Have you ever gone to a bocce game and wondered what was going on or how the teams got points?
If so, this simple guide will be helpful to better understand the rules, since there are many in the sport of bocce ball.
To start, it is important to know the name of the little yellow ball. It is called the pallino.
There are two colors of larger balls, four green and four red, making eight larger balls in total.
A bocce ball match consists of two halves, each thirty minutes long.
There can be many frames in a half and the number depends on how long each frame takes. A frame is when four players from each team go against each other and attempt to get their color of ball closest to the pallino.
A coin toss takes place, with two captains chosen by the coaches from each team. The home team chooses heads or tails first, and the outcome depends on who rolls the pallino.
The court is divided into three sections. The pallino when rolled must make it past the middle of the court but it can’t reach the farthest cone. If it goes past that cone, then they get a re-roll.
Once the pallino is between the right sections, the player rolls their larger ball, either red or green.
The closest cone to the players who are up is a foul line.
If a player’s foot goes past the line, penalties will be given.
The objective of the game is to get your team’s ball closest to the pallino. The other team can hit your ball away from the pallino or hit it somewhere else on the court.
Up to four points can be made for a team in a frame. It depends on how many of a team’s balls are closest to the pallino. For example, if two green balls are closest to the pallino then there is a red one that is the next closest, therefore green team wins two points.
Coaches are not able to communicate with the players during the game, and can only speak to them during halftime. So, it is up to the partners to communicate with the athletes to help strategize what to do when it is time for them to roll the ball.
Coaches are allowed to call only one timeout per match. Only players can call measurements, and measurements are called for when the team thinks their ball is closest to the pallino than the other team’s ball. The referees will then stop the clock and measure the balls to determine which ball is closest.
At the end of the first half, whoever has more points wins the half and at the end of the second half, whoever has more points wins the half.
If one team wins one half and the other team wins one half, then there will be another frame played, which is called overtime.
During the overtime frame, if there is a tie, it will consist of the players who have not just played the most recent frame.
Whoever gets the most points at the end of that frame wins the match.
