Skip to Content

The Rules of Boule

 

  1. The game is played by two teams, with one to three players per side. Each team chooses a Captain.
  2. At all times, the Captain determines which teammate will throw his/her boule and when. No player may throw more than two consecutive boules.
  3. The starting team is decided by tossing the red/blue washer. The Captain decides who will throw the cochonnet.
  4. When throwing a boule, the player must keep both feet on the throwing pad.
  5. If team “A” fails to throw the cochonnet the proper distance after 3 attempts, it passes to team “B”
  6. Once play begins, the court may not be raked, smoothed or altered in any way.
  7. After the cochonnet is in play, teams will take turns trying to place their boule closer to the cochonnet, or to knock away the opponents boule, thereby making “the point”.
  8. From this point on, whatever team does not have the boule closest to the cochonnet plays the next boule until it has the closest boule or has no more boules to play.
  9. The distance of a boule is measured from the top center of the cochonnet to the closest part of the boule.
  10. After all boules are played, the team with the closest boule wins one point. Additionally, one point is awarded for each boule closer to the cochonnet than the closest boule of the opposing team.
  11. The team which scored points starts a new frame from the opposite end of the court and the game continues until one team scores 13 points.
  12. Losing team rakes the court.