Text written in Basque and translated automatically by Elia without any subsequent editing. SEE ORIGINAL

To the heart of the ball

We talked about the evolution of the Basque pelota with the manager of Pumpa.

NAGORE REMENTERIA; Elhuyar Foundation: Today’s professional hand ball, a modern sport, comes from very ancient times.

ANDER UGARTE; Punpa: The Basque Country is the birthplace of another branch of the ball 150-180 years ago, which has provided the only sport that connects the seven provinces, ours.

In the case of N. A. is: What is it that connects them, to hit them against a wall with the ball?

I'm talking about A. According to U.: Oh, yeah, yeah. It should also be noted that this behavior was once called pleka, plekan. And the pilot's a plethora. It was the pilots who played head-to-head, face-to-face, and it's a game of playoffs against a wall. Why do we say it’s our sport? Because this ball was created here, the artisans here introduced the engine inside it, because those first balls, the previous ones, do not exert any power. They are very slow and do not need a motor. The Basques introduced a motor into the ball, and the motor was latex.

Here we will see two families: the ratchet balls and the left wall balls.Latex is a Latin word that means milk. We hardened it in a machine and made this thread.The other product is the vulcanized latex mixed with sulfur. With them we make the heart of the ratchet ball. This is where the difference is seen in the art of southern and northern pilots. Then, wool is applied around it. This wool needs a weight and a size; it is not the same as the ball for a child, a young person or a professional. When we touch it, we give it cotton yarn around it. We have to tie that cotton and the wool with this red thread, thread it, which gives strength to the whole ball. Think of the ball as invented to hit. Well, with that simple thing, you extend the life of the ball a lot.

According to N.R.: This red thread then joins the forces of the threads.

I'm talking about A. According to U.: That's what it is. And then we use two different types of leather in the south and the north. Here in the north most of the time they play in loose squares and ratchet, and in both they need the same leather. In the south is dominated by the left wall and the leather is much harder, because the soles of a time were made of stone and if you use soft leather when you touch the sole, the leather deteriorates fite, and on the other hand, the ball makes straight punps. And it has always been sought to stretch this punpa, and very hard leather, like parchment, has been used.