Stephen Daykin Before the night

Before the first night

You do not need much.

Set up the night
Players
Pairs work best. If you have an odd number, make one group of three.
Pistes
One piste for each pair if you have the room. Three or four can share, but try to avoid having people standing around waiting to throw.
Kit
Players use their own boules. Each pair needs a jack and, for some of the exercises, something small to mark a landing spot. A coin or bottle top is enough.
Notes
For the first evening, players just need something to write a few notes in. For the full six-week block, each player uses their own copy of The Pétanque Performance Journal.
Time
Choose a 20, 45 or 90-minute session. Most of it should be spent with boules in your hands.
What to print
Observer’s card · one per pair
Two fit on one A4 sheet. It is the same card every week.
This week’s sheet · one for the session leader
A different sheet for each evening.
Change One Thing · one to keep in your bag
Keep it handy for pairs who find the exercise easy.
Choose 20, 45 or 90 minutes
20 Before the games
A short exercise before everyone goes off to play their usual games.
45 Practice and a game
More time in pairs, followed by a few normal ends.
90 A longer session
Time to repeat the exercise, play, and talk about what you noticed.
The six evenings
  1. 01 Awareness What can you notice without trying to change it?
  2. 02 Slow What becomes easier to feel when the movement slows down?
  3. 03 Arc What changes when you throw the boule higher or lower?
  4. 04 Play Can you make the decision before the throw begins?
  5. 05 Trust Once you’ve chosen your shot, can you stick with it?
  6. 06 Review What are you still using from the previous five weeks?
Explain this once, then start throwing
  1. Work in pairs. One player throws while the other watches.
  2. Before throwing, the player picks one thing from the card for their partner to watch. The partner keeps the card and watches quietly until the set finishes.
  3. Then the watcher asks them that question, and the player answers first.
  4. The watcher describes what they saw, without suggesting a correction. Swap roles and repeat.

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