Bocce ball dates back to 5000 B.C., when Egyptians played the game using polished rocks. Typically played on asphalt, grass or sand, bocce is a team sport that involves rolling or throwing brightly colored balls in an attempt to land closest to a randomly placed marker.
Choosing Teams
Bocce ball can be played by two, four or eight players. Teams should have at least two players, and each team must have their own collection of eight distinctly colored bocce balls. To begin, each team chooses a color and divides the eight balls evenly between team members. Teams then split up, with half the team members standing on each end of the bocce ball court.
Throwing the Pallino
A bocce ball game is divided into frames. To begin the first frame, all players should decide on a random player who will throw the pallino. This player stands at one end of the bocce court and throws or rolls the pallino, which is the name for the small marker bocce ball, anywhere he likes within the lines of the bocce court. The goal of the game is for all other players to land their bocce balls as close as possible to the pallino.
Throwing Bocce Balls
Beginning with the player who threw the pallino, all players take turns throwing or rolling their bocce balls, trying to land the balls as close to the pallino as possible. Players must stand outside the lines of the bocce court while throwing. If a player throws a bocce ball and it ends up outside of the lines of the bocce court, that ball is removed from play for the rest of the frame. It is fine for a player to hit another bocce ball or the pallino and move them with her bocce ball throw as long as the pallino stays within the bocce ball court's boundaries at all time.
Taking Turns
A player from one team throws all of his bocce balls until one of his balls becomes the closest to the pallino or he runs out of balls. At that point, a player from another team starts throwing from the other end of the court, until one of her balls becomes the closest to the pallino or she runs out of balls.
Scoring
Once all balls have been thrown, the frame is over, and the team with the bocce ball that rests closest to the pallino is declared the winner. That team receives one point of each bocce ball of theirs that is closer to the pallino than any ball from any other team. After scoring, all players should collect their bocce balls and then switch which sides of the court they started on. Play continues until one team reaches 16 points, thus winning the game.
Member Comments