Monthly Archives: January 2012

Terminology – piste, lane, marked terrain

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The term “piste”, according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary is derived from the Old Italian word “pista”, from “pistare” — to trample down — and means a trampled-down trail or track, a beaten path. In snow skiing, a “piste” is a marked ski run or path down a mountain. By extension, a “piste” is any long, narrow strip of ground where some activity takes place. In fencing, the “piste” is the long, narrow area (the fencing mat) where a fencing match takes place.

In petanque, the term “piste” is used to refer to a marked patch of ground upon which one plays petanque. The term is extensively used in Australian versions of the rules, but other versions of the rules have used the term only rarely. Currently, the FIPJP rules use the term cadre (lane).

Words like “piste”, “lane”, and “cadre” refer to a set of visible, physical marks (or strings) on the ground. So a marked patch of ground can be a piste or lane even when no game is being played on it.

In contrast, the expression “marked terrain” is not a technical term, and it is used in a different way. The word “marked” is an ordinary adjective used to indicate that the patch of ground where a game is being played (the “terrain”) has boundaries that have been marked in some way. The terrain is délimité or tracé.

For more information, see our page on the petanque playing area.

When has the term “piste” appeared in national or international rules of petanque?