If you have never played Bocce Ball, you are in for a great time! Bocce ball is one of the oldest games ever played by humans. It dates all the way back to 5000 B.C. when the Egyptians played a form of Bocce Ball with rocks. The game was introduced to the US by Italian immigrants at the turn of the century. Since then, it has become a tradition in many households. A 150 lb person can burn up to approximately 200 calories per hour while playing bocce ball.
So invite your family and friends over for a game while the weather is nice! All you need is a long, flat stretch of grass (cut short) or pavement and a set of bocce balls to play. Follow these directions to get your game underway.
How to play bocce ball:
- Measure out a stretch of land for the bocce ball court (measuring 76 ft long by 10 ft wide).
- You will need two teams of one, two, or four players each. Each team gets four bocce balls, divided evenly among players.
- Flip a coin to see which team starts first. Taking the smallest ball, called the “pallina,” a player from the starting team will throw the ball to the opposite end of the court, standing in front of the foul line (which is 10 ft from the throwing end of the court).
- The same player will throw one of the larger balls, called the “boccia,” trying to get the boccia as close as possible to the pallina. The purpose of the game is to get as many boccias closest to the pallina without touching it.
- The opposing team will take turns throwing each of their boccias until one of the balls ends up closer to the pallina than the starting player's ball. If the opposing team does not get closer than the starting player's ball, the starting team tries to outdo its first throw.
- The starting team takes their second turn only if the opposing team gets closer to the pallina than the starting team without using all of their balls.
- Continue with these steps until all eight balls have been tossed.
- The team with the closest ball scores one point for each of its balls that are closer to the pallina than the other team's closest ball.
- No points are awarded if both team's closest balls are equal distances from the pallina.
- The team to score points wins that frame and begins the next. If no points are awarded, the team to throw the pallina last throws it again.
- Play as many frames until one of the teams scores a total of 16 points.
- You can also try to throw your boccia to knock the pallina closer to your team's balls, or you can knock the other team's balls away from the pallina.
Above information adapted from: eHow.com: How to Play Bocce Ball