{"id":87858,"date":"2025-08-11T09:33:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T09:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/non-categorise\/tout-savoir-ou-presque-sur-la-pelote-basque\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T11:24:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T11:24:22","slug":"all-or-almost-all-you-need-to-know-about-basque-pelota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/blog\/all-or-almost-all-you-need-to-know-about-basque-pelota\/","title":{"rendered":"All (or almost all) you need to know about Basque pelota"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Basque pelota is a veritable institution in the <strong>Basque Country<\/strong>. Inherited from the Jeu de Paume, this ancient sport is played on the frontons, trinquets and open squares of every village. Here&#8217;s everything you need to know to play pelota like a true <strong>Basque<\/strong> on your next vacation at Biper Gorri!  <\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/les-regles-de-la-pelote-basque.jpg\" alt=\"the rules of basque pelota\" class=\"wp-image-79749\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/les-regles-de-la-pelote-basque.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/les-regles-de-la-pelote-basque-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Basque pelota rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Basque pelota (Euskal pilota, in Basque) is played one-on-one or in teams. The court (the open space) is made up of a striking wall (the fronton) and a playing area, called the cancha, on which the pelota (the ball) bounces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the ball has hit the goal, the pilotaris (players) must return the pelota on the fly or on the first bounce, with the ball travelling at over 300 km\/hr. The pelota is playable as long as it hits the wall and bounces back onto the court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the goal, the pelota, hit against the wall by a player, must rebound past a boundary located at a different distance. There are many variations, each with its own rules. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A game with as many specialities as there are provinces in the Basque Country<\/h2>\n\n<p>Founded in 1921, the <strong>F\u00e9d\u00e9ration fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> de pelote basque (FFPB) recognizes some 22 Basque pelota specialities. Among the most popular are : <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The bare hand: considered the queen of Basque pelota, and also the noblest, it&#8217;s the most natural, since no instruments are used. Like the pioneers, players still hit the ball with the palms of their hands. It&#8217;s played by two against two.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Paleta: the most popular pelota game (children, adults, men and women) is also played in the open, 2 against 2, but with a wooden instrument called the palita, a &#8220;racket&#8221; used to hit the ball.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The grosse pala: is played under the same conditions as the palita, but with a more powerful instrument and a heavier ball.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Joko Garbi (or small chistera): played with a wicker glove (the chistera), in a free space, with 3 players per team.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8211; Grand Chist\u00e9ra: played with a more powerful, shorter and shallower glove than the Joko Garbi. This speciality is played in open squares, 3 against 3, on an 80-m-long fronton. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cesta Punta: the most spectacular discipline, played 2 against 2 with a glove similar to Grand Chist\u00e9ra, but with a sharper ball and practiced in ja\u00ef-ala\u00ef, on a 56-meter fronton with a front wall, a left wall and a &#8220;rebote&#8221; wall at the back.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The pelota player&#8217;s outfit<\/h2>\n\n<p>During tournaments, the pelotari wears a particularly neat outfit: white pants and a polo shirt with a collar in the club&#8217;s colors. Protective eyewear and a helmet are compulsory for indoor specialities (with leather pelota), with the exception of bare-handed play. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The pelota (ball)<\/h2>\n\n<p>Pelota is the ball used by pelotaris. There are different sizes, weights and compositions of pelota, depending on the type of game played. Weights vary from 52 to 230 grams. The pelota is made up of a boxwood core 20 to 36 mm in diameter, lined with several layers: latex, virgin wool thread and cotton thread. The whole is covered with a hand-sewn goatskin.    <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Leather glove and chistera<\/h2>\n\n<p>Pelote basque is played bare-handed or with different instruments: the leather glove and the chistera. The shape and size of a cowhide or sheepskin glove vary according to the player&#8217;s specialty, morphology or position in the game (front or back). As for the chistera, which means &#8220;throw&#8221; in French, it&#8217;s a wicker glove of various sizes and depths, similar to the basket once used to pick grapes. This glove with a hazelwood frame is still handcrafted in <strong>Anglet<\/strong>.   <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to play pelota during the vacations?<\/h2>\n\n<p>In summer, almost every town and village in the <strong>Basque Country<\/strong> offers introductory sessions in Basque pelota, cesta punta, barehand and pala. Don&#8217;t hesitate to contact the clubs in <strong>Espelette, Cambo-les-bains, Urrugne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, Bidart<\/strong> or <strong>Biarritz.<\/strong> Further information on the French Basque Pelota Federation website: <a href=\"https:\/\/ffpb.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">ffpb.net<\/a> <\/p>\n\n<p>photo credit: VincentBauza-MonNuage<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer gt-hide-mobile\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Basque pelota is a veritable institution in the Basque Country. Inherited from jeu de Paume, this ancient sport is played on the pediments, trinquets and open squares of every village. Here&#8217;s everything you need to know to play pelota like a true<x id=\"gid_1\"><\/x>Basque<x id=\"gid_2\"><\/x>during your next vacation at camping Biper Gorri! The [&#8230;]   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"wp-custom-template-mod-le-article-blog","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"All (or almost all) you need to know about Basque pelota Basque country","_seopress_titles_desc":"All (or almost all) you need to know about Basque pelota in the Basque Country, Published: 25\/03\/2022 Basque pelota is a veritable institution in the Basque Country. Inherited from the Jeu de Paume, this ancient sport is played on the pediments, trinquets and open squares of every village. Here's everything you need to know to play...  ","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"gt_fse_maillage_image":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tout-savoir-ou-presque-sur-la-pelote-basque.jpg","gt_fse_maillage_titre":"All (or almost all) you need to know about Basque pelota","gt_fse_maillage_alt":"All (or almost all) you need to know about Basque pelota","gt_fse_maillage_resume":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87858"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91057,"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87858\/revisions\/91057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.camping-biper-gorri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}