I played the team of Hatchadorian/Riviera/Fernandez with a scratch team at Valréas last weekend in the afternoon session. My team was pretty good and we gelled quite well for a scratch team. I was pointing on a tough surface and playing 90-95% and I had managed to hit the shots I had to. So going into the afternoon we were confident. Then after a mix of barrage and a 4 hour wait we saw the draw. My team mates were intimidated but I was up for the challenge and truly excited. First end we played 5 perfect points and they shot well 5 times. The last boule was a miss by my shooter and we lost 1. So a decent start. Every end after that was pretty much rinse a repeat. We point well, they hit well but we find ourselves 10-0 down. So we change tactic and attack and shoot 6 and score 4. I miss my last shot by millimetres but it’s a miss. Next end my shooter misses once and casquette once. We are in trouble and I have to shoot the bouchon. I miss the first time but shoot well and the next is a shot that I prefer not to mention. So we lose and the lessons are interesting. They were totally relaxed until we attacked back. Then the cracks started to surface. This means when I meet them again I’ll play a different game in terms of boule placement. When the crowd was gathering after the first end they were under immense pressure. The Irishman as I’m now known was playing well and as an unknown I held an advantage. In future I’ll press that uncertainty even more. I should have used the crowd more. They were vulnerable at exactly 6 meters which my team didn’t want to play as they preferred longer distances. They don’t shoot a boule behind the bouchon. No matter how close it is. It’s an accepted rule in France. This makes them vulnerable and exposes a great opportunity to pressure the pointer and middle. They are not invincible and with the right team and lessons learnt I’m sure I could either beat them or score many more points

I’ve been playing pétanque for about three years now, and competing in tournaments and league/cup games for roughly 2.5 years. In that time, I’ve only managed to get into the zone (flow/tunnel) three times. So far, it has only happened when I was playing as tireur — suddenly the opposing boules seem huge, the target feels obvious, and missing becomes almost impossible. In that state I’m hitting around 4 out of 5 shots, often with a high percentage of carreaux. From my own observations, this state only appears when… • Playing as tireur • Communication is minimal — just eye contact with my partner is enough. I think this only works when both players trust each other’s abilities and share the same playing philosophy. • I’m leading the team to a certain extent. Usually I can maintain this focus for about half to two‑thirds of a game, rarely for a full match. I still notice everything happening around my game, but it feels distant and doesn’t affect me. I haven’t yet discovered what breaks the flow — it just fades at some point. I’m curious whether others have found triggers that help them enter a flow state. Is there anything you consciously do to reach a higher level of focus? And have you ever experienced this while playing as pointeur?

Hello guys 👋 Just a short message to say thanks and hello to everyone. I’m a new player training seriously for two years and doing a few concours, but still without point yet . This community looks very cool

Is there any difference in how different brand boules react or do they all travel/spin/bounce/stop the same?

Is there an area on this forum that discusses shooting training? I want to really improve my shooting in a fairly short period of time. I have time to practise, and I want to use the remainder of the Summer to train. My success rate is probably 40% at the moment, but after watching some of the latter matches from Travermünde I'm constantly blown away on how good some shooters are. Almost 90% success rate. And they do that with such ease. I've started by developing a good constant Plombee at various distances eg 7,8,9m for my training, bit I guess Inhave to be realistic on how long this process can take. Look forward to comments. Thanks.