The standard bocce ball court dimensions of a professional court can be up to 100 feet long and 14 feet wide. This is the upper limit for a regulation size court, and many factors go into determining the size. Of course, if you are playing bocce ball at home, you can make it almost any size you want.
Bocce ball is a fairly simple and fun backyard game that is widely played and loved, The best thing about it is that you don’t need much to play the game, just 8 balls, and a court. While the game can technically be played without a court, building one from scratch in your backyard is easy. In this article, we will walk you through the dimensions of a bocce ball court and the materials used to build a bocce court.
What Is Bocce Ball?
If you’re unfamiliar with the game, bocce ball is a sport very similar to lawn bowling. It has been around for 5,000 years, and ancient Egyptians and early Romans used to play an equivalent of the game where polished stones were tossed. That’s the main difference between bowls and bocce – the balls are tossed instead of rolled.
Rules Of The Game Influence Bocce Court Dimensions
The playing surface should have enough room to accommodate all the players. The amount of space required to play, the number of players involved, and safety zones, are just a few of the things that are taken into account while building a bocce ball court. but one must first understand how the game is played.
Playing bocce ball requires two people or teams playing against each other; teams can be comprised of 1, 2, 3, or 4 players. To begin, you’ll need a Pallino ball, a small white ball the size of your palm, and a court with a surface of sand or grass.
You’ll also need 8 bocce balls. Bocce ball sets come in two groups of four balls with two different colors. The Pallino must go beyond the center line of the bocce ball court. You will have enough space on each side of the white line for sufficient throw room.
Once the Pallino ball is placed, the teams take turns throwing or rolling their bocce ball from behind the foul line, getting as close to the Pallino as possible.
This keeps repeating until all 8 balls are thrown. The closer your ball is to the Pallino, the more points you’ll get.
How Big Is A Bocce Ball Court
Official Dimensions
Generally, regulation size court dimensions are 10 to 14 feet wide and 76 to 100 feet long. The court configuration needs to align with official layouts for competitive matches. Bocce courts usually have foul lines, one on each half that act as a shooting point, located 12′ from the end of the court or back wall. There is also a centerline, beyond which the Pallino must be thrown.
Home Court Dimensions
A professional court is built to maximize the efficiency and competitiveness of the game. But bocce courts for casual play don’t need to strictly align with any such guidelines. There is flexibility with how casual courts in a limited space are built and unless you have a ginormous yard at your convenience, the most you can build is a 12 feet wide bocce court of length 60 feet. If this isn’t viable, you can consider reducing the length of the court down to 50 feet. Even public parks use these bocce ball court dimensions. The shooting and pointing lines can be placed differently than in traditional courts, such as at 10 feet from the back walls or end lines. A smaller court works just as well, as long as it has with a marked center and foul lines.
Court Build
Now that you know about court size, let’s take a look at the build of bocce ball courts. If you want to play bocce ball like a pro, you need the right court. The material you lay to make the bocce court is intrinsic to the fast-paced nature of bocce ball.
The materials required to build a bocce ball court include concrete, crushed stone or oyster shell, wood, etc. To play bocce, you need a flat surface that will allow for the bocce ball to roll smoothly. You do not want a surface that will create a bounce to every throw, so playing bocce ball on concrete won’t work.
Before a bocce ball court is built, all the grass, turf, and sod is cut using a grass or turf cutter, and a laser level is used to make sure the court surface is flat. Then you lay decomposed granite, base rock, and stone dust to create a strong surface to roll the balls on.
The final layer of the court is made of oyster shell flour. While other materials, for example, grass or sand can be used, the most widely used material is crushed oyster shell since it helps replicate a professional court. But since oyster shells might be difficult to get your hands on, an alternative would be sand, which most home bocce ball courts use.
Common court surfaces are made of clay, packed dirt, carpet, and grass. There is also a frame encompassing the court area made of either concrete or wood. Since bocce balls are quite heavy, the frame needs to be very sturdy. So, every time the bocce player throws a ball at it to bounce off of it, the frame shouldn’t break or weaken.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know all about bocce ball court dimensions and how you can build one on your own, treat yourself to some good old backyard bocce.
Bocce ball courts are great for the flexibility and simplicity they provide when it comes to building and playing. An added advantage is that a bocce ball court can be built in limited spaces.
We hope that this article has helped you with everything you need to know about bocce court sizes and bocce ball in general.
