How to play petanque without getting hurt

It unites friends and allows you to relax between generations, pétanque will be the queen of summer evenings, but you still have to practice it without danger. Doctor Jean-Pierre Iannarelli, referent doctor of the French Federation of petanque and Provencal game and of the French team, agreed to answer our questions on the health errors to avoid.

Do you have any advice to give before starting a game?

As with any discipline, you can of course start by warming up beforehand. Playing pétanque mobilizes the whole body, including the shooting arm as well as the pelvis, legs and ankles. It is enough to do a general warm-up as for any sports practice. If you’re not too sporty the rest of the year, I recommend not starting straight away with long games.

Then, like all outdoor activities, it is better to avoid playing in hot weather. I recommend playing in the shade whenever possible and if you’re not shooting watching from a shaded edge. In competition, we sometimes interrupt games that are playing in the middle of a dodger. Letting players play in such conditions is letting them put themselves in danger.

What solutions to take advantage of the summer heat in this case?

Avoid heatstroke at all costs. For that, you have to be careful not to stay in the middle of the dodger! Protect yourself from the sun, play in the shade as much as possible, or at least stay there until your turn comes? Wear a cap, put on sunscreen and wet exposed and unprotected areas of the body. Also, don’t forget to stay hydrated: drink two or three sips of water every quarter of an hour. Above all, stay hydrated! Do not take beer or any other alcoholic beverage as it dehydrates.

At the slightest sign of sunstroke – headaches, feeling sick or nauseated – stop the game, put the person concerned in the shade, lying down if the position is more comfortable, and hydrate there. If after 15-20 minutes, if she does not recover, call the emergency services for medical advice. Heatstroke is also accompanied by fatigue, dizziness, intense thirst and in some extreme cases, cramps or impaired consciousness. If it’s a real heatstroke, it may be necessary to hospitalize it to hydrate it with a drip.

For children, the instructions remain the same. As for adults, impose the cap and remind them to drink. Since they’re caught up in the game, they probably won’t think about it.

Sometimes we can have a sore arm from playing, what is the right way to avoid sores?

I also recommend not to play too intensely. For a leisure practice, you can play without counting the points, but stop after an hour, even if it means resuming after a break. This way, you won’t put too much strain on your joints — which is more common after a certain age — or your muscles. With this break, you avoid back pain the next day. If you have trouble picking up the balls, there are accessories made of string and a magnet that allow you to retrieve the balls without bending down. Then, a good warm-up of the joints upstream makes it possible to attenuate these pains. Also remember not to play too far — in leisure, we shoot at 6 meters, among professionals, it’s at 10 meters — and take your time, chat! In general, do not play a whole afternoon without interruption.

During the game, avoid staying in the axis of the game. Watch the action from the side, this will reduce the risk of colliding with the cork or a ball. Then, in case of iron [lancer une boule sur une autre, NDLR], you can still get the dislodged lump in your legs. It’s not pleasant but the most dangerous is still the shot at the stopper [déplacer le cochonnet, NDLR]. The little one can leave very fast and strong; if you get it in the middle of a fig, it can hurt a lot, so stay away!

Are there specific measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19?

Yes, both in leisure and in competition, you must keep social distancing and respect barrier gestures, wash your hands before and after the game as well as clean the equipment before and after (ball and jack).