A playing area contains an indefinite number of terrains defined by strings… —Article 5 – “Playing areas and regulation terrains”
Boundary lines are like invisible walls rising up from the ground, separating lanes from other lanes and from out-of-bounds areas. When the authorized officials lay out the lanes in the playing area, they are in a sense doing two things— installing the invisible walls, and installing strings to show players the locations of the walls.
A string shows the location of a boundary that was installed by the authorized officials. But the string itself, as a physical object, is not the boundary line, and moving it does not move the boundary line.
Recently a question was posed to international umpire Mike Pegg.
A boule moving rapidly toward the out-of-bounds line is caught by the boundary string. The string stretches and then, like a bowstring launching an arrow, pushes the boule back onto the terrain. Like this.
In the scenario depicted in the picture, did the ball cross the boundary line or not? Is the boule dead or alive?
[T]he boule would be considered live if it has not fully crossed the dead ball line. … In the diagram the boule has not crossed the line…. so it is not dead.
In Mike’s view, the string is the boundary line. It follows that if a boule moves a string, it moves the boundary line.
I disagree. In my view—
- The string is not the boundary line.
- Anybody or any thing can move the string. But the boundary moves only when the string is installed or moved by an authorized official.
- In the diagram, the boule moved the string. But it did not, and could not, move the boundary line.
- The boule completely crossed the boundary line. Therefore, it is dead.
The Rules of Petanque 