All Topics  
Bocce

 
Bocce

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Bocce
 
 
  Topics Bocce Topic Home

Bocce (or Bocci, or Boccie), is a precision sport
Sport

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of regulation of sport or traditions and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor...
 belonging to the boules
Boules

Boules is a collective name for games played with metal balls.Two of the most played boule games are p?tanque and boule lyonnaise. The aim of the game is to get large, heavy, balls as close to the small, 'jack'....
 sport family, closely related to bowls
Bowls

Bowls is a sport in which the goal is to roll slightly asymmetric balls, called bowls, closest to a smaller—normally white—bowl called the "jack" or "kitty"....
 and pétanque
Pétanque

P?tanque is a form of boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet ....
 with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Developed into its present form in Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 (where it is called Bocce, the plural of the italian word boccia which means "bowl"), it is played around Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and also in overseas countries that have received Italian migrants, including Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 (where it is known as bochas; "bolas criollas" in Venezuela), initially amongst the migrants themselves but slowly becoming more popular with their descendants and the wider community.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Bocce'
Start a new discussion about 'Bocce'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Bocce (or Bocci, or Boccie), is a precision sport
Sport

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of regulation of sport or traditions and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor...
 belonging to the boules
Boules

Boules is a collective name for games played with metal balls.Two of the most played boule games are p?tanque and boule lyonnaise. The aim of the game is to get large, heavy, balls as close to the small, 'jack'....
 sport family, closely related to bowls
Bowls

Bowls is a sport in which the goal is to roll slightly asymmetric balls, called bowls, closest to a smaller—normally white—bowl called the "jack" or "kitty"....
 and pétanque
Pétanque

P?tanque is a form of boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet ....
 with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Developed into its present form in Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 (where it is called Bocce, the plural of the italian word boccia which means "bowl"), it is played around Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and also in overseas countries that have received Italian migrants, including Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 (where it is known as bochas; "bolas criollas" in Venezuela), initially amongst the migrants themselves but slowly becoming more popular with their descendants and the wider community. The game is also well-known in Serbia
Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country in Central Europe and Balkans Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans....
 as bocanje (??????) and in Croatia
Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a Central European country at the crossroads of Pannonian Plain, Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea....
 as bocanje, bucanje, or balote, depending on the region.

Rules and play

Bocce is traditionally played on an oyster shell court, but has also been played on decomposed granite, soil, or asphalt courts approximately 20 to 27 metres in length and 2.5 to 4 metres wide, sometimes with wooden boards of approximately 15 centimetres in height surrounding the court. Bocce balls can be made of metal
Metal

In chemistry, a metal is a chemical element whose atoms readily lose electrons to form positive ions , and form metallic bonds between other metal atoms and ionic bonds between nonmetal atoms....
, wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
, stone
Rock (geology)

In geology, rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock....
, or various kinds of plastic
Plastic

Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic chemistry solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products....
. Unlike lawn bowls, bocce balls are spherical and have no inbuilt bias.

Bocce Score Detail
A game can be contested between two players, or two teams of two, three, or four. A court match is started by a randomly chosen side being given the opportunity to throw a smaller ball, the jack (called a pallino or a boccino in some areas), from one end of the court into a zone about 5 metres in length, ending 2 metres from the far end of the court. If they miss twice, the other team is awarded the opportunity to place the jack anywhere they choose within the prescribed zone. At this time the team that attempted to put the jack into play first gets to roll the first ball.

The side that first attempted to place the jack is given the opportunity to bowl first. Once the first bowl has taken place, the other side has the opportunity to bowl. From then on, the side which does not have the ball closest to the jack has a chance to bowl, up until one side or the other has used their four balls. At that point, the other side bowls its remaining bocce balls. The team with the closest bocce ball to the jack is the only team that can score points in any frame. The scoring team receives one point for each of their balls that is closer to the jack than the closest ball of the other team. The length of a game varies by region, but is typically played to 11, 12, or 13 points.

Players are permitted to throw the ball in the air using an underarm action. This is generally used to knock either the jack or another ball away to attain a more favourable position. Tactics can get quite complex when players have sufficient control over the bocce ball to throw or roll it accurately.

Players

A bocce player of note is Umberto Granaglia (May 20th, 1931 – December 13, 2008), who was awarded the honor of "Player of the Twentieth Century" by the Confederation Mondiale des Sport de Boules. Between 1957 and 1980 Granaglia won a record 13 World Championship titles, 12 European Championship titles, & 46 Italian National Championship titles.

See also


  • Boccia
    Boccia

    Boccia is a sport for athletes with a disability. Similar to bocce, it is designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy and other locomotor disabilities affecting motor skills....
  • Bowls
    Bowls

    Bowls is a sport in which the goal is to roll slightly asymmetric balls, called bowls, closest to a smaller—normally white—bowl called the "jack" or "kitty"....
  • Curling
    Curling

    Curling is a team sport with similarities to bowls and shuffleboard, played by two teams of four players each on a rectangular sheet of carefully prepared ice....
  • Fédération Internationale de Boules
    Fédération Internationale de Boules

    F?d?ration Internationale de Boules is part of the "Conf?d?ration Mondiale des Sports de Boules" which is the highest international authority of Bocce sports acknowledged by the International Olympic Committee....
  • Pétanque
    Pétanque

    P?tanque is a form of boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet ....


External links