Pallone
Encyclopedia
Pallone is the name of several traditional ball games, played in all regions of Italy, with few differences in regulations. During age from middle 16th century until 1910 Italian professional players of pallone col bracciale were the richest and top paid athletes in all the world.
Pallone col bracciale or simply bracciale was particularly popular throughout Italy and it was considered the most popular sport of ancient Italian national sports since the 16th century and its first official regulations invented by Antonio Scaino from Salò
date back to 1555. This sport and its champions were described by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
, Karl Philipp Moritz
, Christian Joseph Jagemann
, Richard Colt Hoare
, Jacob Burckhardt
, William Wetmore Story
, Giacomo Leopardi
, Edmondo de Amicis
, Giuseppe Baretti, Antonio Francesco Grazzini
, Ottavio Rinuccini
, Gabriello Chiabrera
, Tommaso Grossi
, Giuseppe Gioachino Belli. Bracciale was played also in France, Germany, Austria, England, Netherlands and famous Italian champions organized tournaments in USA, Argentina, Egypt. Where Angels Fear to Tread
(1991) includes a brief film depiction of this game.
Balls are struck back and forth with a wooden cylinder, called a bracciale, worn over the forearm: if carelessly played, a broken arm can result because a bracciale can weigh 2 kilograms or 1 k in different version. Originally the ball was inflated, but now a hard rubber ball is used: this ball has circumference of 39 centimetres and weighs 350 grams or 750 gr in ancient version. Scoring is by fifteens and tens, as in tennis, in this manner: 15 – 30 – 40 – 50 or victory of a game but early was 15 – 30 – 45 – 60; the team which wins 12 games is final winner of the match. A notable feature is that the ball is put into play by a designated server, called the mandarino, who otherwise is not part of the game. The receivers can reject serves at will. Pallone is often played on courts marked out on town streets.
Four kinds of pallone are now played:
A pallone player is called pallonista. Celebrated former professional champions include:
and Liguria
with a bandaged fist. This sport and its champions were described by Cesare Pavese
, Beppe Fenoglio
, Giovanni Arpino
. In second half of 20th century a championship was organized in California and they played during various years. Professional Italian pallapugno league is top level of competitions: in 2008 10 teams competed.
Each team has 4 players. The court, or Sferisterio, is 90 metres long and 18 metres wide; the rubber ball has a diameter of 10½ centimetres and weighs 190 grams. Scoring is also by fifteens and tens in every game, but a second bounce can result in a "chase" rather than an outright point, similar to real tennis
; the team which wins 11 games is the winner of the match.
Celebrated former professional champions include:
. Other rules are the same as pallapugno.
teacher Luigi Gigante in 1986 and in 1992 started a regular championship. Each team has 5 players and there are 2 goals at ends of court.
s without covering felt
. The playing field is long, between 60 and 90 metres, with a width of 18 metres, with or without a lateral wall. Players strike the ball using one bandaged hand in these version:
Whoever wins 5 games is the winner of the match; other rules are the same of pallapugno. Other versions of this game are:
Pallone col bracciale
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
date back to 1555. This sport and its champions were described by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
, Karl Philipp Moritz
Karl Philipp Moritz
Karl Philipp Moritz was a German author, editor and essayist of the Sturm und Drang, late enlightenment, and classicist periods, influencing early German Romanticism as well...
, Christian Joseph Jagemann
Christian Joseph Jagemann
Christian Joseph Jagemann was a German scholar, court-advisor and librarian.-Life:Against his parents' wishes Christian became a monk, entering the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt in 1752. However, he soon fled to Denmark, where he became a private tutor...
, Richard Colt Hoare
Richard Colt Hoare
Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet FRS was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home county, Wiltshire.-Career:Hoare was descended from Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of...
, Jacob Burckhardt
Jacob Burckhardt
Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt was a historian of art and culture, and an influential figure in the historiography of each field. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history, albeit in a form very different from how cultural history is conceived and studied in academia today...
, William Wetmore Story
William Wetmore Story
William Wetmore Story was an American sculptor, art critic, poet and editor.-Biography:William Wetmore Story was the son of jurist Joseph Story and Sarah Waldo Story...
, Giacomo Leopardi
Giacomo Leopardi
Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi was an Italian poet, essayist, philosopher, and philologist...
, Edmondo de Amicis
Edmondo De Amicis
Edmondo De Amicis was an Italian novelist, journalist, poet and short-story writer. His best-known book is the children's novel Heart.-Early career:...
, Giuseppe Baretti, Antonio Francesco Grazzini
Antonio Francesco Grazzini
Antonio Francesco Grazzini was an Italian author.-Biography:He was born at Florence of a good family, but there is no record of his upbringing and education. He probably began to practise as an apothecary as a youth...
, Ottavio Rinuccini
Ottavio Rinuccini
Ottavio Rinuccini was an Italian poet, courtier, and opera librettist at the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras...
, Gabriello Chiabrera
Gabriello Chiabrera
Gabriello Chiabrera was an Italian poet, sometimes called the Italian Pindar.-Biography:He was of patrician descent, and was born at Savona, a little town in the domain of the Genoese republic, twenty-eight years after the...
, Tommaso Grossi
Tommaso Grossi
Tommaso Grossi , Lombard poet and novelist, was born in Bellano, beside the Lake of Como.He took his degree in law at Pavia in 1810, and proceeded thence to Milan to exercise his profession; but the Austrian government, suspecting his loyalty, interfered with his prospects, and in consequence...
, Giuseppe Gioachino Belli. Bracciale was played also in France, Germany, Austria, England, Netherlands and famous Italian champions organized tournaments in USA, Argentina, Egypt. Where Angels Fear to Tread
Where Angels Fear to Tread
Where Angels Fear to Tread is a novel by E. M. Forster, originally entitled Monteriano. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism: "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"....
(1991) includes a brief film depiction of this game.
Balls are struck back and forth with a wooden cylinder, called a bracciale, worn over the forearm: if carelessly played, a broken arm can result because a bracciale can weigh 2 kilograms or 1 k in different version. Originally the ball was inflated, but now a hard rubber ball is used: this ball has circumference of 39 centimetres and weighs 350 grams or 750 gr in ancient version. Scoring is by fifteens and tens, as in tennis, in this manner: 15 – 30 – 40 – 50 or victory of a game but early was 15 – 30 – 45 – 60; the team which wins 12 games is final winner of the match. A notable feature is that the ball is put into play by a designated server, called the mandarino, who otherwise is not part of the game. The receivers can reject serves at will. Pallone is often played on courts marked out on town streets.
Four kinds of pallone are now played:
- it is played in particular sports venue called sphaeristeriumSphaeristeriumSphaeristerium Latin, from the , the term in classic architecture given to a large open space connected with the Roman thermae, for exercise with balls after the bather had been anointed; they were also provided in the Roman villas.- Sports :In Italian sferisterio is nowadays the courtfield for...
, or in Italian sferisteri, 80 metres long and 18 metres wise with a lateral wall which is 20 metres high and permits the rebound of the ball. In this version each team has 3 players: battitore, spalla and terzino - it is played in an open playing field without lateral walls. In this version each team has 4 players: battitore, spalla and 2 terzino
- it is played by 2 players versus other 2 players with a net (device)Net (device)A net, in its primary meaning, comprises fibers woven in a grid-like structure, and is very infrequently mentioned in discussions of philosophy. It blocks the passage of large items, while letting small items and fluids pass...
in central position of court - it is played by 1 solo player versus other 1 solo player with a net in central position of court.
A pallone player is called pallonista. Celebrated former professional champions include:
- Cintio Venantio
- Pietro Marinoni
- Carlo Didimi
- Dante Ulivi
- Augusto Frullani
- Giuseppe Barni
- Antonio Malucelli
- Ercole Sansoni
- Domenico Marini
- Angelo Pacini
- Antonio Dirani
- Bruno Banchini
- Giovanni Ziotti
- Giovanni Martini (bracciale player)
- Giuseppe Banchini
- Giuseppe Lotti
- Giovanni Bastianello
- Angelo Donati (bracciale player)
- Luigi Donati
- Angelo Martini
- Gianni Foscaro
- Lorenzo Amati
- Domenico Bossotto
- Antonio Agostinelli
- Lorenzo Nidiaci
- Francesco Zappi
- Filippo Gallina
- Gianni Perugini
- Giuseppe Filippa
- Tullio Rotatori
- Rodolfo Sorcinelli
- Orlando Rondini
- Franco Silimbani
Pallapugno
Pallapugno or former pallone elastico is a game originally played in PiedmontPiedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
and Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
with a bandaged fist. This sport and its champions were described by Cesare Pavese
Cesare Pavese
Cesare Pavese was an Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator; he is widely considered among the major authors of the 20th century in his home country.- Early life and education :...
, Beppe Fenoglio
Beppe Fenoglio
Beppe Fenoglio was an Italian writer. His work was published in a critical edition after his death, but controversy remains about his book Il partigiano Johnny , often considered his best work, which was published posthumously in 1968.The works of...
, Giovanni Arpino
Giovanni Arpino
Giovanni Arpino was an Italian writer and journalist.- Life :Born in Pula to Piedmontese parents, Arpino moved to Bra in the Province of Cuneo...
. In second half of 20th century a championship was organized in California and they played during various years. Professional Italian pallapugno league is top level of competitions: in 2008 10 teams competed.
Each team has 4 players. The court, or Sferisterio, is 90 metres long and 18 metres wide; the rubber ball has a diameter of 10½ centimetres and weighs 190 grams. Scoring is also by fifteens and tens in every game, but a second bounce can result in a "chase" rather than an outright point, similar to real tennis
Real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis , is descended...
; the team which wins 11 games is the winner of the match.
- Riccardo Fuseri
- Pierino Bonsignore
- Maggiorino Bistolfi
- Raffaele Ricca
- Paolo Rossi (pallapugno player)
- Augusto Manzo
- Franco Balestra
- Piero Alemanni
- Aurelio Defilippi
- Donato Feliciano
- Guido Galliano
- Felice Bertola
- Massimo Berruti
Pallapugno leggera
Pallapugno leggera is played in a court the same size of a volleyball court, but without a net. Each team has 4 players with 2 reserve players. A match consists of one set or three sets. This game is played in all Italian 20 regions and they dispute regular championship.Pantalera
Pantalera or pallapugno alla pantalera is generally played on urban streets. The first action of every match consists of playing the ball onto a roof called the pantalera in Piedmontese languagePiedmontese language
Piedmontese is a Romance language spoken by over 2 million people in Piedmont, northwest Italy. It is geographically and linguistically included in the Northern Italian group . It is part of the wider western group of Romance languages, including French, Occitan, and Catalan.Many European and...
. Other rules are the same as pallapugno.
Hit ball
This form was invented by Italian physical educationPhysical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
teacher Luigi Gigante in 1986 and in 1992 started a regular championship. Each team has 5 players and there are 2 goals at ends of court.
Pallonetto
Pallonetto or pallonetto ligure al lungo is generally played on urban streets with tennis ballTennis ball
A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis,approximately 6.7 cm in diameter. Tennis balls are generally bright green, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...
s without covering felt
Felt
Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size....
. The playing field is long, between 60 and 90 metres, with a width of 18 metres, with or without a lateral wall. Players strike the ball using one bandaged hand in these version:
- 1 player versus 1 player
- 2 players versus 2 players
- 3 players versus 3 players.
Whoever wins 5 games is the winner of the match; other rules are the same of pallapugno. Other versions of this game are:
- pallonetto al corto
- pallonetto ai tetti
- pallonetto of ChiusavecchiaChiusavecchiaChiusavecchia is a comune in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about 90 km southwest of Genoa and about 10 km northwest of Imperia...
- baletta
- ciappetta
See also
- Italian variants
- PallaPallathumb|250px|"Palla eh!" game in [[Vetulonia]], 2001Palla is a traditional Tuscan ball game played in towns between Siena and Grosseto. It is also called palla EH! because players call out eh! before serving.Small hand-made balls contain a lead pellet wrapped in rubber and wool with a leather cover...
- TamburelloTamburelloTamburello is a court game invented in the northern provinces of Italy during 16th century. It's a modification of the ancient game of pallone col bracciale...
- Palla
- Similar ball games
- Frisian handballFrisian handballFrisian handball is a traditional Frisian sport, related to American handball and fives, that is most commonly practiced by people from the northern Dutch province of Friesland . It is believed to be one of the oldest ballgames and was an unofficial Demonstration sport at the 1928 Summer Olympics...
- LlarguesLlarguesLlargues is the oldest Valencian pilota modality. It's played on the streets, where two teams formed by 3, 4 or 5 players throw each other the ball with the hand try to surpass an imaginary line which changes every game....
- Frisian handball
- Handball International ChampionshipsHandball International ChampionshipsThe Handball International Championships are yearly held competitions where many countries and regions play the handball sports derived from the Jeu de paume....
- International gameInternational gameThe International game is a ball game modality that joins up many sports allegedly derived from the Jeu de paume. It's played in the Handball International Championships by teams from America and Europe.- History :...
- International game
