as two boules
that he shot hit the back of the
metal ring and stayed inside.
Ian finished tenth and so we
were finally finished for the
day. After buying a fruit gelato
we hailed a cab back to the
hotel.
Sunday - Day Two
The eight qualifiers in the
Championship were: Pool A:
Thailand B, Cambodia, PAT and
Thailand A; Pool B: Malaysia A,
Mauritius, Australia A and
Singapore B.
Australia B was the
non-qualifier from Pool B.
In the Nations Cup, Terry went
up again to do the draw and we
ended up in Group B with
Malaysia B, Australia B and
Singapore C.
We played Singapore C (the
junior team) in the first game
and after a very long struggle
on the back piste we finally won
13 - 10. This was a difficult
game as the temperature was in
the high thirties and the
terrain surface was completely
different to the ones we had
played on the day before.
Game two was against Australia
B. This was our first game under
cover and the Australians had
just beaten Malaysia B there.
This was an odd game as we
didn't really fire and succumbed
6 - 13 in eight ends.
Back outside, we faced Malaysia
B in the barrage game.
Unfortunately for us, this was
their best game of the
tournament. According to Ian,
two of their players had been at
last year's World Championships.
In this game they could do
little wrong and they romped
away with the game in 6 ends.
Even a thunderstorm and
torrential rain was unable to
help us over the last two ends.
Dirk spent some time watching
their other games and he
couldn't believe how ordinary
they were!
So for us the tournament was
over. We huddled under the
awnings while the rain pelted
down, and ate our lunch.
In the final of the shooting
competition, Thaleungkiat
Phusa-Ad (Thailand A, melieur)
beat Or Chandaren (Cambodia,
pointer) 35 - 33 after shooting
the cochonnet at 9 metres. Three
weeks later Phusa-Ad was crowned
World Champion. (He was a
semi-finalist in 2004.)
In the play-off for
third/fourth, Dumrong (PAT,
melieur) beat Stephano Louis
Sylvio (Mauritius, shooter) 40 -
28. Stephano is a dead ringer
for Andre Noel, or maybe it is
the other way around. Even the
shooting styles are similar.
The rain eased, some plugs were
removed from the centre pistes
and the water drained away. When
the semi finals began, we were
pleased to see that all four
teams came from our second-round
pool.
Australia
had a tough draw, yeah right!
In one semi-final,
Thailand A beat Thailand B 13 - 5, while in the other
Cambodia beat PAT 13 - 3. In the
third/ fourth play off, Thailand
B beat PAT 13 - 11.
In the final match,
Thailand A gained revenge for their previous day's loss, thumping
Cambodia 15 - 2. The pointing by
the Thai team was impressive. In
Brussels, the team finished third at the World Championships.
Meanwhile, the Nations Cup was
still plodding along. In fact
the closing ceremony took place
just as the final was starting.
Just like home, day 2 always
runs late!
As we boarded the coach to go
back to the hotel (some 20
minutes after the scheduled
start of the tournament dinner),
news came in that Malaysia B had
beaten Seychelles A in the
Nations Cup final with Singapore
A beating Australia B for third.
A buffet dinner was held at the
Hollandse Club, where we shared
a table with Mauritius and Arjan
Singh, the Secretary of Sports
Boules Singapore.
After dinner the Nations Cup
presentations took place, there
were various competitions for
the players to win prizes and
then we headed back to the
hotel.
Dirk and I visited the
Philippines team and swapped shirts. They had decided to stay awake
until they left for the airport
at 4.00 am. Their plan was to
sleep on the flight back to
Manila. We didn't see them off!
Organised petanque is still very
new in the
Philippines.
Probably, the greatest impetus
to form a national body is the
SE Asian games. Petanque is one
of the participating sports and
the
Philippines are hosting the event later this year.
They have
done well so far, having picked
up a major sponsor (San Miguel
Corporation) to the tune of
US$50,000. I think it will be a
case of, watch this space.
At breakfast we spent quite a
bit of time with the Mauritius
coach. I have adapted one of his
training exercises.
We had the Monday to look around
Singapore. Terry and Ian went to the Botanical Gardens and
visited a friend from
Auckland, Dirk and I went to
Arab Street and the night safari
in the evening. On Tuesday
morning Terry flew on to
Thailand, while the three of us
had a look round Little India
and
Chinatown. That evening we flew home again.
Photographs: Ian Baker &
Terry Lambert
Impressions
This was my first visit to
Singapore and I was impressed by how much green space there
was and how easy it was to get
around. Obviously, the fact that
most people spoke English helped
enormously.
The tournament was a great
experience. Beating PAT was a
highlight, but the opportunity
to play against world class
players was priceless.
One of comments by the
Mauritius coach struck a chord with our team. Are we playing the game
to do well in
New Zealand, or are we playing to do well internationally? (You
could also substitute training
for playing.)
Very few players get the
opportunity to play in a World
Championship, but events like
the Singapore International, the
Asian Championship and so on,
provide an opportunity to see
(and play) petanque in a very
different environment to our
own.
As an aside the youngest
competitor in
Singapore
was probably 14, the oldest 86.
The number of women competitors
was lower than a NZ tournament.
There was one all-women team
(Australia B) and, I think, four
mixed teams (Singapore A had two
women).
Finally, I would like to thank
the PNZ Executive and the
Selectors for providing us with
the opportunity to take part.
Final Rankings
Championship:
Thailand A 1st;
Cambodia 2nd;
Thailand B 3rd;
Port Authority of
Thailand 4th;
Malaysia A &
Mauritius 5th=;
Australia A &
Singapore B 7th=
Nations Cup:
Malaysia B 1st;
Seychelles A 2nd;
Singapore A 3rd;
Australia B 4th;
Philippines &
Seychelles B 5th=;
Japan,
New Zealand &
Singapore D 7th=;
Madagascar &
Singapore C 10th=
Michael Rocks
South Island Masters Games
For Fun Petanque we adopted the
lowest age group possible with a
view to encouraging more first
time or social players to try
Petanque. The Saturday Open
Doubles and Sunday Social
Doubles events were from age 45+
which proved ideal as all
players were on an equal
footing.
After a long day,
stamina starts to play an
important part in the finals and
most players were in the 60+ age
group so no one had an unfair
age group advantage.
Twilight Petanque garnered great
support with 40+ playing on
Thursday evening and 60+ on
Friday evening. There were a
number of post entries for those
two events especially on Friday.
There were about 10 "no shows"
on Friday and another 20 turned
up who had claimed either to
have entered but were not on the
competition list or entered on
that evening.
This made for a hectic start as
we sorted out the draw but we
made it!
A total of 30+ doubles
teams were more than we dreamt
possible. We used our corporate
format of Winners v Winners to
keep the games even.
The two "formal" tournaments
were well supported and the
format for the Social Doubles
where players were asked not to
play with their regular partner
proved very successful and
enjoyable. 24 Doubles teams
contested the Open Doubles and
32 teams contested the Social
Doubles events.
We think we may obtain a few new
members but who knows as all
first timers had such a great
time. A group dressed as the
French maids, and aptly named
Mimi, Didi, Fifi and Gigi, were
a delight. We also had groups
from Rangiora and Kaiapoi who
entertained us with their
enthusiasm.
We received two entries from
Nelson and briefly discussed the
planned Northern Safari. Now
that we have made personal
contact, it is more than likely
this event will proceed as they
have promised to make us most
welcome.
The Alexandra and
Invercargill contingent endeared
themselves to our members and we
expect to have more Christchurch
support for their tournaments.
The skill level of competitive
players has improved
dramatically and this is good
for our game.
By pairing
competitive players with less
experienced players greatly
encouraged the newer players and
broadened their knowledge of the
game.
The skill level at the
Championship and Plate levels
was at a superior level compared
to the previous tournaments when
the Plate competition was at a
social level.
The Club self funded the
tournament and subsidised our
members by paying half the
registration fee. We would
recommend the committee consider
increasing this to $25.00 per
person next time with a view to
obtaining greater Club
participation in the Games.
Once
members have enjoyed a Masters
Games experience we hope they
will enter for the Timaru
Masters and National Masters at
Dunedin in 2006.
We were satisfied with our
initial gradings and concepts
and had no need to make any
changes. The atmosphere and
attitude of competitors was
wonderful and very friendly.
Housekeeping
Crust or no Crust? With or
without onions? Will that be a
combo with coffee? We provided
sausage sizzle plus bar
facilities for the Runners &
Walkers. The Walkers were good
value but the Runners, as one
might expect with hindsight, are
not into sausages or drinks.
After cooking some 750+ sausages
we never want to cook another
for some time even our cat
doesn't want to eat them
anymore! The financial return to
the Club was at a cost of
"flogging" willing horses and
unless we get some new blood or
more Club members to help, it is
doubtful if we can repeat this
year's results.
Management
We had to telephone to obtain
the entry names and when they
eventually arrived had to have
them sent in another format. We
were not advised of any late
entries so we took them at their
word if they said they had paid.
We would have preferred to file
our results electronically
rather than manually write out
all the results, not only the
medal winners, but all the
players in place order.
During the Games we could not
detect any media coverage either
in the newspapers or the Games
Village. A photographer came one
evening but we don't think
anyone cared if they were there
or not.
A suggestion might be to
give each sport a disposable
camera to take pictures of the
medal ceremony then print out
"approved" photos for sale by
the organizers as a fund raiser.
We made a big event of the medal
ceremonies. We played the
Crusaders theme "Conquest of
Paradise" before the ceremony,
then announced the results and
presented the medals. Winners of
the Open Doubles and Social
Doubles tournaments were also
presented with a bouquet of
flowers.
We were too tired to go the
Games Village so after the medal
ceremonies we simply collapsed.
Diane Findlay
Cockle Bay
Petanque Club
The club celebrated their 10th
anniversary on Sunday 9th
October 2005 with a tournament
held at the Club terrain
attracting 51current and past
members. This was the largest
gathering of players at Cockle
Bay for some time and although
the weather was not the best,
everyone had a good time.
After two games they all
congregated out of the rain in
the Scout Hall for afternoon
tea. The Club's oldest member,
Peggy Smith (91) and cake icer
June Walker did the honours and
cut the birthday cake.
The
competition was won by the
previous Club president Clifford Owler with Jim Wills second and
a relative newcomer to the game,
Tony Irvine, third.
In the evening 68 past and
present members attended a fully
catered function held at the
Howick Bowling Club premises.
Founding members Rita and Peter
de Beer were awarded Life
Membership of the Club, much to
their surprise and delight.
The
special quest for the night was
Cam Calder, founding Secretary
of the NZPA, who brought along
his display on how boules are
made, which answered many
questions for those who had
often wondered. As the evening
progressed a lot of past
friendships were re-kindled.
Thanks to the generosity of the
Howick, Botany, East Tamaki and
Highland Park businesses
donating goods and services, the
Club was able to run a mystery
envelope style draw where all of
the players received a prize,
ranging from a magnificent set
of competition boules, courtesy
of "Boules to You" to vouchers
for coffee and meals at local
cafes, bars and restaurants.
Rita de Beer came up with a
novel way to draw the prizes,
setting an entry fee of $2 which
entitled each person to a lucky
numbered cochonnet to keep. The
main prize was won by Jim Wills.
Warren Barrett
Petanque club pensioners
'hog-tie' burly intruder
"Trussed up like
a chicken" is how a skin-headed
man with tattoos ended up, after
taking on the mainly elderly
members of the Christchurch
Petanque Club who found him
hiding in the ladies' loo.
The pensioners
yesterday became crime fighters
as they turned up for their
regular game.
Executive
committee member Noeline Price
said members had opened up the
North Hagley Park clubrooms as
usual about 11.00am to find the
trophy cabinet smashed, and
"anything of value" – including
the vacuum cleaner – gathered
ready for a cleanout.
One of the women
members tried to enter the
ladies' toilets, alerting other
members the door was locked,
before a very large tattooed man
aged in his 30s or 40s tried to
push past. "He'd locked himself
in the ladies' loo and we didn't
know we'd disturbed him ..." she
said. "He burst out of the loo,
he couldn't get out any other
way."
Price
said the ensuing struggle was
like an episode of the Keystone
Cops.
"A very brave
man, Bob Vernal, took him in a
flying tackle and brought him
down on asphalt. "We're all old
age pensioners ... anyway we're
all young at heart and all
formed round him and held him
down until the police arrived,"
Price said.
Vernal downplayed
his leading tackle role, saying
he probably would have been
red-carded for the elbow into
the jaw tackle had it taken
place on the rugby field. "A few
went flying, got pushed out of
the way," he said. "He was a big
guy, and he just charged his way
out. As he was going he was just
pushing the elderly folk aside.
"I thought someone is going to
go down here and break a hip or
something. Fortunately, I got my
elbow into his jaw and locked
him up."
The immediate
past president of the club, Ivan
Hansen, said there was a serious
side to the matter – the man had
a knife hidden in his clothes,
which was found by police during
a search at the scene. He had
reported a burglary to the
police, before the members found
the man was still on the
premises.
The tattooed man
punched one male club member in
the neck and shoved one woman
out of the way. Hansen said the
man was strong and continued to
struggle throughout the ordeal.
"He struggled
like mad; he had people sitting
on top of him holding him to the
ground. He was very violent.
"One of the ladies went away and
found a rope somewhere ... he
was trussed up like a chicken
when the police arrived. To be
held on the ground by guys who
are all retired made a bit of a
goat out of him."
Hansen said it
was hilarious that later the
man's apparent girlfriend came
into the clubrooms searching for
him, and asking as to his
whereabouts. "I said `Has he got
a lot of tattoos?' She said
`Yeah.' I said `Well, I can tell
you where you can find him – in
the police station."'
A police
spokeswoman said a man had been
arrested over the incident, and
officers had found him
"hog-tied" at the clubrooms.
Alan Wood
The Press, 12
December 2005
2005 Peugeot National Doubles
Championship, Herne Bay Petanque
Club, Auckland
2005 Peugeot National Championships
Results
2005 World
Championships,
Brussels,
Belgium
Coach's
Report
Introduction
I am pleased to
provide the coach’s report for
the World Petanque Championships
2005. This report is prepared
for the national executive of
PNZ. The report shows how the
team was prepared for the
tournament, and individual and
team results at the World
Championships.
Selection Process
The panel
comprised myself, Bernadette
Lawton and Graeme Morris. We had
the experience of more than a
year together selecting teams as
a panel including Worlds 2004,
Trans Tasman 2004 & 2005 and
Oceania 2005.
The nominated
team was Christian Fouquet,
Richard Swaney, David Lippard
and Chris Priestley. Ian Baker
was nominated as reserve.
Preparation &
Coaching
I would like to
refer to my previously published
document `Preparing for
Brussels’ which documents
clearly how the team prepared.
There is no need to duplicate
that information here.
But following on
from that document, before
leaving NZ the team had had very
little tournament experience
together and I was relying on
the two warm up tournaments in
France for this experience.
The recorded
games and exercises showed that
the team was playing at a higher
standard than last years team
did in its preparation period.
In training games the team
played at 64% effectiveness.
This was about 10% improvement
on the 2004 years team in
training.
Learning from
last year’s preparation, this
team did less repetitive
shooting practice, and more game
situation and learning
exercises. This was to try and
keep the preparation stimulating
for the players.
I was generally
very happy with the team’s
preparation, especially knowing
we were considerably ahead of
last year’s performances.
However I was concerned that the
team hadn’t played many
tournaments together.
At times the
issue of on-terrain tactics and
leadership produced tension
within the group that was not
always satisfactorily resolved.
While I’d tried to make
leadership clear and to set
guidelines for tactics and
decision making, there was at
times an under-current of
dissatisfaction that was hard to
bring to a head and clarify or
resolve. At times the team
looked like it lost focus and
direction on the terrain.
Preparation in
France
The two
tournaments we used as
preparation were in
Chalon-sur-Saone and Fenouillet.
These both provided excellent
tournament preparation for the
team. The standard of play was
very high, especially at
Fenouillet.
There was much
that our sport in NZ could learn
from these two typically French
tournaments, not just about
playing the game. A Petanque
tournament is more than just a
game, it is a place people go
for a weekend or day’s leisure.
So a pleasant atmosphere and
plenty of simple but good food
and wine for sale made for a
complete tournament experience.
I was very
impressed with the depth of
quality players in France. Of
course with about 450,000
licensed competitive players,
you know there have to be many
players who play well. But at
these two tournaments it was
exciting to see the reality of
so many quality players on the
terrain at once.
In Fenouillet the
terrains (all 250 of them) were
very close together. When play
started there were players and
boules flying everywhere, with
non-stop chatter over the
loudspeakers. It was bedlam. But
it was very enjoyable and a
great experience to be part of.
At both
tournaments we owe a lot to the
organisers. Our party of 6 were
provided with 3 meals a day and
accommodation, for 3 days. This
was very generous of them and
there’s little we can offer them
in return. They were just
pleased to have us there and
their gratitude was a humbling
experience for me.
Between the two
tournaments we went to CIEP
Petanque School in Sergines,
100km from Paris. Claude Raluy
is the director and our coach
for the two days.
Claude places
most emphasis on a very specific
technique for throwing the ball.
It is a method that can be
taught incrementally in 3
levels. His technique covers the
whole action from entering the
circle, setup, stance, holding
the ball; the throwing action,
release and post throw
movements.
For most players
his technique means significant
changes to their throwing action
that may take time to learn and
make accurate. However it is
also great to find someone with
confidence in teaching a clear,
logical and progressive method.
The World
Championships
Teams were put
into eight pools each of 6 or 7
teams. The top 4 from each pool
progressed. In each pool were
one team from last years 1 - 8,
and one team from 9 - 16. The
rest were drawn at random. From
the top 32 a barrage was played
to reduce to 16 teams, then
another barrage down to 8. Then
a knockout from 8 – 4 - 2 teams.
Those teams not
making the top 32 were in the
coup de nations, and were joined
in the 2nd round by
those eliminated from 17- 32
overall.
Other than the
top 16, final placings in the
Worlds are based on their
finishing place after the first
round of pool play, and totally
disregards performances in the
Coup de Nations.
In our pool we
were drawn with Tunisia, Italy,
Argentina, Portugal, Singapore,
San Marino. We felt this was a
hard draw, with us needing to
beat at least two teams ranked
higher than us to progress.
A note on the
Assessing
As I did in 2004,
I used the game assessment
sheets for every game, and
believe it is a fair and
accurate way of recording
individual and team
performances. Attached to this
report is a more detailed
summary of players and team
assessment scores.
The assessments
show the bare facts of what
level the team and each player
performed at. However there are
other important factors that
must also be taken into account
before a complete picture of a
player’s contribution to a team
can be known. These factors
include:
-
Quality of
communication with other
players and coaches –
particularly listening
skills and clear expressions
of opinion
-
Confidence
and anxiety levels
-
Support shown
to teammates
-
Leadership,
Adaptability and resilience
What I report
below are the team statistics,
as I believe this is the most
important. As a coach my aim is
to get a team playing at the
highest standard possible
The Games
-
New Zealand v San
Marino. Result: Won 13 - 9
New Zealand Team:
Richard, David, Chris
Sub: Christian
subbed on for Richard at 9 - 8.
Richard asked to be subbed.
Game comments:
A good game to
start and I felt we built some
confidence through the game. San
Marino pointer had trouble
adjusting to the terrain, but
they were shooting quite well.
The game was won on the strength
of our more consistent pointing,
and shooting well when we had
to. Christian pointed very well
when subbed on.
New Zealand Team
statistics: Pointing: 50%;
Shooting: 72.7%; Team Overall: 54.3%
-
New Zealand v
Singapore. Result: Lost 10 - 13
New Zealand Team:
Christian, Richard, Chris
Sub: David subbed
on for Richard at 5 - 8
Game comments:
The Singapore
team was very weak at the start
of the game, and after 3 ends NZ
led 4 - 2, but we should have
been up by at least 6 - 0 and we
didn’t take advantage. Singapore
became more confident and their
shooting improved as the game
progressed.
David pointed
well after being subbed on,
Chris shot well but we never
shot following on from Chris.
Other than Chris the team shot 0
from 6 attempts. The team was
all disappointed to lose knowing
we didn’t play to the standard
we can.
New Zealand Team
statistics: Pointing: 49%;
Shooting: 53.7%; Team Overall:
50.64%
-
New Zealand v
Italy. Result: Lost 4 - 13
New Zealand
Team: Christian, David, Chris
Game comments:
Italy was one of
the seeded teams in our pool.
They had a slow start and we
began playing well.
NZ leading 3 - 0
after 2 ends. Then Italy changed
tactics and started shooting
more frequently, with good
effect. Italy shot 25 times, hit
20, with 9 carreaux.
Our team played
well, but the Italians had too
much firepower. While
disappointed to lose, our team
were quite upbeat afterwards
because they knew they played to
a good standard and had made the
opposition play very well to
win.
New Zealand Team
statistics: Pointing: 69.7%;
Shooting: 56.7%; Team Overall:
65.6%
-
New Zealand v
Argentina. Result: Lost 0 - 13
New Zealand
Team: Christian, David, Chris
Game comments:
A very
disappointing performance to
finish our first day. Poor
pointing meant we couldn’t build
a foothold in the game. Our
confidence dropped and this
probably led to a few tactical
errors that cost us more.
Argentina played well, but we
never took the game to them and
we made it quite easy for them.
Unfortunately no highlights for
our team in this game.
New Zealand Team
statistics: Pointing: 39%;
Shooting: 53.1%; Team Overall:
43%
-
New Zealand v
Tunisa. Result: Lost 3 - 13
New Zealand Team:
Richard, David, Chris
Game comments:
A similar story
to the Italy game, where we
raised our standard, played
well, but lost to a team with
excellent individual skills and
great team experience.
Richard had a
much better game to start day 2
after really struggling for form
on day 1. Excellent performances
from David and Chris. We pretty
much did what we could with the
skills and experience we have.
Our team was full of respect for
the Tunisian team afterwards,
which has great skill,
experience and tactical nous.
New Zealand Team
statistics: Pointing: 63.2%;
Shooting: 66.7%; Team Overall:
64.3%
-
New Zealand v
Portugal. Result: Lost 9 - 13
New Zealand Team:
Christian, Richard, Chris
Game comments:
A very close game
that could have gone either way.
We knew they were strong, but
they seemed tentative and unsure
of themselves. They were
probably under pressure
themselves to win and qualify
for the next round.
However our
pointing was a bit erratic and a
number of ends we didn’t
capitalize when we had a boule
advantage. We fought back from 3
- 9 after 4 ends to 9 - 10 after
8 ends.
But the final end
was poor from us, with us not
contributing much with our 6
balls. How often are games lost
through one bad or loose end?
Disappointed afterwards knowing
we had a fair chance to beat a
good team.
New Zealand Team
statistics: Pointing: 47.1%;
Shooting: 63.2%; Team Overall:
52.78%
-
New Zealand v
Slovakia. Result: Won 13 - 1
New Zealand Team:
Christian, David, Chris
Game comments:
Still on day 2,
beginning of the Coup de
Nations. A very strong
performance against a weaker
team. But we executed our shots
very well. Won in 5 ends. Chris
shot 7 from 7.
New Zealand Team
statistics: Pointing: 68.2%;
Shooting: 100%; Team overall:
75.8%
-
New
Zealand v Great Britain. Result:
Lost 10 - 13
New
Zealand Team: Christian,
David, Chris
Sub: Richard. He was chosen for this
game, but relinquished his place
for David to play against his
old countryman.
Game
comments:
A
close game, with some luck going
their way. We had a shaky start
0 - 7 down after 3 ends. Then we
started on a roll,
especially our shooting, with
Chris shooting 90%.
There
were some really interesting
ends. 8th end we had
a chance to point to 12, but
came up short but still 10 - 8 up. Next end the GB team
shoot 3 of our boules to take 4
points.
Final
end, and playing our 6th boule we need something big from
Christian. They held game with a boule on the side of the cochonnet and they are out of boules.
As planned Christian drags the
cochonnet towards our 2 back boules, but agonizingly the
coch goes a little too far. They
hold and have game. We were just
a few centimeters from holding
game ourselves! One day we’ll
beat the old country at this......
New
Zealand Team statistics: Pointing: 46.1%; Shooting: 78.6%; Team
Overall: 57.5%
-
New
Zealand v Slovakia. Result: Won
13 - 4
New
Zealand Team: Christian,
Richard, Chris
Game
comments:
Still going on
Day 2, it seems like the longest
day ever. This game starts at
9.35pm. So begins one of the
most boring games of
Petanque.
It
appears that since we last
played them and beat them 13 - 1
that they are under instructions
from their coach to play as
slow as possible, to frustrate
us. Unfortunately they succeed.
I
think Chris’s arm is coming off
at the shoulder. He’s had to
shoot so many boules today, and
he finally looks tired. By 11pm it’s 8 - 2 to us.
We only seem to be able to take
1 point an end. They are playing
long and very slow.
I time 2 boules being played by
them – 2 mins 30, then 2 mins
15. I talk to Christian and
decide to talk to an arbitre. Arbitre lets it go for
quite a long time. They still
never play a single ball within
a minute. Finally an arbitre
talks to them and we can move on
at a slightly faster pace.
11.42pm we finish the game 13 -
4 to the cheers of an empty
stadium. Our
players had stuck to their task
though, and the focus remained
through the game. By
the time we get back to the
hotel the players are not
resting until after 12.30am.
They need to be up at
6.30am for an 8am
first game. It’s tough being an
international sports-star.
New
Zealand Team statistics: Pointing: 52%; Shooting: 44.7%; Team
Overall: 50.7%
-
New
Zealand v Hungry. Result: Lost 4
- 13
New
Zealand Team: Christian,
Richard, Chris
Game
comments:
After
beating Slovakia late last
night, we go to the 2nd round of the Coup de
Nations in a pool of 4 with Hungary, Tunisia and Guinee.
The
team seemed very tired after
such a big day yesterday. Tried
to warm up well.
However once
the game starts the players
are obviously quite flat. 0
- 7 down after 4 ends. A
little bit of a fightback for a few ends, then
they go flat again and the team
contributes very little in the
last two ends. A
similar feeling afterwards to
the Singapore game. We performed
poorly, our lowest of the
tournament, and an
average team took advantage of
it.
Hungary was better than the team
we beat last year, but were
quite beatable if we’d played
well.
New
Zealand Team statistics: Pointing: 41.9%; Shooting: 35.3%; Team
Overall: 39.6%
-
New
Zealand v Tunisa. Result: Lost 9
- 13
New
Zealand Team: Christian,
David, Chris
Game
comments:
What
was Tunisia doing in the Coup de
Nations? Well unfortunately they
lost to France twice in the top
32 pools.
First
3 ends and everything goes our
way – we’re 9 - 0 up. On the 3rd
end we carreau 3 times for 6
points. They
then substitute to bring on more
pointing strength, change
tactics to point alot to make us
shoot, drag down our
shooters’ boules. They come back
slowly and it’s 9 - 8 to us.
Final
end and we miss 2 shots. Now
they attack, they take out two
of our balls with one shot.,
they shoot another ball of ours,
they roll one more in, and then
promote a front ball for 6
points.
Very
upsetting to lose from the
advantage we had, but they did
play brilliantly, especially the
last end. Our pointing had dropped off a bit
towards the end.
New
Zealand Team statistics: Pointing: 48%; Shooting: 84.8%; Team
Overall: 65.6%
Tournament
Summary
The loss to
Tunisia in the Coup de Nations
completed our Worlds tournament.
The preparation was long and at
times challenging, it really
seemed like a `campaign’ as used
in old military terms and to
describe early rugby tours.
As I have
previously reported I believe
the Worlds is a very difficult
tournament for NZ to perform
well at. The main reasons for
this is:
-
Out of season for
us
-
Very small pool
of competitive players
-
Lack of genuine
competition for our elite
players
-
High cost of
traveling and competing in
Europe
These are
problems that will remain with
us for some time. But the Worlds
are a very powerful experience
for the team, and it’s the
pinnacle of our game to compete.
I note in most players having
been there, a fierce
determination to get back to the
Worlds again.
We were finally
placed in 50th spot,
which I know must be accepted,
but I also know is unfair. We
were ranked lower than teams who
never won a game. The statistics
that really count are those from
32nd upwards. The
rankings from 33rd down are a
lottery. In one pool 3 teams
were tied on the same wins and
very close on points. However
while they were very close in
ability and results, they ended
up ranked 33rd, 41st & 50th.
Team Performance
Summary
This NZ team had
very good potential, but it was
never consistently reached. Our
performances were too variable
and we played poorly 2 or 3
times against weaker opposition.
Chris as 1st shooter
was our best performer at the
tournament, but we often
struggled in the middle playing
position, and sometimes
pointing. We clearly struggled
to shoot carrying on from Chris.
However our play
was to a better standard than in
Grenoble 2004 and this is born
out with the game assessments. I
did feel that progress was made.
But as I discussed with the
Australian coach, while we both
know our teams have made
progress, it appears other
countries are improving faster.
In training games
the team played at 64%
effectiveness, and through the
worlds we performed at 55.3%
effective, a nearly 14% drop.
This was a similar drop off rate
as the 2004 team. Individually
the players ranged from a 6% to
30% reduced effectiveness. The
coaching challenge is to reduce
or eliminate this drop off
between playing in NZ conditions
and the World Championships.
Chris shot an
average of 69.2% through the
tournament, and as I’ve already
said this was a very good
effort. But in the 11 games we
played, our opponents averaged
73% shooting. So at all levels
of our game our playing skills
can and must be improved for us
to be competitive at the Worlds.
Amongst the
challenges facing me is that at
the Worlds my coaching role
changes and is unfamiliar. It is
the only tournament where I am
truly a sideline coach. Trans
Tasman and Oceania are bigger
squads and I’m not on the side
of every game. The players
generally control the games
themselves in these tournaments,
so my focus has been on
preparing them before the
tournament.
At the Worlds,
the coach and players must work
closer together through the
tournament. While every effort
was made this year, the team
leadership and relationships
between players, captain and
coach immediately before, during
and after a game in an intense
environment like the Worlds can
still be improved. I would
recommend assistance in this
area from a sports psychologist
for future teams.
Final Thoughts
Earlier I
outlined four reasons why it
will continue to be hard to get
NZ teams performing well at the
Worlds. Two of these – being in
our off season, and the high
cost of going, are beyond our
control. But two of these issues
we can have some influence on.
Efforts to
increase our base of players
will in the long term pay
dividends for our national
teams. But we also need to
identify players with a healthy,
competitive and committed
attitude who will make Petanque
a priority. Our international
players must learn the habits of
other top team sports people –
be committed to getting fit,
improve their diet, be keen to
always improve their skills and
be motivated by team success
rather than individual
recognition.
A compelling
issue I believe from this years
experience is the need to
increase the number of players
in NZ with international
experience, or even better to
increase the number of players
we have playing to an
international standard. Our
elite players need more high
quality competition, and
international competition is a
higher standard than they can
get here in NZ. Through this
experience our best players
learn better how to cope with
the pressure, what skills must
be used, and the tactical
options that must be available
to a team.
As coach I’d like
to thank the many people who put
the effort in to make the World
Championships trip possible. The
executive members of PNZ,
especially Graeme Morris as team
manager, the financial support
from many clubs and regions, but
especially my home club of Herne
Bay and the Auckland Petanque
Association. And the players who
showed tremendous dedication and
who made every effort possible
to make the trip a success.
Michael Emerson
Report: AFP (Agence France-Presse),
26.9.05
Thailand got as
far as the semifinals at the
world petanque championship,
underlining the growing
globalization of the
quintessentially French game -
even if France kept its
traditional top spot. It was the
second time the Thai team, the
strongest Asian contenders in
the game, had reached the semis,
although the last time was in
1991. This time they were
knocked out by host nation
Belgium.
Players from as
far a field as China, Argentina,
the United States and Japan
descended on Brussels for the
annual world championships of a
game which for many embodies
much about the Gallic spirit.
"There's a very interesting
trend, with the Asian countries
becoming very strong," said
Chinka Steel of the Australian
delegation at the games, which
brought together boules players
from some 60 nations. "I think
they're introducing a new
slightly less aggressive style
of petanque, but very much aimed
at dominating the game," the
61-year-old lawyer from Hanging
Rock told AFP.
For most people,
petanque is most likely to bring
to mind sun-dappled village
squares in southern France, cool
glasses of cloudy pastis, and
old men in berets. But at the
professional level it is a
fiercely competitive sport,
which is already included on the
rosta of some international
tournaments and is even vying to
be included in the Olympic
Games.
While France's
victory Sunday was their fourth
straight world championship win
(adding to the 20 over the last
40 years) there is little
doubting the growing challenge
from overseas. And not only from
the francophone world: in
Brussels the growing anglophone
presence was much in evidence,
including the language used on
team strips, as the sport seeks
greater international stature.
For some keen to
promote the game in
English-speaking countries, the
image is crucial if more people
are to take up the sport. "In
general the impression is not of
a French game but more of an
all-male game," said Anthony
Peter of Singapore's four-man
team in Brussels. "We're trying
to change that impression."
Others also say
there have been image problems
in the past for more political
reasons linked to France -- New
Zealander Chris Priestley says
the French attack on a
Greenpeace ship in Auckland
harbour in 1985 didn't help.
"When the Rainbow Warrior and
those things happened it slowed
down a bit because there was a
little bit of anti-French
feeling," he said, adding that
French nuclear tests in the
south Pacific in the 1990s
"didn't help either."
Thailand's
Yongyuth Boonyaprapatsara
meanwhile denies that the sport
is seen as particularly French
in his homeland. "Soccer is not
a Thai word, but we play it,
tennis is not a Thai word. It's
just another game," said the
72-year-old, vice chairman of
the Thai petanque federation,
which is preparing to host the
championships in 2007.
Closer to home,
some complain that the game's
image is not the only problem.
In Britain membership of the
national association has dropped
off of late, despite the
country's close ties with its
Gallic neighbours. Mike Pegg,
who is Britain's only
international petanque umpire,
blames official funding policy.
"If you're football or cricket
or rugby and you're winning,
they're going to give you a load
of money ... but we're always
knocked back because we're a
minority sport," he said.
For France, the
growing global challenge is
clear. But French delegation
member Jean-Yves Loulon shrugs
off any sense of alarm. "It's
true that a few years ago France
dominated the game. Now the gap
is beginning to be reduced,
because some countries are
making enormous progress," he
said. "The Asian teams take it
very seriously."
But he added: "We
welcome the fact that petanque
is being taken up abroad."
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