The rules of the game

The basis of the game reminds us of other ancient popular games, e.g. pitch-farthing. The players do their best to place the boccia (big bowl) as near the pallino (target jack) as possible. This is achieved, in most cases, by bowling. The game can be played individually, in doubles or in teams of three players. The tournaments are generally conducted by a chosen or designated referee on a greatly even and hard field, as indicated below.

With the collaboration of the referee it is to be decided by lot which part can start the game and from which direction of the field. After this the pallino is placed on the starting point indicated by the figure. The first player, starting from the base line 'A', tries to bowl his boccia as near the pallino as possible (point).

If the bowling is not null (e.g. the boccia doesn't touch the board) it's the adversary's turn to try and approach the pallino with his boccia in order to get the point. He can attempt it until his boccia goes nearer the pallino than that of his adversary, or until he finishes his bowls. Now it's the other part's turn. When there are not any bocce left the referee establishes which bowl is the nearest the pallino or rather how many bowls of the winner are nearer than the nearest bowl of the adversary. The winner gets the point/s. The game finishes at 12 or 15 points.

In case the player doesn't think to be able to bowl better than his adversary, he can try to throw out the adversary's boccia. This can be made only if he declares in advance which boccia he wants to hit. There are two types of throwing. One is called raffa.

It can be done if the target boccia is over the opposite line 'C' or anywhere on the field but nearer the pallino than 13 cms. It is useful to do it by a running jump until the base line 'A'. The boccia has to touch the field after line 'C' for the first time and in any case it has to hit the target boccia first. After a successful throwing the game goes on independently of the position of the bocce.

The other throwing is called volo.

This can be used on the target boccia in any place of the field. The player can run until line 'B', however his thrown boccia has to fall only in a circle of 40 cms around the target boccia for the first time or on the target boccia itself. The throwing results invalid if the above conditions are not fulfilled. In this case the thrown boccia is to be taken out and the position of the other bocce has to be replaced. If the formed result is more advantageous for the adversary, he can take the opportunity of the "advantage rule" and can "accept" the position formed after the invalid throwing. The game goes on with the bowling of the part which has previously got the point/s. The pallino has to arrive over the half-field, but it has to stop before the opposite base line. It can't touch the board. If the throwing of the pallino is not valid, the other part can try to bowl it. If this results invalid, too, the referee puts the pallino onto the starting point. The game is continued by the part which has previously got the point/s. The winner is the part which gets 12 or 15 points.

In case of an individual game each player has 4 bocce, in double and trio games each player has 2 bocce, that is the teams can play respectively with 4-4 or 6-6 bocce each.

The ground of the field has to be solid and as straight and even as possible. It can be made of beaten earth, cinders, concrete, plastic or covered by carpet. The field is bordered by wooden or concrete board of 25 cms high on its two longitudinal sides and by swinging timbers covered by rubber on the ends.

Weight: 90 g, diameter: 4 cms, material: plastic.

At team competitions a team game consists of a trio, an individual and a double game. Usually the trio starts, then the individual and pair games are played in the same time on near fields.