How this guide works
Each button below opens an Amazon search for that category, not one hand-picked product, because the right set depends on who is playing and where. What we add is the part listings leave out: the sizes and weights the sport’s own rulebooks require, so you can tell a regulation set from a toy at a glance. Rules and dimensions come from the governing bodies linked at the bottom; prices change constantly, so we don’t quote them.
The gear, game by game
Bocce sets
8 balls (4 per side in two colours) plus a small target ball, the pallino
The most social buy on this page: two to eight people, any flat patch of lawn, gravel or packed sand. Under the CBI international rules that took effect on 1 August 2026, competition balls are 105.5 to 107.5 mm across and 900 to 920 g, and the pallino is 39 to 41 mm; Special Olympics rules allow balls from 107 to 110 mm. Many backyard sets use smaller, lighter balls, which is fine for a lawn but worth knowing if you want a set you could also take to a club court. Official courts are 26.5 m long and 4 to 4.5 m wide (CBI), or 60 by 12 feet under Special Olympics rules; at home, pace out whatever you have and agree the boundaries before the first throw. Read how bocce is played for the pointing, raffa and volo shots and the scoring.
Best for: Families and parties; the easiest of these games to pick up
Pétanque boules
Hollow metal boules and a wooden or synthetic jack
The game that needs the least space and no court at all: FIPJP rules say pétanque is played on any surface, from a throwing circle 35 to 50 cm across, with the jack thrown 6 to 10 m. Regulation boules are metal, 70.5 to 80 mm in diameter and 650 to 800 g; youth boules of 65 mm and 600 g are allowed for players 11 and under; the jack is 30 mm and 10 to 18 g and must not be magnetic. Players throw three boules each in singles and doubles and two each in triples, so a set of six covers a game of doubles. Check the listing for a stated diameter and weight: sets that give both are the ones made to the rules. Our pétanque guide covers pointing, shooting and why games go to 13.
Best for: Small gardens, campsites and travel; the set fits in a bag
Lawn bowls
Sets of four biased bowls, usually with a jack
The one to buy only if you have a green to roll on. A lawn bowl is 112 to 131 mm across (rubber or resin) and weighs up to 1.59 kg, and it curves because of its shape, not a weight inside; every bowl must carry at least the bias of the World Bowls reference bowl. Singles is played with four bowls each, which is why they sell in fours. An ordinary back lawn is too uneven for a game that is decided by inches, so most buyers are club members choosing their own set rather than using the club’s. Watch out for “lawn bowling” sets with plastic pins: that is a different game (see Gear 5). Learn the rules in our lawn bowls guide.
Best for: Club bowlers who want their own set; not a casual backyard buy
Candlepin and duckpin balls
Small, hole-less balls for the New England and Mid-Atlantic games
Both games are played in bowling centers on their own lanes, and the house supplies balls, so this is a buy for regulars who want a ball that is always the same weight in their hand. Candlepin balls are 4½ inches across and 2 lb 4 oz to 2 lb 7 oz, with no finger holes. Duckpin balls are 4¾ to 5 inches and no more than 3 lb 12 oz under NDBC rule 201, also without holes. Ask your center what it allows before you bring your own. Our candlepin and duckpin pages explain the three-ball frames, the wood rule and the records.
Best for: League candlepin and duckpin bowlers
Backyard bowling sets
Lightweight pins and a ball for lawns, driveways and kids’ parties
These are games rather than equipment: plastic or wooden pins, a light ball, and no governing body. They are the quickest way to teach a child how a frame works. Set up ten pins in the triangle, give everyone two rolls a frame, and keep score the old way on our printable retro score sheet; how bowling scoring works explains strikes and spares in a few minutes.
Best for: Kids, parties and teaching the scoring
Which one should you buy?
- A crowd in the backyard: a bocce set. Eight balls, two teams, no skill gap on day one.
- Little space, or you travel: pétanque boules. Any surface, a bag-sized set, games to 13.
- You belong to a bowls club: your own lawn bowls, in the size and weight the club pro recommends.
- You bowl candlepin or duckpin in a league: your own ball, within the sizes above.
- Children, or a party game: a backyard bowling set plus the retro score sheet.
New to the whole family of rolling games? Start with our guide to the bowling family, which compares every game side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Can you play bocce on grass?
Yes. Official courts are 26.5 m long under CBI rules (60 feet under Special Olympics rules) with a packed, level surface, but the game itself only needs a flat area and an agreed boundary. Mown grass slows the balls, so most backyard games use shorter throws than a court would.
What size are regulation bocce balls?
105.5 to 107.5 mm in diameter and 900 to 920 g under the CBI international rules in force since 1 August 2026, with a pallino of 39 to 41 mm. Special Olympics rules allow tournament balls from 107 to 110 mm. Smaller backyard sets are fine for home play; they just aren’t court-legal.
What is the difference between a bocce set and a pétanque set?
Bocce balls are large (about 107 mm) and usually resin; pétanque boules are small hollow metal balls (70.5 to 80 mm, 650 to 800 g). Bocce is rolled along a court; pétanque is thrown from a standing circle on any surface. The scoring idea is the same in both: the side farther from the target keeps playing until it gets closer, and the closest balls score.
More lawn and table games
Two more games with their own rulebooks: kubb, the Swedish block-and-baton game, and shuffleboard, on a court or a table.
Sources: FIPJP Official Rules for the Sport of Pétanque (boule, jack, circle and distance rules, Articles 1 to 9); CBI International Rules, Raffa, CBI-R003.2 Rev 2 (effective 1 August 2026) and the Special Olympics Bocce Sport Rules (September 2024) for bocce ball, pallino and court sizes; World Bowls Laws of the Sport of Bowls, Crystal Mark Fourth Edition (Laws 51, 52 and 55); NDBC Rule Book (rule 201) and ICBA Rules & Regulations for duckpin and candlepin balls.