Wednesday 10 July 2013

Shooting is fundamental

I often get asked why you should learn to shoot, after-all to the beginner it can be quite frustrating early on to keep trying to shoot when they feel they could do better if they just pointed all the time.  All too often we see players elect to point (because they think it is easier or safer to) when a shoot would make things a lot better.

First and foremost, the objective of shooting is to change things, to remove opponents boules from the possibility of counting. The fewer boules your opponent has in play the fewer points they can score - it's that straightforward.  OK, you may say, I understand that but I think I can get closer.  This mentality often leads to lots of boules in the head especially if both teams have similar views.  Often the opportunity to shoot to improve the situation in favour can be overlooked if the focus is always on 'just get closer than them'.

We have all witnessed the game where pointing dominates and scores tick over slowly. One team get one close one end, the next is the same etc etc.  Petanque, we must remember, is about being closest to the jack at the end of an end - this is very different than always being close to the jack.  I have a small saying which I try to stick by when I can - "I don't want to slowly lose this game".  Slowly losing is a symptom of a pointing mentality - oh well, I didn't get close this end, but I might the next and so on.  Failure to shoot at the right time is a recipe for losing slowly.  You may have boules tightly packed in the head, but if you never shoot your opponents are also likely to have a few boules hanging around the head.  You might (slowly) win games just pointing, you may even win the odd competition, but those teams who are more balanced in their play (shooting at the right time) are more successful in the long term.

Many a time I have played games where, in deciding which shot to play, I have found myself thinking "well my opponents are unlikely to shoot that boule, even though I can see how in doing so they might score heavily".  I am exploiting the fact that I think they should shoot but probably wont - which is fine for my team but a shame for my opponents who unknowingly missed a golden opportunity.

So, where does this propensity to prefer pointing come from?  When we learn the game we are shown how to hold a boule, how to stand/squat, how to throw.  And, as coaches, what is the first thing we do?  We put a jack on the ground and tell the student to try and get close... Why?  Because that is instantly rewarding - the student might get a boule very close and we (rightly) congratulate them - "You're a natural", "sign her up!" etc etc.

What would happen if we placed a boule at 5.5m and asked the student to shoot it before introducing them to a jack?  They might miss several times before getting a hit.  Is that demoralising?  Perhaps it is. But the objective is to show them the importance of shooting.  Tell them if they can do it they will win more, win bigger and have one up on players who don't shoot.

Now I'm going to put forward a potentially controversial statement.  Shooting practice makes you a better pointer....  There, I said it.  You might think I am bonkers but think about it for a minute.  A pointer aims to land their boule in a certain spot (or at least they should if they want to be any good).  A shooter aims to land their boule in a certain spot too (the target).  There may be differences in trajectory and desired outcome, but the objective is fundamentally the same.  Consistently landing your boule in the right place.  This is about repetition and building muscle memory. Our body eventually remembers what it feels like to land a boule in a certain place.  Over time, the time spent shooting at various distances then allows us to ask our body "Ok, you know what it feels like to land there, now what adjustments do we need to make to that feeling to make our boule rest in the place we want after it has landed".  If you can shoot a boule at 10m you should also be able to lob a point to 10m too - it just makes sense to me.

It would be remiss of me not to mention pointing practice at this point.  But by pointing practice I do not mean endlessly rolling boules towards a jack - pointless in my opinion.  If you consistently roll your boules at a low trajectory with no regard for where your boule lands before it rolls you might get lucky if the competition is played on a flat terrain.  But time and again I hear complaints about more challenging pistes from pointers who think the world is against them.  Just think about this for a minute - why would you deliberately limit your ability to win by only specialising in one type of playing surface?  It might mean you do very well at your home club but what if you get drawn to play on a piste you don't know how to play - what then?  

Let's be clear here - pointing is hard - consistently putting your boule precisely where you mean to is not easy.  So pointing practice must focus on the landing spot.  Pick a point on the ground and aim to land on it again and again and again, this will help you on rough ground conditions or those with a soft or thick topping.  Now think about what might happen if you put a boule in that spot....  It's no surprise to me that the best players can point and shoot.




3 comments:

  1. Your article does not recognize the importance of having a good pointer as part of your team. Without a fairly accurate pointer the shooters will be obligated to play the part of the pointers. You also failed to mention that "shooting" is not just displacing the opponents boules, a shot that does not stay near the target is just a temporary inconvenience to the opposing team. Consider this scenario:
    Team A is first to play, points and obviously holds the point; Team B shoots, displaces team A's boule but end farther than Team A's, hence,Team B now must play again and....Well, basically team B is now behind on the count.
    One can go on indefinitely about this subject and still have difference of opinion, but consider this: all petanque schools first teach newcomers how to point and then progresses into shooting.

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  2. Hi - thanks for the comment and I understand where you are coming from and perhaps the article could have worded a little better. But what I was trying to get across is that there are a lot of teams I play who don't know why they should learn to shoot. In my country we are only just beginning to learn petanque with only a few elite players (we have no petanque schools). I was really trying to explain some of the reasons why shooting is important and why, if you only ever point, you might find it difficult to improve. I take all of your points on board! :-)

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  3. Hi- Mr colin Stewart i agree with you

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