Bocce Ball
From Hobby Ideas
Bocce Ball is a fun Yard Game hobby
Bocce ball is a fun Yard Game that you can play anywhere, in the backyard, in the park, or just about anywhere else you want. All it requires is some Bocce Balls, and a jack (Pallino), which is also a ball, but smaller than the bocce balls. The first time I played bocce ball was in college on a date that I was invited on. Bocce Ball still wasn’t well known yet in the United States, so I had never even heard of it.
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Bocce Ball History
Bocce Ball is a popular Yard Game, similar to Lawn Bowling that originated in Italy.
Bocce Ball Rules
Bocce Ball is a pretty simple game. There are two teams, each with their own color of balls. For instance, my Bocce Ball Set that I currently own has four red bocce balls, and four green bocce balls, along with the Jack Ball. Basically, you play by one team tossing the jack ball wherever they want. After the jack ball has been tossed, one team starts, usually we play so that the person who tossed the jack, then throws the first bocce ball at it. One team throws a bocce ball, then the other team throws a bocce ball, and they go back and forth like that, until they are out of Bocce Balls.
The goal of the bocce ball game is to see who can get their bocce ball, or the most bocce balls, closest to the jack, which is the Target Ball. The team that gets a bocce ball closest to the jack, wins that round. They get a point for their bocce ball which is closest, and they get a point for every other bocce ball they threw, which is closer then the opposing teams closest bocce ball. If all of your bocce balls are closer than any of the other teams bocce balls, then you would get four points with our bocce ball set.
There are different types of Bocce Ball Sets. You can get bocce ball sets with six bocce balls, three for each team, or you can get a bocce ball set with for bocce balls for each team like the one that I have. You can play bocce ball with one player on each team, so that it is two on two, and each player throws all four of their bocce balls, or you can have more players, and perhaps each player only throws one of the balls for their team.
Bocce Ball Strategies
There can also be some strategy in bocce ball, since you can use your bocce balls to hit the other team’s bocce balls out of the way, or to hit your own bocce balls closer to the jack. You can also hit the jack with one of your bocce balls, and knock it away from the other teams bocce balls, or knock closer to some of your own bocce balls, that may have previously landed further back behind the jack.
Bocce Ball Terrain
The terrain you play bocce ball on can make the game more interesting. I have played in flat grass parks with no obstacles. I have also played bocce ball in a baseball field where the jack was on the other side of the backstop, so we had to throw our bocce balls over the backstop to get near the jack. I have also played with trees as obstacles, or even with the jack under a tree. I have also played on rough terrain, such as bumpy ground, so that it is less predictable where the bocce ball will bounce once it hits the ground, and makes it harder to aim well at the jack.
Some people are better at the short game, where you throw the jack nearby the players. Then you have to be more careful using a strategy where you can knock the other teams bocce balls further from the jack or knock the jack nearer to your bocce balls, while at the same time preventing the other team from doing the same thing to you. When the jack is further away, a long game, bocce ball players tend to just try to aim at the jack, and that can be difficult enough without trying to hit the jack or the other teams’ bocce balls, with your bocce balls.
Bocce Ball Sets
- See our Bocce Ball Sets
