Activity
Mon
Wed
Fri
Sun
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
What is this?
Less
More
Memberships
PP
Petanque Performance Academy
71 members • Free
10 contributions to Petanque Performance Academy
14d •
Giving away the game
Today I flubbed a point that didn’t look all that difficult. But… it was the game winner, in the finals, against a team we were not favored to beat. My partner and I had started a great end, and the opponents unexpectedly missed a couple, and suddenly we were holding 4 with only me to play. Wow! Make this throw and go home undefeated! In my excitement I managed to knock the opponent’s ball up, giving them 1 point on that end, and they eventually beat us. As I play more tournaments and my skills improve, I find myself in higher stakes situations more often. Semis and finals against quality competition are less uncommon. Sometimes now I’m in the shooting role or milieu, meaning that something might already be wrong when I step up to play. And when I mess up in those roles, the consequences can seem much worse because you do something that is actively terrible… instead of maybe going a bit short and failing to get the point, now I’m the guy who gives away the game by shooting the wrong ball or pushing the jack to the opponents. I didn’t completely fall apart after today’s f***-up, we did win the next two ends before they put us away. My partner was extremely gracious about it. And thanks to the rest of the team, we won the overall on points differential. But it’s not the first time I’ve failed on an important ball… and it seems hard to train under those mental conditions. I could certainly use your tips and tricks on performing as well on the game-winner as I would in a practice session.
1 like • 13d
@Kevin ORourke ouch! Yes, it can be cruel, but I think it’s cruel less often to players who manage the pressure better than I. I have yet to read The Inner Game of Tennis that you recommended a few months ago, but it feels like my next set of improvements will be less about “keep your arm straight” and more about “stay calm under pressure”. Or even “play better under pressure”.
1 like • 12d
@Rick Bergmann good thoughts. I think I was mostly excited to beat those guys. I knew the risks and tried to play "normally" but obviously the ball went awry. More practice, more consistency needed I guess, so that the amount of variation in my throws goes down overall, and therefore also goes down under pressure.
Apr 10 •
Weekend Tournaments!
Tournaments all weekend. Saturday a 6people team tournament with a single, double and triple in each round. Kinda special thing to play. Sunday the Mixed triple District Championship. And this is my first outdoor competition of the year. Hope i can bring some Gold medals to the community 😎. Have a nice weekend everyone!!!
0 likes • Apr 11
Good luck! I’d be interested to know more details of the format for your 6-person team tournament… how do the rounds work, how does elimination happen, etc? And if you enjoyed yourself. My local association is trying to come up with a 6-person format that doesn’t drag on forever.
Apr 5 •
A very exciting end of Pétanque with my favourite Southern France player Ricky Bes
https://youtu.be/X7eGQABlDl8?is=UwPfD6pFwsoqcYIm
0 likes • Apr 6
We don’t see that kind of aggressive play very often here in NZ!
Mar 19 •
Drill cards question
I’m creating some drill cards and would like your opinions and feedback on a few I’ve created so far. They are for international market
0 likes • Apr 2
These feel AI generated to me, and kinda look like it. In particular, some of the way they use numbers seem sketch (there’s one place that says “max 26” that makes no sense to me. Another weird numeric example is an exercise where you throw 13 boules, or throw 4 boules without stopping to reset… the exercises should be multiples of 3 or maybe a round number like 10. Exercise 4, landing a lob with less than one revolution of roll (but then saying the lob is not a high throw) is preposterous. I like the idea of drill cards, but these need work.
Feb 27 •
Are you playing this weekend?
My first proper practice for 2026 starts this weekend as I’m restricted when it’s cold. First competition is next weekend when I play with a GB junior player to help his game
1 like • Feb 27
Practice on Saturday and Hibiscus Open Doubles on Sunday!
1-10 of 10
Active 2d ago
Joined Jan 19, 2026
New Zealand