Разновидности баскской пелоты: история и современность

Variety of court sports

Basque pelota (Basque: pilota, Spanish: pelota vasca, French: pelote basque) 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 (frontis or fronton) 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. The term pelota probably comes from the Vulgar Latin term pilotta (ball game). It is a diminutive form of the word pila which may relate to a hard linen or leather ball filled with pilus (fur or hair) or to the Latin words for strike or spade and is related to the English word pellet. Today, Basque pelota is played in several countries. In Europe, this sport is concentrated in Spain and France, especially in the Basque Country. The sport is also played in Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Cuba. Operated as a gaming enterprise called jai alai, it is seen in parts of the U. S. such as Florida, Connecticut, Nevada, and Rhode Island. In Valencia, Valencian pilota is considered the national sport; it is also played in Belgium, northern Italy, Mexico, and Argentina. Since its creation, the International Federation of Basque Pelota has standardised the different varieties into four modalities and fourteen disciplines, with fixed ball weights, rules and court sizes. The four modalities— wall, wall, wall and trinquete—admit fourteen disciplines, depending the use of bare hand, leather ball, rubber ball, paleta (pelota paleta), racket (frontennis) and care. Two of the fourteen disciplines are played by both men and women (frontenis and rubber pelota in trinquete); the other twelve are played only by men. This allows championship play at the international level, and allows the participation of players and teams from around the world using the same rules. There is, however, criticism about this, since purists might argue that some of the original traits of each particular modality could be lost. Even with protection, accidents do happen. With the ball easily travelling at , pelota can kill if safety equipment is not used properly or at all; while rare, occasional deaths do occur.

The origin of this sport is tied to the decline of the ancient jeu de paume (jeu de paume au gant), ca. 1700. While the game evolved to the modern jeu de paume (with racquet, called real tennis in England) and eventually to lawn tennis, rural Alpine and Pyrenean communities kept the tradition. In the Basque Country the "pasaka [eu]" and "laxoa [eu]", local versions of the paume evolved to the peculiar style of the pilota: instead of playing face to face, with a net in the midfield, the Basques began to fling the ball against a wall. According to the Basque pilota historian Chipitey Etcheto, the first recorded matches took place in Napoleonic times; it is believed that the game was close to currently rare speciality of "rebot [eu]". The mid 19th century saw the explosion of the "pelota craze". The player "Gantxiki" is considered the original "father" of the chistera, the basket shaped racquet that can propel the ball at high speeds, introduced around 1850. The top champions of the end of the 19th century, such as "Chiquito de Cambo", were immensely popular and the best paid sportsmen of their time. The first official competitions were organized in the 1920s and led to the world championship in the 1950s. In 1924, the United States built its first fronton, in Miami. During the '80s and '90s, Jai Alai was especially popular in Miami and Florida, but with the growth of casinos and legalized betting in the United States, the popularity of jai alai evaporated, and only one non amateur fronton is still known to exist in the country.

Pelota is usually played in the Basque regions of south western France and north western Spain, where it originated. There are also federations of Basque ball in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Philippines, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, the United States (including Puerto Rico), Venezuela, the Netherlands, Sweden, India and Greece. Due to the origin of the game, there are many good players who are Basques, either natives or from the Basque diaspora. The sport is part of the Pan American Games since 1995, but was dropped at the 1999, 2007 and 2015 editions due to its low popularity in Brazil and Canada.

Basque pelota was an official Olympic sport once, in the 1900 Paris Games, and a demonstration sport in 1924 (men), 1968 (men) and 1992 (men and women). See also Basque pelota at the 1900 Summer Olympics. In the 1900 Paris Games, there were two teams entered, France and Spain, but the French team, Maurice Durquetty and Etchegaray, withdrew on the afternoon of the contest; therefore, the contest was scratched and the Spanish team, Amezola and Villota, were awarded the gold medal.

Basque pelota is usually played in a two walled court ( or pilotaleku, French: fronton, Spanish: frontón). As seen in the picture, there are also courts with one wall, a modality prevailing on the French side of the Basque Country, some spots of Navarre or at the highly exceptional court of Zubieta in province Gipuzkoa. Yet they are not recognized by the International Federation of Basque Pelota for international tournaments, and usually reserved to joko garbia and open air grand chistera games.

The trinquet is a court in Pelota where there is a front wall, a glass wall on the right and a wall on the left that has a dugout built into it and lastly a wall at the back. where the right wall and the front wall meet there is small 45 degree wall. The trinquet is 8.50 meters high, 28.50 meters long and 9.30 meters wide.

The mur a gauche is French for 'wall on the left' which it truly is, as represented in the diagram below where there is a front wall called a frontis, a left wall and a back wall called a rebot. The mur a gauche is 36 meters long, 10 meters wide and 10 meters high.

The Jai Alai court has the same layout as the mur a gauche, but instead of being 36 meters long, it is 54 meters long.

The ball used to play pelota is called pilota in Basque, pelote in French, and pelota in Spanish. There are different sizes, different weights and different materials for each discipline that is played. The ball is made out of a boxwood core from in diameter. This is wrapped in a latex wire (for Hand Pelota, Grand Chistera, Jai Alai, and open air Pala). The core of the ball is different for individual age groups so that the weight limit is respected. The core can also be made from latex (for Cesta Punta, Xare, Pala Corta, and Remonte). A wire of pure new wool is then carefully wrapped carefully around the core so that the ball is round and even throughout. A structure of cotton wire is sewed on the surface of the ball so that the wool stays in place. Number eight shapes are cut out from goat skin and are sewn together onto the ball in one or two layers.

Some of the disciplines in pelota require the use of a glove or Chistera. Chistera Joko Garbi A short and shallow glove that is used in Joko Garbi and is played on a fronton. Grand Chistera A long and deep glove. In France, the grand Chistera is used to play Grand Chistera on "place libre", and it is called Cesta Punta when it is played on a Jai Alai. Chistera de Remonte It is only used in Spain for Remonte (played on a Jai Alai court). It is a shallow glove like the Chistera Joko Garbi but longer.

The Palas and Paletas are wooden made rackets that are used to strike or hit the ball. The difference between them is their weight, length, and width. Paleta Gomme Creuse Paleta Goma The larger of the two Paleta Gomme, it can weigh from 400 to 500 grams. It is used in the trinquet and on the mur a gauche. Paleta Gomme Pleine Pala Ancha This Paleta is narrower but thicker than the Paleta Gomme creuse and is also 400 to 500 grams. It is used in the trinquet and the mur a gauche as well as the fronton 'place libre'. Paleta Cuir Paleta Cuero This Paleta is thicker and narrower than both of the Paleta Gomme rackets and weighs from 500 to 600 grams. It is used in the trinquet, mur a gauche and fronton 'place libre'. Grosse Pala Pala Corta A Pala that is even thicker and narrower than the Paleta Cuir, which results the Pala to be from 600 to 800 grams. The Pala is used in fronton 'place libre' and mur a gauche. Pala Larga Only used in Spain to play a game also called Pala Larga, it is the longest and heaviest of all the Palas and Paletas with a weight of 900 grams.

This is the version known outside Europe as jai alai. It is called zesta punta in Basque and cesta punta in Spanish (literally: 'edged basket'). It uses a special glove that extends into a long pointed curved basket (hence the name), circa 60 cm long in straight line and 110 cm by curved line. The basket (xistera in Basque and chistera in French) was introduced by Gantchiqui Dithurbide from Saint Pée, France in 1860, and its long version by Melchior Curuchage, from Buenos Aires in 1888. also spelled share in Spanish) is played with a wooden ring strung with a net, meaning that the ball is thrown instead of hit. It is played only on the trinquet court. It is traditionally strong in South American countries, especially Argentina, as a result of which it is also known as raqueta argentina and raquette argentine in Spanish and French.

The International Federation of Basque Pelota has organized the Basque Pelota World Championships since 1952.