Bocce is a popular outdoor game that involves tossing eight weighted balls toward a smaller target ball called a pallino.

In bocce ball, “bocce” refers to the plural of the Italian word for “bowl,” and the game is comparable to English lawn bowling. There are also some similarities between bocce balls and croquet balls, although the official bocce ball is much bigger and heavier. Individuals of varying ages and ability levels love bocce because of its simple rules and ease of play. And any flat area may serve as a bocce ball court.

If you want to learn how to play bocce ball, let us be your guide. A regulation game of bocce ball begins with a coin toss to see who gets to start the game. Whoever loses the coin toss can choose the team’s ball colors and patterns.

The winning team’s pallino is thrown by a player standing 13 feet from the court’s end zone (this distance may be changed to accommodate different court dimensions). The pallino has to cross over the court’s midpoint but can’t reach the opposing end. If it doesn’t, the other team will have the opportunity to toss it.

After that, the team who won the coin toss will start to play by throwing or rolling the first bocce ball from beyond the foul line—with the goal to get it as near to the pallino as possible.

The opponent now has a chance to attempt to advance a ball closer to the pallino. If successful, they have another shot at getting a ball in striking distance. The opposition will keep throwing until one of its balls falls farther away from the pallino than the first team’s balls.

The team whose balls are closer than the other team’s to the pallino gets the point for each of those balls. The round ends with zero points for either team if their closest ball to the pallino is the same distance from the pallino as the other team’s closest ball.

As long as the pallino stays on the court and doesn’t cross the center line, players can knock the other team’s balls out of the way and move them to a more advantageous position. A ball is out of play if it reaches the back of the court without contacting another ball.

If a team wins the round, they will have the option to start the following one. In the event of a scoreless round, the team who threw the pallino will begin the next one. Even though you’re free to play to a higher total, most games end when one team reaches 12 points.

Rather than waiting for a holiday weekend to get a bocce game going, you can play it at will with HD SportSuite’s bocce ball simulator. With our virtual bocce ball game, you can hone your skills for those family BBQs, leaving everyone in awe at your impeccable talent for bocce!

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