You will find two main kinds of Bocce Ball. Volo and Raffa. Let's take a look at each type.

Volo would be the slightly older and much more conventional type of bocce. There's currently a Volo international event that occurs in Lyon, France each year from 1901. Thousands of players participate in this three day affair. The first Volo worldwide championship was in 1947. The very first Raffa world tournament was in 1983.

Volo is normally played over a all natural floor surface. Raffa is generally played on the man made surface. Volo balls are created from bronze and may differ in size (3.5-4.3 ") and weight (2-2.6 lbs). Raffa balls are produced from plastic and they are all of the exact same size (4.2 in .) and weight (2 pounds).

A volo pallino is made from wood and (1.4 inches) in size. A Raffa pallino is made from plastic and 1.6 in . in diameter. A Volo court is 27.5 meters (90 ft) long and 2.5-4 metres (8-13 ft) wide. A Raffa court is 26.5 meters (87 ft) long and 4 to 4.5 meters (13' to 14' ft) wide.

There are no side boards in Volo. In Raffa, there are side boards and they are 25 cm tall. In Volo, all shots must be Volo style. In Raffa, simply the Volo zone shots have to be Volo style unless of course the pallino is bersaglio to the declared ball in which particular case the shot may be known as raffa; lengthier shots can also be Raffa or Volo style. (Note: Bersaglio is when a ball is inside 13 cm of the pallino as well as when 2 balls may be within 13 centimetres of each other). In Volo, the sideline and back line will be always dead no matter what. In Raffa, the backboards as well as sideboards are live only after a successful shot attempt (either a bocce or pallino intentionally hit).

In Volo, the only way a pallino can be moved during a shot, is when the pallino is the designated ball. For all non-pallino shots, the pallino always goes back again to the original position when moved. In Raffa, the pallino can shift as much as 70 mm and be considered a regular (legal) toss. Every pallino movement more than 70 mm is definitely an irregular (illegal) toss. The minimal distance to throw the pallino in Volo is 12.5 metres (41 feet). In Raffa, the minimum distance to toss the pallino is 9.25 meters (30 ft). In Volo, the maximum distance to toss the pallino is 17.5 meters (57 feet). In Raffa, the greatest distance to toss the pallino will be 18.5 meters (61 ft).

In Volo competitions, players referee themselves and involve an official referee as a very last resort. In Raffa competitions, there is a referee supervising play on each and every court. In Volo, players mark all their particular balls on the court and toss marks. In Raffa, a referee makes all of the court markings. In Volo, only the player who is playing at that moment may be in the play spot. All other players will need to stay at the other end of the court. In Raffa, all other players must stand in the rear of the play area while someone is playing a ball, and are not allowed to be on the opposite end of the court until they've played their final ball then they must walk beyond the center line to the live(opposite) end of the court.

Whenever shooting in Volo, you can declare an opponent's ball as well as the pallino. Whenever shooting in Raffa you can declare an opponent's ball, your ball, or the pallino. Raffa measuring sticks make use of chalk on synthetic courts or a scribe on all-natural surfaces to mark the balls locations and throw marks. Volo measuring sticks do not have chalk but instead scribe directly in to the surface of the court.