Boule Bretonne plombée (Brittany, France)

This game can be played outdoors or in a covered room on a carpet. The games take place in twelve points, in teams of: 2 - 3 - 4 people or individually.
The game of leaded Breton boules from the country of Morlaix requires two leaded balls in hardwood or resin. They weigh between 1.8 kg and 2.3 kg and are between 12.5 and 13.5 cm in diameter. The more fragile wooden balls are hardly used any more. They are now replaced by resin balls. In order to recognize his boules on the alley, the player puts a colored point in the counter or engraves his initials. In recent years, multicolored balls have appeared.
Formerly, the leaded Morlaisian ball was entirely made by a carpenter, in guaiac wood, a rare, extremely hard and dense species, imported from South America.
The peculiarity of this leaded ball is to turn when it slows down. The ground is flat and groomed and measures approximately 20 m by 5.
This sport is played on alleys that are between sixteen and twenty meters long and between four and five meters wide. It can be outdoors or indoors (bowling alley). It is made of beaten earth covered with a layer of fine sand and is surrounded by wooden planks. Lead balls should be thrown by rolling them and not by throwing them from above to avoid damaging the fairways. Each hole in the aisle deflects the boules from their path and play becomes impossible. In some municipalities where dirt walkways do not exist or when the weather is not favorable, the game takes place on indoor carpet.
The Breton ball as it is practiced in northern Finistère in the region of Morlaix has its particularity and is undoubtedly the most unique of current Breton boules. Its main characteristic is to have five lead cylinders housed perpendicularly in the mass. The first four are arranged on the track. This tread guides the ball to allow it to go straight. But this game of skill is more subtle ... The fifth lead called the "strong" is encrusted on one side of the tread. Its role is essential and characterizes the game. It allows the ball to turn when its speed decreases. This lead unbalances the ball to the left or the right depending on the direction the player wants to get. Opposite the "strong", an unleaded cavity, called "contre fort", is made to accentuate the effect of the opposite lead.
As a general rule, if the bowler wants to send his boule to the right, he will throw it with his fort on the right but to the left. At the start of the course, the ball will move to the left, but its speed decreasing, will describe a curve to move ... to the right.
This game requires a lot of concentration, technique and strategy. The player can choose his placement to play his boule across the width of the fairway as long as one foot touches the back board.
The choice of this placement is essential because depending on it the curve obtained will be different. The measurement consists in positioning the straw between the ball and the ‘’bihen’’ to make it hold. This practice is called "bypass surgery". The straw should fit between the winning boule and the ‘’bihen’’ while it does not fit on the losing boule. In the Morlaix region, every café, both in town and in the countryside, had its path of lead balls.

Source: http://www.falsab.com/fr/boule_plombee_morlaix