How to Play Bocce

Posted on March 18th, 2009 by Elaine

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Bocce is an ancient accuracy game from Italy, and it closely resembles both bowling and soccer. If it’s a beautiful day outside, gather your friends and enjoy this exciting game. Here’s how.

What You’ll Need:

Bocce court (You’ll need a level playing surface, at least 10 feet wide and 76 feet long)
Players divided into two teams (You can have as many as four players per team)
Eight large bocce balls (Four in one color, four in another)
One smaller ball, called the “pallino” (jack)
An official who will determine the points the teams score

Instructions:

Find a playing surface where you can have the game. It should be an even surface, either grass, packed dirt or gravel. Mark off this playing area.
Divide the players into two teams, with equal number of players. For example, if there are eight people, have four members on each team. Let the players stand outside the foul line.
Get the bocce balls and divide them among the players. Each player must have at least one ball in possession. Ask the two teams to line up behind the foul line.
Randomly choose a team to start the game. The first player from that team stands behind the foul line (ten feet from the court’s throwing end), then throw the pallino towards the other end of the playing area.
After throwing the pallino, that same player also throws one of the bocce balls, trying to put it as close as possible to the pallino, but not touching it. The bocce can bounced, rolled, throw or “banked”, as long as it doesn’t violate the foul markers or go out-of-bounds.
A player from the other team gets to throw his ball next, trying to get his closer to the pallino than ball of the starting player.
After the first player from the opposing team throws his bocce ball, and it doesn’t come closer to the pallino than the first bocce ball form the starting team, his team mates gets to throw, using up their three balls. If possible, the opponents can try to displace the first team’s bocce ball. This is called “spocking”, done to decrease the other team’s point or get a point.
If the bocce ball of the second team DOES come closer to the pallino, the remaining players from the starting team are the ones who will throw their balls. They can try to displace their opponent’s bocce balls, too.
When all the players from one team have thrown their balls, let the remaining players throw theirs.
The team with the closest bocce ball to the pallino is awarded points for each of the balls that are closer than that of the other team.
If the two teams’ closest balls are at an equal distance, no points are given.
The frame ends when all the balls have been thrown and points are awarded. The team that scores gets to begin the second frame. If there were no points, the team that threw the pallino starts again.
Keep playing as many frames, until one team gets a score of 16. That team wins.