This Saturday I’ll be playing the State Championship in Tête‑à‑Tête for the first time. I’m excited and a bit nervous — some of the regional big players will be there. My plan is simple: play my game and not get too impressed by my opponents. I just hope my game doesn’t fall apart too early, since I tend to play quite offensively, especially when I’m responsible for myself only. Over the last few days my pointing has been excellent, but my shooting has lacked a bit of consistency. The terrain will be rather soft, which isn’t exactly my favourite - easy pointing and shooting. Many of those players shoot a tir de devant, and on this type of ground even shots that are clearly too short often still result in a carreau. Wish me luck in these “hours of truth”, as we used to call it in time trialing.

I have not felt like practicing lately, and i use to do it ALOT, so i promised myself to leave the boules on my shelf a couple of days. (I think 3days) Just to see if i get more motivated. Today when i started up my practice if felt really good, maby not 100% motivated but the flow in my arm, feeling in the routine, release and eye focus were spot on. So what is your take on motivation and taking some recovery days from time to time? When it comes to physical training its really important. So maby the brain/musclememory need this rest to?

Many players, especially from Thailand and Vietnam, give the boule a quick glance right before shooting. At first, I thought this might be counterproductive, but after seeing how well they play, I realized there’s more to it. It’s likely tied to concentration—perhaps a way to block out distractions and stay in their own zone. Does anyone have information on that?

Let me know what you think of this superb players style and elegance https://youtube.com/shorts/I64HJBd34io?is=tAmDsoBUXsYpnHZL

I filmed this great game which is worth watching in full……but there was some controversy at the end. It starts at 59:00 I didn’t realise one vital aspect and it’s made me ponder if this was a tactical delay with ignorance of the rules and confusion or a master stroke in delay and coche placement post clarification. Drop your thoughts below and if you have a spare hour to watch the game what you thought of the decisions made. It was fascinating to see the Thai and Madagascar teams in action and some of the good and bad tactical choices made by other teams. https://youtu.be/GWeWwuNBlpE?is=0NyIEka5JjRrrEIW