Paleta Fronton
Paddleball. If you've delved into the subject you've
discovered that our sport has its origins in Pelota Vasca- a
wall-and-ball sport played in Spain and southern France for hundreds of
years. There are dozens of variations of that sport played in Europe and
others more played the world over.
The Paleta Fronton variety originated in the mid 40's in Peru and is
spreading throughout South America. In Peru, it's so popular that
there's a national federation and country clubs from all over the
country vie for top national tournament honors. Fields of 100+ players
of all ages are not uncommon.
Paleta Fronton's played on a 1-wall court similar to our form of the
sport. The wall, called the "frontis" is 5 meters tall and 6
meters wide. At the bottom of the wall there is a "lata" which
measures .20 meters high and which is off-limits. As in Frontenis, hit
this lata and you lose the point- no kills or "rollers." More
about the courts- there are lines as on tennis courts due to the fact
that Singles and Doubles court dimensions are different. The paddle? Per
the rules, .5 meter long x .19, only wood is allowed for tournament play
and the use of a wrist lanyard's required. The ball is about the size of
a tennis ball, smooth black rubber, thin-walled and very lively. I can
imagine that due to the altitude differences, ball diameter and
performance will vary. I'm not quite sure how they remedy that. Getting
a ball out of a can must be tough up in the mountains!
Singles games are to 15 points, doubles to 21, must win
by 2 and the serve alternates every 5 points in table-tennis style
scoring.
Despite the differences in rules, our games are more alike than
different. Though I've yet to play on an official court, I've recently
volleyed a Kings ball both with their wooden paddles and with "El
Condor" graphites made by The Paddle Company and found the game to
fun and challenging. I'm hoping to someday play on their courts.
Below are pics of the sport and courts I've collected off the
internet. The paddles are "El Vasquito" brand, an Argentine
brand of paddle much prized in Peru by Fronton players. Those woods do
pack a punch but the new graphite you see below just may be the next big
thing for the sport.
The balls for the sport come in cans similar to soup cans and also
loose. It's accustomed and legal, per the Peruvian Fronton association,
to pump the balls up with syringes to get more bounce and
"spins" (which are called "effects" in their lingo).
The cans you see on the paddles, contain official tournament balls which
I received from a Frontonista in Peru and I'll only break out for a
special occasion. The various wooden paddles you see below, I borrowed
from Wally so I could get a feel for the game with the balls I received
from my acquaintance in Peru.
Click on a thumbnail to
view the full size picture, click the "Back" button or hit the
backspace key on your keyboard to return to this page. |
