The History and Re-emergence of Jai Alai
There are various sports that resemble squash all over the world; from handball to racquetball and many others. One of the variants of the game comes to us from Spain’s Basque region. It is called Jai Alai and is one of the fastest paced and entertaining games to be played and watched in the world.
This interesting game was invented 400 years ago and after a period of popularity, went into decline. It seems to be coming back into vogue at the moment with training facilities and schools being set up in America. The oddest thing about the game besides the fact that it is one of the fastest ball games on the planet is that it is the most heavily bet on sport in the world. This interesting and fascinating sport needs to be looked at further.
The sport of Jai Alai originated from a form of handball that was played 400 years ago in the Basque region of Spain. The game was first played against the walls of churches and with only the hands and a small hard ball. Over time, players started to wear leather gloves on their hands to ease the pain of hitting it back and these developed into curved basket shaped gloves that allowed players to scoop up the ball and toss it back at the front wall with great speed.
The ball that was used is smaller than a baseball and harder than a golf ball. The sport soon moved to America where it started to become really popular. Over time the popularity that the sport had enjoyed slowly decreased and it almost went obsolete in the 80s with courts being shut down and people not playing it anymore. Slowly it has been gaining in popularity again and clubs and organisations are being set up to try and revive the sport.
The sport is similar to other racquet games that are played in the world but it has a few major differences. Jai Alai is played in a three walled court with a front wall, a back wall and a left wall being used. The right side of the court is left open and this is where spectators can sit and watch the game. The sport is played with long basket shaped gloves on the player’s right hand called a cesta. The objective of the game is to serve the ball onto the wall and then scoop it in flight or after one bounce and fling it back against the wall and make it difficult for the opposing player to pick up.
A point is scored whenever a player cannot return the ball. The structure of the game is very interesting because the whole game is played as a sort of round robin format with a line of players all waiting to play. The person who scores a point stays on the court while the one who lost the point goes to the back of the line to await a further shot at it. The game goes till 7 points or 9 depending on the place it is being played at. The sport is one of the fastest ball sports in the world with the ball sometimes travelling at 170 mph and faster. With the use of the cestas, a player can even spin the ball so it not only travels at 170 mph but spin as well.
The speed at which the sport is played also makes it very dangerous. Until 1967, helmets were not part of the game but after a player was hit in the head with a particularly powerful shot and died, they were made mandatory. Over the years numerous injuries have occurred but they just add to the intrigue that surrounds this exciting sport.
The other interesting aspect of this sport previously mentioned as well, is the fact that it is one of the most heavily bet on games in the world. Like horse racing, the top three positions are awarded prizes and these three spots can be bet on. It had gotten to a point where there was so much betting going on that players even started to bet on themselves.
With a small revival of the sport underway in America, with schools and training grounds being set up once again after a lot of them closed down, we might see the sport become very popular in a few years time. It all depends if people are interested in watching a game that was once called ‘ballet with bullets’; with a description like that how can anyone not be interested in it.
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