A sport that originated from the game of paume
The origin of Basque pelota, jeu de paume is an ancestral French practice first mentioned in the Middle Ages. The game consists of returning a ball with the palm of the hand - the leather glove was introduced in the 13th century and the racket in the 16th century. Jeu de paume is thus the ancestor of Basque pelota, tennis and all racket games in general. The Basques adapted the sport during the 17th century, applying specific rules and facilities.
Basque customs influenced the player's attire, the pelotari - white pants, white sports shoes and a polo shirt in the club's colors - as well as the equipment, such as the pelota and chistera, which were made using traditional techniques specific to the region.
A tradition of transmission
Some schools, mainly in south-west France, offer introductory courses in Basque pelota to their pupils, but the sport is not regularly integrated into the school curriculum. However, a number of enthusiasts have produced "teaching kits" to encourage PE teachers to take up the sport. However, Basque playgrounds are no exception to the rule when it comes to free practice, with versions such as "up and down" or "at the door". Young pelotaris learn from their elders, attending training sessions and matches on the outdoor frontons - the sport is played on every fronton in the region.
They also draw inspiration from players who have gone pro and are internationally renowned. One example is Sylvain Brefel, from Toulouse, who became the first Frenchman to play in a professional league in thirty years. He specializes in pala larga. Another prominent figure is Eric Irastorza from Bidart, a specialist in cesta punta. He now plays in Miami (the new home of pelota) and holds five world championship titles, including three as a professional. Finally, Daniel Michelena, from Saint-Jean-de-Luz, is another cesta punta specialist. After playing on Basque frontons for many years, he is now recruiter and manager of the Miami fronton.
A very artisanal manufacture
In addition to the highly cultural aspect of Basque pelota, the sport is also a strong testimony to Basque craftsmanship. Pelota equipment is handcrafted in France and Spain - only a handful of Basque artisans still make them. Chestnut and wicker chisteras have been hand-woven by the Gonzales family in Anglet since 1887. Each chistera takes 20 to 25 hours to make, and costs between €250 and €340. One of the members of this illustrious family, himself a former player, is also a cesta punta teacher. In Ascain, on the Spanish border, another highly reputed craftsman works the balls - all the balls, for all the specialties (bare hand, chistera, paleta cuir, cesta punta...). Ander Ugarte sews the balls himself, after a machine has wrapped the boxwood core in latex and wool. He is particularly well known among pro players, who snap up his services. Since 2019, a young craftsman, Ellande Alfaro, has also launched his manufacturing business in Sare (a few kilometers south of Ascain), after being trained by a former craftsman.
One game, different specialties
Basque pelota is a game combining strength and skill. It is usually played indirectly (except for rebot, or pasaka). The aim of the game is to send the pelota back against the fronton(frontis in Spanish), either on the fly or after a rebound. The ball must land on the playing court(cancha). The ball is won when the opponent commits a foul(falta) by returning it outside the cancha, or fails to return the ball directly or after the rebound against the wall. Goal limits depend on the playing field and the speciality being played. They are also adapted to age and gender categories.
Played in every village in the Basque Country, as well as in Navarre and La Rioja, Basque pelota comes in a variety of specialities, twelve or twenty-two depending on the federation. Here are the most common. These include the chistera (a kind of wicker glove, more or less curved and deep depending on the variant), substituted for the glove in the 19th century to throw further(chistera means "throw" in French), the pala (wooden racket) and the pasaka (leather glove). Basque pelota can be played on three types of court: the open-air fronton(frontis or plaza) - consisting of a single striking wall with a clay or hard-packed floor, this is the most common court, and every village has one; fronton-mur à gauche - a covered facility consisting of a striking wall, a side wall (which runs 30 or 36 m along the left-hand side of the court, or 54 m for Jaï Alaï) and a back wall -(pilotaleku in Basque); and trinquet (a covered court with four walls, inherited from the French jeu de paume).
The first speciality is played bare-handed, without any equipment. It is considered the purest version of pelota. Barehand is played on pediments in the open, but also in trinquet or left-hand wall pediments. A game is played solo, i.e. two players face to face, or in doubles, with one player in front and one behind.
Next comes chistera joko garbi or " limpio " (pure game), whose glove is shorter and shallower than chistera. Joko garbi means "small glove" in Basque. This makes for a livelier game. When played outdoors, two teams of three players play against each other; indoors, on a 36-meter left-hand wall, two teams of two players play against each other.
Pasaka ( which means "leather glove" in Basque) is also very old and very similar to jeu de paume. It is played in a trinquet over a net, with two teams of two on either side, each with a leather-gloved hand.
More recent than its predecessors, cesta punta is played by two teams of two, with a chistera in an 80-meter-long fronton on the left. It's also known as Jaï Alaï. The cesta punta is a faster version of the grand chistera, with a very curved glove to block the ball. Particularly spectacular, it's the best-known variant of Basque pelota, and is reputed to be the fastest ball sport in the world, with balls reaching speeds of up to 300 km/h. It is said that a famous pelota player named Chiquito Gambo used his glove to throw grenades at the Germans during the Occupation in the Second World War.
The pala or paleta ( wooden racket)version itself comes in different variants depending on the type of racket. The principle remains the same: hit the ball with a racket, either with one hand or the other. Depending on the type of palas or paletas used, play is more or less fast and intense: paleta leather, pala corta (heavier), paleta hollow rubber (made of exotic wood, played with a hollow rubber ball), paleta solid rubber.
Rebot involves two teams of five pelotaris playing on an outdoor court. They play equipped with a joko garbi or a pasaka. They have to keep the pelota within the boundaries of their camp - which is divided unevenly.
Other variants are also played outside the Basque country, notably in Argentina and Mexico. Xare is played with a so-called "Argentinian" racket, consisting of a curved wooden (hazelnut or chestnut) hoop, with a cobwebbed rope net (flasque) in the middle. This version was exported to Argentina by Basque monks, and is only played in trinquet. Frontenis is played in Mexico and combines the rules of tennis and pelota - the racket used is a classic tennis racket, reinforced to resist the hardness of pelota. Frontenis is played on a 30 m left-hand wall and, unlike the other forms, can also be played individually. Frontenis and pala are the only women's specialities - the other variants are exclusively for men.
Several championships
Although Basque pelota is mainly played in the French and Spanish Basque Country, there are eleven regional leagues in France. In Spain, there are two professional leagues on which bets can be placed. In August, the Grande semaine de la pelote basque (Great Basque Pelota Week) takes place, featuring the finals of regional championships throughout the Basque Country, including the Gant d'or (Golden Glove) in Biarritz. Organized by the International Federation of Basque Pelota since 1952, the World Championships are also held every four years, bringing together teams from all over the world: France, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Cuba, USA and Chile. The Basque Pelota World Cup acts as a pre-selection event between two championships. At present, these are the only international championships that take place (the wish to put Basque pelota back on the program for the 2024 Olympics in Paris unfortunately failed). Until now, the only Basque pelota event at the Olympics took place in 1900, but only two teams were entered - France and Spain. The game was then only demonstrated in 1924, 1968 and 1992.
America, a paradise for pro players
Surprisingly, it's not in the Basque Country that puntists and pelotaris are thriving, but across the Atlantic. While the game has conquered a large part of the American continent - thanks to the immigration of many Basques - it has become particularly well established in Florida. Cuban immigrants brought the game to Miami - even though it had been banned by Castro on their island - in the form of cesta punta, played with a chistera and offering a spectacle made all the more exciting by the fact that it's open to betting. Today, the best puntists based in Florida can earn up to 10,000 euros a month and compete in the "World Jaï Alaï". Cesta punta, or jaï alaï, is also played professionally in Mexico, in Mexico City at the "Espectaculos Reales de Mexico", but also in other Mexican cities such as Tijuana.
