1. • History
• General aspects Jorge Cunha
Sara Giner
• “Escala i Corda” Azael Pastor
Alexandra Doldán

2. VALENCIAN PILOTA
It’s a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community.
The general rule involves two teams made from two up to five players
each. Exceptionally, individual matches are also played between the most
renowned players. The second characteristic is that it’s not played against a
wall. Instead, similar to modern tennis, two individuals or teams are placed
face to face separated either by a line on the ground or a net. A distinctive
trait of Valencian Pilota is that the spectators are often seated or standing
very close to the court which means that they may be hit by the ball.
Valencian Community

3. HISTORY
The origins of Valencian pilota aren’t known with certainty, but it is
commonly supposed to have been derived from the medieval European
handball sports like “Jeu de Paume”.
Jeu de paume was first played with the hands, and the scoring system was
very similar to the current Valencian one.
Being played by low-class people and high-class nobles, Valencian pilota was
very popular: On June 14, 1391 the Valencia City Council fruitlessly forbade it
to be played on the streets, but this caused the expansion of trinquet (court).
Later on, nobles abandoned the handball game in favour of '"'cleaner" sports
and so pilota became the property of the middle and lower classes, which
led to the appearance of the first professional players and the rise of
gambling and challenge matches.

4. The break between indoor and outdoor forms caused many variants to
diverge from the original ”Llargues” version.
Nowadays, Valencian pilota is played in the whole Valencian Community, but
every area has its preferred variety.
The popularity of this sport is rising again with the building of new courts at
schools, weekly broadcasts on Valencian public TV, the management of a
professional company (ValNet) and the Handball International
Championships with countries where these sports with a common origin are
played.
Jeu de Paume
Playing pilota valenciana
Trinquet (court)
in the streets

5. GENERAL ASPECTS
Playing area
Variations of the game played in the street area are Galotxa, Llargues and Raspall. The
streets must be long and wide
Variations of the game played in the indoor area are Frare, Galotxetes and Frontó.
Indoor variations are normally played in an area called Trinquet.
Trinquet - There is a 60x10m four walled court with stairs (escala) on one side for the
spectators to sit. In order to play Escala i corda rules a 2m high net (corda) in the middle
of the court.
Balls
Every version of the game uses its own kind of ball. Each ball is different in
weight, size, the way it bounces and other aspects. They are all handmade by specialized
crafters.
. Badana Ball . Tec Ball
. Galotxetes Ball . Vaqueta Ball

6. Players
Valencian pilota players are called pilotaris or pilotaires. Usually amateur players are
only proficient in one variant, but professional players tend to be hired for social
events and exhibitions in other variants. There are now only two variants with
professional players: ”Escala i corda” and ”Raspall”.
Variations
Direct games
Escala i corda: A more prestigious game and (alongside with Raspall) the only one
played professionally. It is played in a trinquet. The ball must be thrown between
players over the net, but can be aimed anywhere.
Galotxa: This can be played in both regular streets or fake streets built solely for
playing. The game resembles Escala i corda but with two nets and many more tricks.
Galotxetes: Similar to Escala i corda but shorter and with a different ball.
Llargues game at Sant Joan d'Alacant
Llargues: This version can only be played in regular streets. It's said to be the oldest
game. There is no net or field separating the teams.
Raspall: Similar to Escala i corda as it's played in a trinquet, but without any net and the
ball may bounce as many times as needed.
Indirect games
Frare
Frontó

7. ESCALA I CORDA
It’s the most prestigious variant of Valencian pilota, and the only one, with Raspall, that
have professional players.
Rules
The objective of an Escala i corda game is sending the ball over a net by hitting it with the
hand. When the opponent doesn't get it the sending team wins the point.
Matches are played to 12 games, counting 5 to 5: every game scoring is valid for 5 points.
Every game is divided in 4 "quinzes" (15, 30,val and game). The team who first gets 60 points
for 12 games is the winner.
Every quinze begins when the "feridor" player throws the ball to the opponent "dauer", who
must turn it back to the team in the "rest" midfield. This way, both teams will be sending
each other the ball over the net with an only hit of the hand by team, they may hit the ball
on the air or when it's bounced once on the ground, until one of the teams is not able to
throw it back or a "fault " is committed.
"Faults":
When the ball bounces twice, or the same team (or player) touches
it twice.
When the ball touches the net or passes under it.
When, in the "ferida", the ball doesn't enter into the "dau"