16 Pelota / Betfair Education / 18 March 2008 / Leave a comment

The Guinness Book of Records lists Basque pelota (in its Zesta discipline) as the fastest ball game on Earth. The ball can hit the wall of the frontón at an amazing 300km/h (nearly 200 miles/hour), making pelota one of the most exciting sports to watch. The term pelota covers many different versions of the sport.

Professional Pelota Mano games are the most popular in Spain and the only version of the sport currently offered by Betfair. Pelota Mano is played bare-handed and takes place in two-walled courts. The winner is the first pelotari to score 22 points, in both singles and doubles matches. A point is scored when the ball bounces outside the court, hits a player, or bounces twice before being hit. The scoring player or team then serves next. The game is played with a handcrafted ball made of wool wrapped around a hard wooden core and finished in goat's leather. The standard ball should weigh 92-95 grams, and it's approximately the same size as a tennis ball. Players can be distinguished by the swelling of their hitting hand.