Petanque Wallingford

After five rounds of competition starting way back in October last year (20 teams split into three leagues), it all came down to the final at Arborfield on Sunday. Twelve teams, four from Wallingford, competed in the Sunday FINAL. It was cold but we had dry and fine weather through the day.
The four Wallingford teams were
The Wolves – Dave Chalkley & Peter Smith (Nick Zalinski sub for Peter)
The Eddie Bears – Debbie & Paul Hammond
Mind the Gap – Wendy Harris & Steve Gothard
The Special Ks – Yvette & Mike Marshall

The morning matches were played in a round-robin format, three groups of four playing each other to qualify for either the Main (Top 6) or the Plate (Remaining 6).

After a lunch break in the Clubhouse the split was announced.

The Eddie Bears and The Special Ks qualified for the Main.
The Wolves and Mind the Gap playing for the Plate.

A great final match was played between:
The Twiglets – Paul Webb & Phil Claydon and The Saints – Dean Webb & Bob Boothman.
Both these teams had each only lost two of their fifteen games in the five rounds of earlier competition so were odds on favourites to win.

The Saints won the Cup but both these top two teams showing outstanding ability. Demonstrating hard accurate shooting and consistent high-lob pointing to within inches of the Jack.

Phil very kindly gave us some good playing tips – emphasizing the importance of good grip (thumb just resting on index finger) and the importance of *Muscle Memory in playing consistent shots.

The Plate was won by Girl Power – Linda Thorpe & Elaine Smith – well done to them.

A great result for the Kings Head taking both the Cup and the Plate – Congratulations to them.

It was a great day of friendly competition for everyone taking part. Big thanks to Arborfield for hosting us all on the day.

Mike Marshall

*Muscle Memory
Muscle memory is a process of reorganizing and rewiring our nerves to make the brain/body connection stronger, faster and more accurate. When we practice a new movement over and over again, we are literally “grooving” a new neural pathway within our central nervous system.