The throwing of bowls counts certainly among the oldest of all sporting gestures: from ancient Greece, where it was first practiced, it was brought to northern Italy and southern France by the Romans.

Despite its popularity throughout the Middle Ages, it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that diverse rules began to emerge and govern three different 'games of bowls' : Boule Lyonnaise, Pétanque and Rafle.

All three games have in common that bowls ('boules' in French) are being used to play. These are either made of metal - small (diameter of 8 cm, 800 grams) in size for Pétanque and bigger for Boules - or of a synthetic material for Rafle. They also share that a considerably smaller bowl - the but, the jack or 'cochonnet' (French for piglet) - is used as the target, and some fundamentals in terms of the throwing techniques:

The 'Point' , the throwing action in placing one's bowl as close as possible to the jack, is performed from a poised position, with both feet firmly placed inside a small circle in Pétanque or in a wider stance in Boules and Rafle.

The 'Shot', the action of hurtling one's bowl at that of an opponent in order to clear it out of the way, is performed after a few running strides in Boules and Rafle or from a stationary position within the thrower's circle in Pétanque.

The terrain, sport bowls' field of play, is flat, smooth and clearly marked for Boules and Rafle, while in Pétanque it tends to be less defined, shorter and more uneven.

More than 240 World and Continental Championships have been staged in men's, women's and junior divisions to date. The traditional events in singles, doubles and triples have been complemented with newer events such as the Precision Throw, the ultimate test of a player's throwing qualities, and the Shuttle Progressive Throw, an athletic variation to the game of Boules Lyonnaise.

Countries around the northwestern Mediterranean basin - the area which saw the emergence and the early development of sports bowls - feature still the highest density of people practicing these sports: 20 millions in France and Italy. Nearly 1 million players are licensed in 80 other countries on all continents, with the most significant growth rates recorded in South America and Asia (China and India).

The governing bodies for the three different boules sports (Pétanque, Boule Lyonnaise, Rafle) are gathered in the Confédération Mondiale Sports Boules (CMSB).

sport rules link: