Ball
Valencian frontó is played with a tec ball, made of goat skin. The ball weighs 45–50 grams (1.6–1.8 oz), and has a diameter of 38–40 millimetres (1.5–1.6 in).
Frontó (Valencian pronunciation: [fɾonˈto] ) is a modified Valencian pilota version of the original Basque Pelota game. [1] The name frontó refers both to the game, ball and the playing area. Unlike some of the more popular Valencian Pilota rules, frontó is an indirect game, that is, players do not stand face-to-face but share a common playing area.
The first frontó in Valencia is dated in the late 1800s, and was called the "Jai Alai" (Basque for joyful party). On 12 June 1894 the newspaper El Mercantil announced one of the first matches with 4 Basque players.
After its foreign origins, Valencian frontó evolved with the use of a different ball, the "tec", so that it has more in common with Valencian pilota. So far, though, it has not gained as much popularity as the Escala i corda or Raspall rule variations, the only version of pilota with professional players.
Valencian and Basque Pelota players now meet in casual tournaments or exhibitions despite the use of different balls and different court sizes.
A Valencian frontó is a rectangular flat three-walled courtfield:
The side wall has 10 numbered vertical lines used for players to stand in their positions and to locate two lines: The fault line, at the 4, marks the closest place to the "frontis" where the serving ball may be bounced on the ground, and the pass line, at the 7, signals the farthest place from the "frontis" where the ball may bounce when serving.
Spectators usually sit on stairs or chairs placed where the fourth wall would stand, after an area called "contracanxa", which is used to play openly bouncing balls. Under normal Valencian Pilota rules, public stands aren't separate from the playing area.
Valencian frontó is played with a tec ball, made of goat skin. The ball weighs 45–50 grams (1.6–1.8 oz), and has a diameter of 38–40 millimetres (1.5–1.6 in).
A "frontó" match may be played one-on-one or by teams formed by 2 players. As players use the same playing area, they must have different colored clothing to distinguish themselves. Usually, whichever player is the 'favorite' to win wears red, while the other player wears blue.
Due to influence of the Basque Pelota now it is usual to use the Basque scoring, which goes to 22 points. The Valencian Pilota Federation, however, plays its tournaments under the traditional Valencian rules:
A match is played until one of the teams attain 40 points, counted 5 by 5, being each one a joc Every team, alternatively, serves for a whole joc, which consists in 4 quinzes: 15, 30, val and game. Whoever wins the "val" gets the "joc" and scores 5 points.
A quinze begins when a player bounces the ball before the "fault line" and throws it to the "frontis" wall, after it rebounds it must pass the "fault line" without going over the "pass line". Every team hits the ball alternatively with their hands, sending it to the "frontis" over a 90 cm horizontal line after a first bounce on the ground or when it is still in the air. If the ball passes the "pass line", the teams serve the ball again.
The "quinze" is won when the opposing team can not throw back the ball according to these rules or commits a fault:
Other versions
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| Defunct frontons | ||
| Related articles | ||
Jai alai is a Basque sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker, commonly referred to as a cesta. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term jai alai, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton where matches take place. The game, whose name means "merry festival" in Basque, is called zesta-punta in the Basque Country. The sport is played worldwide, but especially in Spain, France, the U.S. state of Florida, and in various Latin American countries.
American handball, known as handball in the United States and sometimes referred to as wallball, is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small, rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent(s) cannot do the same without the ball touching the ground twice or hitting out-of-bounds. The three versions are four-wall, three-wall and one-wall. Each version can be played either by two players (singles), three players (cutthroat) or four players (doubles), but in official tournaments, singles and doubles are the only versions played.
Basque pelota is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall or, more traditionally, with two teams face to face separated by a line on the ground or a net. The roots of this class of games can be traced to the Greek and other ancient cultures.
A trinquete is a special court for various indoor versions of pelota and it is a modality of the pelota sport. In South America, especially in Argentina the trinquete is also known as close court, because the other open court is named for the fronton. It has some of the characteristic features of a real tennis court, probably because many real tennis courts were converted to trinquetes in the 19th century. For some sports, the players face the same wall and share the court, similar to squash. For other sports, a net is strung across the middle of the court and the players face each other, similar to tennis.
Frontenis is a sport that is played in a 30 meter pelota court using racquets and rubber balls. It can be played in pairs or singles, but only pairs frontenis is played in international competitions. This sport was developed in Mexico around 1900, and is accredited as a Basque pelota speciality.
Valencian pilota is a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community. Its origins are not known.
The Circuit Bancaixa, officially Liga Profesional Escala i Corda, is the professional league of Valencian pilota.
Valencian trinquet, or simply trinquet, is the court used in the Valencian Community for two different modalities of Valencian pilota: the Escala i corda and the Raspall.
Escala i corda is the most prestigious variant of Valencian pilota, and the only one apart from raspall to have professional players.
Llargues is the oldest Valencian pilota modality. It is played on the streets, where two teams formed by 3, 4 or 5 players throw each other the ball with the hand try to surpass an imaginary line which changes every game.
The International game is a ball game that is related to many sports derived from and similar to Jeu de paume. It is played in the Handball International Championships by teams from the Americas and Europe.
Raspall is a variant of the handball game Valencian pilota, played mainly in the Valencian regions south to the Xúquer river: the Vall d'Albaida, the Safor, the Costera, the Marina Alta and the Marina Baixa. It is also popular in the Ribera Baixa. It is one of only two variants that have professional players—the other being Escala i corda.
Álvaro Navarro Serra, simply known as Álvaro, is one of the main Valencian pilota professional players. He is one of the most reputed dauers due to his strong left hand and his professionality, and has got to be a member of the Valencian Pilota Squad. Now he is one of the stars of the ValNet company.
Galotxetes is a modality of the Valencian pilota. As usual in the Valencian pilota, it's a handball game where players stand in front of each other. The differences with the main variant are the unusual court and the unique ball used. Despite the name, it has no relation with another Valencian pilota variant, the Galotxa.
The vaqueta ball is the kind of ball used to play some Valencian pilota variants, including Escala i corda, Galotxa and Raspall. Its name derives from the fact that it is made of bull's skin. It has a black colour that tends to become brown as it is used, and is designed to contrast with the white colour of the trinquets' walls.
One-wall handball, also known as 1-wall, wallball or international fronton, is a wall game where the player hits a small rubber ball with their hand against a wall. The goal of the game is to score more points than the opponent. The player then hits the ball, and the ball bounces off the wall and the floor within court lines, if the opponent fails to return the ball, the player scores a point. The sport was created to bring together varieties, such as American handball, Basque pelota, Patball, Gaelic handball, Pêl-Law and Valencian frontó.
Pelota mixteca is a team sport similar to a net-less tennis game. The players wear sturdy, elaborately decorated gloves affixed to a heavy flat striking surface, using them to strike a small solid ball. The game has roots extending back hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of years.
A fronton is a two-walled or single-walled court used as a playing area for Basque pelota.
Galotxa is a variety of pilota that is always played in the street, whether artificial or natural, practiced mostly in the northern counties of the Xúquer river.