Mêlée (pétanque)
Mêlée ( French ) means the turmoil, the scuffle or mixed. In the boules sport pétanque , the terms mêlée and mixing are used to put together formations .
Tournament sport
Formé / Mêlée
Most pétanque tournaments are doublette formé (2- person formation) or triplette formé (3- person formation), ie players register as a fixed formation. The term formé is usually left out.
In a tournament that is advertised as a Mêlée , the teams are put together at the beginning of the tournament. Mêlée tournaments are rare (at least in Germany). Supermêlée is played more often.
Supermêlée
In the Supermêlée (also written Super-Mêlée) a predetermined number of rounds are played. The participants are reassembled / shuffled after each round. The formations and pairings are mixed by ejecting them with the game balls, by loosing them or using a computer program.
From the second round, the previous results can also be taken into account when putting together the formations. Then the winners of the first round get a loser of the first round as a partner. The same procedure is followed in the other rounds.
The Supermêlée is usually played without a bye. As a result, if the participant fields cannot be divided by four, both doublets and triplets are mixed together. Different formations also play against each other.
Training and leisure game
Even outside of tournaments, the formations and playing partners are often put together by mixing . Especially in preparation for pétanque competitions , formé is also played during training matches in the club.
Mix
Mixing (in the narrower sense) in pétanque is the combination of formations and pairings by throwing balls at the same time.
There are two methods:
- All players throw a ball in the direction of a previously placed cochonnet (but, piggy). (Big mix)
- One player throws a cochonnet and one ball from each player into the air. (Mixing pairings).
Great mix
This method is used e.g. B. used in Super-Mêlée or in free play. In both cases it is possible that different formations play against each other.
A list of the possible formations and pairings can be found in the following table.
| Number of players |
Formations | Pairings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doublet (D) | Triplet (T) | Donut | D: D | D: T | T: T | |
| 4th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6th | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 15th | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The balls are placed in a sequence. Depending on the possible encounters, the pairings and opponents are now put together. There are two methods of doing this:
- The owners of the balls next to the cochonnet play together or against each other.
- The owner of the best ball plays together with the owner of the worst ball.
If you have to play with different formations, it is usual that the pure doublet games are put together first.
Mix to make pairings
With a "big mix", the formations that play against each other can also be determined. However, this can also be determined afterwards by throwing up a player ball and a cochonnet together. This is also common when there are only a maximum of 6 (or 7 for a Berliner) players. The formations are put together according to different rules: The owners of the balls in the best position play together or the owners of the balls in the 1st and 3rd (and 5th) positions play against those in the 2nd and 4th (and 6th) positions .) Lying.
Tête-à-tête versus doublet, Berliner
There are solvable problems if exactly 3 or 7 players meet in the free game. If 3 meet each other, one with 6 balls can play against a doublet.
If 7 meet each other, a so-called Berliner can be played, playing 4 against 3 with 8 balls per formations. In a team of 4 everyone has 2 balls, in the triplet two balls play with 3 and one with 2 balls. This Berliner is only played in free play.
Otherwise, equally strong formations ( tête-à-tête , doublette or triplet) play against each other at official pétanque tournaments .