TECHNICAL DETAILS OF THE GAME
NAME: PILOTA VALENCIANA (Valencian Handball)
REGIONS/COUNTRIES WHERE IT IS PLAYED: Comunitat Valenciana
TYPE OF GAME (skill, accuracy, speed, etc.): Valencian pilota, or handball, is a sport that
combines various physical qualities. It requires strength to hit the ball very powerfully, but also
skill to be able to return the ball to the opponent while trying to make it difficult for the
opponent player to hit it back.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: Valencian pilota is played with two teams. Each team has between
one and three players. The two teams do not need to have the same number of players, as two
people can play against three, but in terms of skill, the teams must always be as equal as
possible.
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:
 Clothing: In Valencian pilota the players do not wear a uniform, just a red or blue shirt/sash,
according to their team.
 Ball: The most commonly used ball is the cowhide one, which is 42 mm in diameter, 138
mm in circumference, and between 42 and 48 grams in weight.
 Protections: The players protect their hands with plates and gloves.
FIELD / COURT / TABLE TO PLAY THE GAME:
 Street: Traditionally, matches are played in the street. The street has to be between 50 and
70 metres long, and between 10 and 20 metres wide.
 Trinquet (playing area): This is a closed, rectangular court between 50 and 65 m long and
between 9 and 11 m wide. In one part it contains an unusual element - l'escala; four steps where
the public sit.
PURPOSE OF THE GAME:
Each team stands at one end of the game area. The teams face each other and the aim is to hit
the ball with their hand towards the rival team (in some versions, the ball has to pass over a
rope) so that the opponent cannot return it.
ORIGIN:
The ball sport was widely played in Ancient Greece and was brought to the Iberian Peninsula
by the Roman Empire, which expanded it to other parts of the Empire like modern-day France,
Belgium, Holland or Italy, where different versions are still played. At that time, they played
ball according to similar rules to the current Valencian game.
During the Crown of Aragon it was a very popular sport played by the nobility and even kings.
However this success was actually part of its subsequent downfall from popularity, because in
the 14th century, to avoid problems, it was forbidden to play the game in the street, limiting it to
closed courts which only wealthy classes could maintain. Also, the fact that only in the
Kingdom of Valencia there was a tradition of playing in trinquetes helped to preserve the game,
in contrary to its disappearance from other lands in the Crown of Aragon.
RULES OF THE GAME:
1. Basic information
Various versions of Valencian pilota exist, and each one has its own rules. Each team stands at a
different end of the street or trinquete, with the two teams facing each other. The aim is to hit
the ball to the rival team (in some versions, over a rope) with enough strength and accuracy that
none of the players on the rival team can hit the ball back to the rival team. The sequence of
hits continues until one of the two teams is unable to hit the ball and return it to its rival, and
the team that has not missed a hit scores a “quinze” (one score worth fifteen points).
The sequences of ball hits continue until one of the two teams manages to reach a certain
number of points.
2. Terminology
blau 1. Blaus Players wearing the blue sash, i.e. one of the two groups of players taking part in
each match.
carrer Public road where the ball game is played.
dau 1. On the trinquete, a square about three metres wide, in the angle between the steps and
the front wall of the top part, where the ball has to land in the serve.
didal Tubular element closed at one end, made of leather or canvas, which is used to protect
fingers from scrapes when playing the scraping version.
Falta Played ball that infringes the game rules giving a “quinze” point to the team that has not
committed the fault.
ferir Putting the ball into play in each quinze or point, using skill not strength, where it must
always be placed in a small area.
guant Piece of leather that only covers the palm of the hand, and which is used by the players
to protect themselves from the very strong ball hits.
home bo Judge that is appointed in the ball matches.
joc 1. The action of playing the ball. 2. Partial scores of a match which are added together after
making four quinzes.
mitger Player who, in a match with three, stands between the other two, between the front and
the rest.
partida 1. Series of games between two groups of players, which make up a complete game by
reaching a certain score or time, in any of the versions of the ball game.
pilota 1. Spherical object with a certain amount of elasticity that is thrown by hand towards the
other team, which is used in the ball game
punter Player who stands at the front, playing further up than the rest of his colleagues.
quinze 1. Each point that is scored when a ball throw is won in the ball game.
raspall Version of the Valencian game where the ball can travel close to the ground, regardless
of how many times it bounces, and where the hand often scrapes the ground.
rest Player who plays at the back, both in a trinquete and on the street.
roig Team wearing the red sash and which, with some exceptions, is the favourite or the one
with greater experience.
travessa Name given to the bets made in the ball game.
trenta Scoring situation where one team has won two quinzes.
trinquet Closed area where some versions of the ball game are played.
val Third quinze scored by a team in one and the same game; or first quinze after being equal
and which implies an advantage for the team that has scored it, as they only need one quinze to
finish the game.
3. Equipment
Cowhide ball: it consists of eight triangles of ox testicle skin sewn together and stuffed to
reach the official weight for the adult version, between 40 and 42 g and 42 mm in diameter.
They are handmade.
Gloves: These are used to protect the hands when hitting the ball. They are made of lambskin
and do not cover the fingers. They consist of one triangle of lambskin intended to cover the
palm of the hand and with an attachment at the height of the knuckles. They are tied to the hand
with a pair of plaited laces. Due to their lightweight, they do not provide enough protection and
so normally cardboard, steel or sponge plates are added under them and then covered with tape.
Dedales: The thimbles (in Valencian didals), are used to protect the fingertips. They are made
from pigskin or intestines. When they are put on, a little cotton is added to adjust the shape of
the thimble to the finger.
4. Classification of players
The number of team members can vary between one and three. The main positions they hold in
the game area are as follows:
Rest: Ball player who plays behind each team. This is the player that normally carries the
weight of the match.
Mitger: Standing in the middle of the team. His mission is to finish off the points or quinzes.
He does not have to hit the ball as hard as the Rest, but he must be very accurate.
Punter: This is the player who stands at the front and is responsible for serving and defending
his area of action, and also for finishing off the point or quinzes.
5. How a match develops
The match starts with the initial serve or hit, and a series of hits begins where each team hits the
ball to pass it into the area defended by the rival team, who, with one single hit of the ball, has
to return it to the other team who, in turn, with just one hit will try to return the ball.
When one of the two teams misses, the opponent scores a “quinze”, and the game starts again.
This continues until one team scores a game or “joc” (i.e. four points or quinzes). Once one of
the teams scores a “game” the teams change their positions and the alternative team to the
serving team, now serve, starting another “game”.
The match finishes when one of the two teams scores a certain number of “games”, which
according to the different versions, vary between 5 and 10 games. Each game that is won is
worth five points.
6. . Registering the scores
In a ball match the score is divided into a non-specific number of parts, called games or tantos.
Within each game, there is a partial score. The team that wins a game also wins tantos or
points, towards the overall match score. The scoring in a game consists of four points: Quinze. – Trenta (thirty points). - Val or quaranta (40 points) (1) – Game or tantos.
This is how the partial finishes. It is also important to remember that, to win a game, a team
needs to have two advantage points over their rival. So, to win a match, the maximum that the
opponent team can score is thirty. If this does not happen, the match continues until one of the
two teams wins an advantage of two quinzes over the other. In all versions of the game, a
quinze is a ball throw that is won.
The match is won by the first team to reach a certain number of games. For each game won, the
team scores 5 points, also called “tantos”. According to some versions, the first team to score
12 tantos (i.e. 12 games) or 25 tantos (i.e. 25 games) wins the match.