SportFrontenis match
Frontenis is a sport that is played in a 30 meter pelota court using racquets (a tennis racquet or 2️⃣ a similar frontenis racquet) and rubber balls.
It can be played in pairs or singles, but only pairs frontenis is played 2️⃣ in international competitions.
This sport was developed in Mexico around 1900, and is accredited as a Basque pelota speciality.
In frontenis, one 2️⃣ player of the pair hits the ball with the racquet toward the front wall.
The ball must strike the playable surface 2️⃣ of the front wall and return to the playable area of the court.
The opposing players must strike the ball before 2️⃣ it bounces a second time on the floor of the court.
As with other racquet sports, the best stroke is one 2️⃣ that the opponent cannot return.
Frontenis demands having a great mobility, skill, physical agility, mental agility, coordination and training.
For many years, 2️⃣ frontenis was played only in Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and a few other countries, but now it is played in approximately 2️⃣ eighteen countries worldwide.
History [ edit ]
Frontenis was created in Mexico in 1900.
Several famous tennis players (Buttlin, Sharp, Crowle, Pérez Verdia, 2️⃣ Maldonado, Clifford, etc.
) started playing with rackets and a tennis ball hitting it against a wall.
This new game, with its 2️⃣ first modern pelota court, built in Fernando Torreblanca's house (Mexico), was called "frontontenis" (from fronton and tenis - "pelota court" 2️⃣ and "tennis" in Spanish, respectively), and later its name was reduced to "frontenis".
Because of the increase of the number of 2️⃣ pelota players, pelota courts proliferated, and frontenis expanded from Mexico to neighboring countries and later to Europe.
Frontenis was introduced into 2️⃣ the Iberian Peninsula in the 1940s by way of the Canary Islands.
In the 1960s, Olympic ball was introduced in Mexico, 2️⃣ and many Mexican players travelled to Spain to teach the technique.
The game and all its innovations were taken from Spain 2️⃣ to the other countries of Europe.
Every European country that plays pelota is member of the Union of European Basque Pelota 2️⃣ Federations (UEBPF), and all the countries that play Basque pelota are members of the International Federation of Basque Pelota (IFBP).
Frontenis 2️⃣ (recognized by the IFBP) started being played in international competitions in 1952, with the First World Championship held in Donostia-San 2️⃣ Sebastian (Spain).
The rules [ edit ]
Frontenis has its own rules, like every sport.
There are international rules, national rules and territorial 2️⃣ rules, and they differ from each other in several things.
The court [ edit ]Frontenis Court
The court used in frontenis is 2️⃣ a pelota court of the Very Short type - 30 meters long, 10 meters wide and 10 meters high.
Its walls 2️⃣ must have signs to establish the distances of service, and to help the player to situate itself in the court.
There 2️⃣ are several parts that form the court:
Front wall (frontis) [ edit ]
This is the wall at the front of the 2️⃣ court faced by the players.
Every ball hit by a player must strike this wall before touching the ground to be 2️⃣ valid.
The front wall measures 10 meters wide by 10 meters high.
The lower 60 centimeters of this wall is not a 2️⃣ legally playable surface.
The upper limit of this non-playable surface is covered with a 10-centimeter-wide metallic sheet (chapa in Spanish, txapa 2️⃣ in Basque) that audibly indicates an impact on the upper part of the non-playable surface.
Left wall or help wall [ 2️⃣ edit ]
The wall is to the players' left as they face the front wall.
It is marked with lines every 3.
5 2️⃣ meters, measured from the front of the court.
On its upper rim is located a 10 centimeter wide metallic sheet that 2️⃣ signals a ball striking outside of the playable area.
This wall with its markings helps players situate themselves within the court.
Rebound 2️⃣ wall [ edit ]
It is the wall situated in the back of the court.
It has no markings and is the 2️⃣ same size as the front wall.
It has 10 centimeter metallic sheets on its rims to give an audible indication of 2️⃣ a ball striking outside of the playable area.
Many pelota courts lack this wall, and are therefore not used for official 2️⃣ competitions.
The racket and the strings [ edit ]
The racquet used in frontenis is, according to Spanish Pelota Federation (SPF), "similar 2️⃣ or equal to tennis racquets, made of wood, fiber, metal or graphite.
Weight and stringing are not limited, and double strings 2️⃣ can be used.
The racquets' length and width are not limited."
Racquets have evolved considerably since the beginning of professional frontenis in 2️⃣ 1900.
Much of this evolution has paralleled standard tennis racquets
At first, racquets were made of wood and the strings were made 2️⃣ of animal gut.
These were very heavy and did not provide comfortable play, but they were used for more than thirty 2️⃣ years until the great player Jose, the "Poison" Becerra revolutionized the sport.
Manufacturers that made tennis products started to manufacture parallel 2️⃣ products for frontenis when Becerra started to win championships.
In the 1990s a Mexican company, "Master Pro", was created exclusively to 2️⃣ manufacture frontenis products.
Recently, other companies have appeared specializing in frontenis equipment.
Simple strings is used in Preolympic frontenis, and the tension 2️⃣ varies depending on the ball - Penn strings require 15-19 kilos, VIP strings require 17-21 kilos, and Champion Elite strings 2️⃣ require 17-23 kilos.
Double strings (duplication of 4 horizontal strings and 3 vertical strings) are used in Olympic frontenis in order 2️⃣ to give more effect to the ball.
Double stringing demands higher tensions, between 21 and 27 kilos.
The ball [ edit ]
The 2️⃣ ball in Olympic frontenis (the only modality accepted by the IFBP) is the Olympic ball.
Originally, the sport was played with 2️⃣ ordinary tennis balls, but the fiber cover of these balls slowed them excessively, reduced their bounce, and made the game 2️⃣ very slow.
To speed the game, the fabric cover of the tennis balls was removed.
Later, balls made of oilcloth were imported 2️⃣ from England and the United States with the goal of further speeding the game.
During the Second World War, ball imports 2️⃣ ceased, and Francisco Beltran was forced to look for substitutes.
He experimented with pressurizing rubber balls.
After the Second World War, Beltran 2️⃣ started manufacturing improved balls.
A few years later the first frontenis ball company, "201", was founded by Francisco Beltran who contributed 2️⃣ his ball designs and Doctor Jesus Ledezma who provided financing.
Ball design continues to evolve.
