Pickleball - do you play?

[Neal]

Awesome. Now I need to remember how to play Pickleball! Heading back to Palmcatraz for the winter, confirmed, (Casa Grande, AZ) so I'll be playing there for 3 months.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

While Pickleball was allegedly "invented" about 50 years ago, the Basques have played a version of it in Spain and France since back in the 1700s, complete with oversized paddles. It is called Pelota and one version eventually morphed from a player-to-player ball exchange to playing the ball off of a wall or walls. Some still play the original version.

As one of those "crazy Basques," I used to play Pelota but it is hard, today, to find places with frontons (courts) any more. The true Pelota fronton has a front and left wall only and the ball is played off them. A very fast game, indeed. And, fun, but at my age, I doubt I could play it successfully any more.

Even later, a version of Pelota evolved where a curved wicker basket (cesta) was strapped to the arm and used to propel the ball (Pelota) against the wall or walls at speeds over 180 mph, on occasion. Most Americans know it as Jai Alai.

TJ

 

[sheridany]

Being a native Floridian I was always amazed at the skill and the speed the players had. True athleticism. I wonder if there are any Jai Lai frontons left in Florida. At one time there was three in South Florida. Miami-West Pam Beach-Fort Pierce.