Sport in BrazilPeteca Shuttlecock
Peteca (Portuguese pronunciation: [peˈtɛkɐ]) is a traditional sport in Brazil, played with a "hand shuttlecock" from indigenous 🔔 origins and reputed to be as old as the country itself.
The same name is given to the shuttlecock-object itself.
Objectives [ 🔔 edit ]
The objective of the game is to hit the shuttlecock-like object (the peteca) with your hand over a high 🔔 net, similar to a volleyball net, causing the object to land inbounded on the opposite court.
The peteca can only be 🔔 hit once while on each side of the net.
Doubles and singles, male and/or female matches are played, both for competitive 🔔 or leisure purposes.
History [ edit ]
The word peteca is derived from a Tupian word meaning hit.
Over time, the word found 🔔 its way into the Portuguese language.
Originally, peteca was played at times of celebration with dances and songs.
Gradually, this play became 🔔 more of a sporting activity.
The game has been passed down through several generations by the Brazilian ancestors and has developed 🔔 considerably along the way.
Early petecas were very primitive home-made affairs consisting of stones wrapped in leaves tied inside an ear 🔔 of corn.
A more sophisticated version was described in a Brazilian-English dictionary as "a leather pad with feathers stuck into it."
Pictures 🔔 of the first petecas are few and far between, but on 30 May 1979, Brazil issued a set of four 🔔 postage stamps depicting children's toys, to commemorate the International Year of the Child.
When Brazil was present at the 1920 Summer 🔔 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium the Brazilian athletes took with them some shuttlecocks for amusement on the ship and during the 🔔 intervals between games.
The game of peteca fascinated athletes from many other countries who wanted learn the rules of the game.
The 🔔 problem was that there were no rules - it was just for pleasure.
Peteca left the streets, the grass and the 🔔 sand to become a field sport in Belo Horizonte in the 1940s.
It was in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of 🔔 Minas Gerais state, that the toy shape was transformed to its current format, proper for competitive games.
The typical peteca has 🔔 four white chicken feathers attached to a base and connected to a bottom made with several thin layers of rubber.
It 🔔 was also in Belo Horizonte that the rules of the game were first written, as well as the first courts 🔔 were built and the practice gained competitive sense with internal championships that were held in various social clubs of the 🔔 city.
In 1973 the Peteca Federation of Minas Gerais (FEMP) was founded, confirming the pioneering spirit of a sport born and 🔔 developed among the Brazilian people.
From Belo Horizonte, the practice has spread to other Brazilian states, and from there to other 🔔 countries, like France, that adopted the game as it is played in Brazil.
Peteca is now one of Brazil's fastest growing 🔔 sports closely behind football and volleyball.
[citation needed] Another version of the game, called Indiaca, and closely based on peteca has 🔔 developed in Germany, first appearing in 1936.
Rules of the game [ edit ]
A peteca match is played to the best 🔔 of the three games, singles or doubles.
The first player (or the first pair) who scores twelve points wins the set.
One 🔔 game can last only a maximum of twenty minutes.
If neither of the two sides have reached the required score, then 🔔 the win is given to the team with the most points.
The peteca must be struck with one hand only and 🔔 must pass above the net to the oppositions side in order for them to return it.
The server remains the same 🔔 one until the service changes side.
A point can only be won by the serving team.
The player with the service has 🔔 thirty seconds to score the point.
If this is not achieved then the service is given to the opposing player/team.
Faults [ 🔔 edit ]
There are a number of recognised faults which can occur.
Service fault: service passes to the opposing team if the 🔔 peteca passes below the net, outside the limits of the court, if the peteca touches the net or if the 🔔 peteca touches a player of the same team (double) before passing over to the opposing side.
The 'in play' faults: if 🔔 a player puts his hands or feet on the opposing teams side (similar to what occurs in a volleyball game); 🔔 if a player touches the peteca with two hands; if there are marked accompaniment and not striking; if any other 🔔 part of his/her body touches it and if the peteca is not hit (head, feet).
The 30-second rule: the server or 🔔 the team which is serving has 30 seconds to score the point.
If the point is not scored in this period, 🔔 then the service goes to the opposition.
At the end of 20 seconds, the referee announces "10" as a warning of 🔔 the time remaining.
With the sounding of the referee's whistle, the rally is finished.
This is a more strict rule, when there's 🔔 a referee to open count.
Equipment and court [ edit ]
Shuttlecocks : There are two types of shuttlecocks used in two 🔔 different kinds of games of peteca.
In a regular peteca tournament, the shuttlecock has a flat base and a standard weight 🔔 of 42 grams.
The feathers are crimped and straight.
In a mini-peteca game, the shuttlecock has a rounded rubber base attached to 🔔 five or more rubber discs.
The base is softer on the hand.
Although designs vary, the most common petecas (especially the competition 🔔 type) consist of a base in the shape of a filled leather bag or a layered rubber pad, and a 🔔 flight, which is usually made out of feathers stuck to the base.
: There are two types of shuttlecocks used in 🔔 two different kinds of games of peteca.
In a regular peteca tournament, the shuttlecock has a flat base and a standard 🔔 weight of 42 grams.
The feathers are crimped and straight.
In a mini-peteca game, the shuttlecock has a rounded rubber base attached 🔔 to five or more rubber discs.
The base is softer on the hand.
Although designs vary, the most common petecas (especially the 🔔 competition type) consist of a base in the shape of a filled leather bag or a layered rubber pad, and 🔔 a flight, which is usually made out of feathers stuck to the base.
Court : singles' games are played on courts 🔔 15 m x 5.5m.
Doubles' games are played at 15 m x 7.5m.
By comparison, a standard volleyball court is 18 m 🔔 x 9m.
Peteca is played on wood, cement or clay courts.
Mini-peteca is played on a standard sized badminton court.
: singles' games 🔔 are played on courts 15 m x 5.5m.
Doubles' games are played at 15 m x 7.5m.
By comparison, a standard volleyball 🔔 court is 18 m x 9m.
Peteca is played on wood, cement or clay courts.
Mini-peteca is played on a standard sized 🔔 badminton court.
Net : men's games are played using a rectangular net topping 2.
43 m high, similar to a volleyball net.
Women's 🔔 games lower it to 2.24 m.
Children (8-12yrs) play over a 2 m high net.
: men's games are played using a 🔔 rectangular net topping 2.
43 m high, similar to a volleyball net.
Women's games lower it to 2.24 m.
Children (8-12yrs) play over 🔔 a 2 m high net.
Footwear : Sneakers with a firm grip to the floor are desirable.
: Sneakers with a firm 🔔 grip to the floor are desirable.
Lightweight gloves: beginners often find that the rubber base of the peteca is hard on 🔔 the hands, usually leaving red spots and a stinging sensation on them.
It is suggested that they wear a lightweight fingerless 🔔 glove, similar to those used in rugby.
Competition [ edit ]
Competitive court games have been played in Brazil since the early 🔔 1930s.
It was only in 1973 that the first rules were written.
It was founded in 1985 and is now a worldwide 🔔 played sport the aim of theme is to hit the shuttlecock like object
Currently,[when?] in Brazil, there's a Confederação Brasileira de 🔔 Peteca,[1] still incipient, being formed around the preexistent Federação Mineira de Peteca,[2] from the state of Minas Gerais.
A version of 🔔 peteca, indiaca, was developed by Karlhans Krohn [de] in Germany in 1936 and is very popular.
However, France was one of 🔔 the first European countries to embrace peteca proper.
The Federation Française de Peteca (FFP)[3] is the national organ for France and 🔔 was created in February 1997 by Jean-François Impinna, a French former international rugby player, and counts thousands of French peteca 🔔 players.
The United Kingdom has recently followed suit and taken up the game with the United Kingdom Peteca Association - UKPA[4] 🔔 leading its development.
May 2006 would see the first International Peteca Tournament being hosted by the FFP in Sannois, Paris.
Teams from 🔔 Brazil, France and the United Kingdom were to compete.[citation needed]
