''Pallone'' (;
Italian for an inflated ball, source of the English word ''
balloon
A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...
'') is the name of several traditional
ball games
This is a list of ball games and ball sports that include a ball as a key element in the activity, usually for scoring points.
Games that include balls
Ball sports fall within many sport categories, some sports within multiple categories, inclu ...
, played in all regions of
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, with few differences in regulations.
Forms
''Pallone col bracciale''

''Pallone col bracciale'', or simply ''bracciale'', was particularly popular throughout Italy and it was considered the most popular sport of ancient Italian national sports since the 16th century; its first official regulations invented by Antonio Scaino from
Salò
Salò (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the Governance#Seat of government, seat of government of th ...
date back to 1555. This sport and its champions were described by
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
,
Karl Philipp Moritz,
Christian Joseph Jagemann,
Richard Colt Hoare,
Jacob Burckhardt
Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (; ; 25 May 1818 – 8 August 1897) was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. His best known work is '' The Civilization of the Renaissance in ...
,
William Wetmore Story
William Wetmore Story (February 12, 1819 – October 7, 1895) was an American sculptor, art critic, poet, and editor.
Life and career
William Wetmore Story was the son of U.S. Supreme Court judge Joseph Story and Sarah Waldo (Wetmore) Story. ...
,
Giacomo Leopardi,
Edmondo de Amicis,
Giuseppe Baretti,
Antonio Francesco Grazzini,
Ottavio Rinuccini
Ottavio Rinuccini (20 January 1563Firenze, Registro dei battezzati al fonte di S. Giovanni tenuto dal preposto di S. Giovanni, Registro 14, Carta 76v. – 28 March 1621) was an Italian poet, courtier, and opera libretto, librettist at the end of th ...
,
Gabriello Chiabrera,
Tommaso Grossi and
Giuseppe Gioachino Belli. ''Bracciale'' was played also in France, Germany, Austria, England, Netherlands and famous Italian champions organized tournaments in USA, Argentina and Egypt. ''
Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (1991) includes a brief film depiction of this game.
Balls are struck back and forth with a wooden cylinder, called ''bracciale'', worn over the forearm: if carelessly played, a broken arm can result because a ''bracciale'' weighs 1 to 2 kilograms. Originally the ball was inflated, but now a hard rubber ball is used: this ball has circumference of 39 centimetres and weighs 350 grams (originally 750 grams). Scoring is by fifteens and tens, as in tennis, in this manner: 15 – 30 – 40 – 50 for victory in a game but earlier it was 15 – 30 – 45 – 60; the team which wins 12 games is final winner of the match. A notable feature is that the ball is put into play by a designated server for both teams, called the ''mandarino'', who otherwise is not part of the game. The receivers can reject serves at will. ''Pallone'' is often played on courts marked out on town streets.
Four kinds of ''pallone'' are now played:
*it is played in particular sports venue called
sphaeristerium, or in
Italian ''sferisterio'', 80 metres long and 18 metres wide with a lateral wall which is 20 metres high and permits the rebound of the ball. In this version each team has 3 players: ''battitore'', ''spalla'' and ''terzino''
*it is played in an open playing field without lateral walls. In this version each team has 4 players: ''battitore'', ''spalla'' and 2 ''terzino''
*it is played by 2 players versus other 2 players with a
net (device)
A net comprises Thread (yarn), threads or yarns knotted and twisted into a grid-like structure which blocks the passage of large items, while letting small items and fluids pass. It requires less material than something sheet-like, and provides ...
in central position of court
*it is played by 1 solo player versus other 1 solo player with a net in central position of court.
''Pallapugno''
''Pallapugno'', or formerly ''pallone elastico'', is a game originally played in
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
and
Liguria
Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...
with a bandaged fist. This sport and its champions were described by
Cesare Pavese,
Beppe Fenoglio and
Giovanni Arpino. In the second half of the 20th century a championship was organized in California and played during various years. The professional Italian Pallapugno League is the top level of competition: in 2008 ten teams competed.
List of professional teams
/ref>
Each team has four players. The court, or ''sferisterio'', is 90 metres long and 18 metres wide; the rubber ball has a diameter of 10.5 centimetres and weighs 190 grams. Scoring is also by fifteens and tens in every game, but a second bounce can result in a "chase" rather than an outright point, similar to real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...
; the team which wins 11 games is the winner of the match.
''Pallapugno leggera''
''Pallapugno leggera'' is played in a court the same size of a volleyball court, but without a net. Each team has 4 players with 2 reserve players. A match consists of one set or three sets. This game is played in all Italian 20 regions and they dispute regular championship.
''Pantalera''
''Pantalera'' or ''pallapugno alla pantalera'' is generally played on urban streets. The first action of every match consists of playing the ball onto a roof called ''pantalera'' in Piedmontese language
Piedmontese ( ; autonym: or ; ) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, a region of Northwest Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate Romance languages, language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regar ...
. Other rules are the same as ''pallapugno''.
Hit ball
This form was invented by Italian physical education
Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...
teacher Luigi Gigante
Luigi (; ) is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin b ...
in 1986 and in 1992 started a regular championship. Each team has 5 players and there are 2 goals at ends of court.
''Pallonetto''
''Pallonetto'' or ''pallonetto ligure al lungo'' is generally played on urban streets with tennis ball
A tennis ball is a small, hollow ball used in games of tennis and real tennis. Tennis balls are fluorescent yellow in Professional sports, professional competitions, but in Amateur sports, recreational play other colors are also used. Tennis bal ...
s without covering felt
Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic fiber, acrylic or acrylonitrile or ...
. The playing field is long, between 60 and 90 metres, with a width of 18 metres, with or without a lateral wall. Players strike the ball using one bandaged hand in these versions:
*1 player versus 1 player
*2 players versus 2 players
*3 players versus 3 players.
Whoever wins 5 games is the winner of the match; other rules are the same of ''pallapugno''. Other versions of this game are:
*''pallonetto al corto''
*''pallonetto ai tetti''
*''pallonetto'' of Chiusavecchia
*''baletta''
*''ciappetta''
See also
* Ball of wind
Follis (a term used in Ancient Rome), or Ball of wind (''pilota de vent'' in Catalan), a term used in the 15th and 16th centuries in Spain and Italy, was a hollow ball inflated with air under pressure, able to jump and bounce when impacting at a c ...
* Italian variants
** Palla
** Tamburello
*Similar ball games
** Frisian handball
Frisian handball (; ) is a traditional Friesland, Frisian sport, related to American handball and fives, that is most commonly practiced by people from the northern Dutch province of Friesland (''Fryslân''). It is believed to be one of the old ...
** Llargues
* Handball International Championships
** International game
External links
Italian Pallone Elastico Federation
Italian Union of Pallone Elastico Players
Photo of ancient woody bracciale and hide ball
Video
Pallapugno match
References
* Morgan, Roger (1989). "European Derivatives of Tennis" in ''The Royal Game'', L. St J. Butler & P. J. Wordie, ed. Stirling: Falkland Palace Real Tennis Club. or .
* McNicoll, Kathryn (2005). ''Real Tennis'', pp. 21–22. Buckinghamshire
Shire Publications
.
* Whitman, Malcolm D. (1932). ''Tennis: Origins and Mysteries'', p. 85. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications
Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, book ...
(2004 reprint). {{ISBN, 0-486-43357-9.
Handball sports
Team sports
Sports originating in Italy