![Pelota mixteca ball, glove, & player (S Kraft)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Pelota_mixteca_ball%2C_glove%2C_%26_player_%28S_Kraft%29.jpg)
''Pelota mixteca'' ("
Mixtec
The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...
-style ball") is a team sport similar to a net-less tennis game. The players wear sturdy, elaborately decorated gloves affixed to a heavy flat striking surface, using them to strike a small solid ball. The game has roots extending back hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of years.
Today, the game is played in the
Mexican state
The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...
of
Oaxaca
Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...
and
Guerrero
Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...
and in emigrant communities including those in the
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and
Fresno
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
areas.
The members of each five-player team take their positions on one-half of a long narrow court—roughly 100 m long by 11 m wide—which has been measured out on compacted soil. To serve, the ball is first bounced on a flat stone, and then struck on the rebound. The complex scoring system is similar to tennis.
Gloves, balls, and variations
The large gloves, which are usually studded with nails, weigh between 3–6 kg (7–12 lbs). Although the ball was traditionally made of wool, a wide variety of materials are used today:
![Pelota mixteca de forro ball 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Pelota_mixteca_de_forro_ball_1.jpg)
*The most commonly played game uses a ball made of rubber rolled with stocking thread, and fitted with a suede outer lining. The resultant ball weighs about 300–330 grams (12 oz) and measures 8–10 cm (3–4 in) in diameter (see photo on left). To differentiate it from other versions, this game is sometimes referred to as ''pelota mixteca de forro'' ("Mixtec-style lined ball").
*A version named ''pelota mixteca de hule'' ("Mixtec-style rubber ball") uses a heavier, 900 gram rubber ball, with no outer lining, often painted in bright colors (see photo above).
*A version of the game played in the Los Angeles area uses a plastic ball weighing 1–1½ kg.
*The little-known ''pelota mixteca del valle'' uses a very light (less than 100 gram) sponge ball which is struck with a wooden paddle strapped to the hand.
The game is claimed by many writers to be a descendant of the 3000+ year old
Mesoamerican ballgame
The Mesoamerican ballgame ( nah, ōllamalīztli, , myn, pitz) was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BC by the pre-Columbian people of Mesoamerica, Ancient Mesoamerica. The sport had different versions in different pl ...
, perhaps the particular version shown on reliefs at the Mixtec archaeological site of
Dainzu. Heiner Gillmeister, on the other hand, has argued that ''pelota mixteca'' may instead be descended from a Franco-
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
ancestor of
real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...
, likely through intermediate games similar to the
Basque pelota
Basque pelota (Basque: '' pilota'', Spanish: '' pelota vasca'', French: '' pelote basque'') is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (''frontis or fronton ...
or
Valencian pilota
Valencian pilota ( ca-valencia, pilota valenciana "Valencian ball") is a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community. Its origins are not known.
Rules variations within the generic ''Pilota Valenciana'' category are frequent fr ...
, and from there brought to
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
[Gillmeister, p. 71-75, which is supported by Collins, p. 259.] and this would put the game's roots back 400 years ago.
Notes
References
* (2005) ''Encyclopedia Of Traditional British Rural Sports'', Routledge, .
Ulama accessed October 2007.
*
* (1997) ''Tennis: A Cultural History'', New York University Press, .
* (2005
Un juego ancestral in ''El Oaxaqueño'', N 167: 14 November 2005, accessed October 2007.
* (2005)
*{{aut, Taladoire, Eric (2003
Could We Speak of the Super Bowl at Flushing Meadows?: La pelota mixteca, a third pre-Hispanic ballgame, and its possible architectural context ''Ancient Mesoamerica'' (2003), 14: 319–342
External links
A short video of an actual game in Oaxaca Note the player on the far right as he serves the ball, first bouncing it against a flat stone.
A shorter video of an actual game in OaxacaA short video of a game in Ejutla de Crespo, Oaxaca This court is wider and shorter than the court in the first two videos.
A set of Flickr photos of a game by Ruth Hardinger. A rubbing of 'Ballplayer #36', one of several carved figures at the pre-Columbian Oaxacan site of Dainzú, engaged in an action resembling the playing of pelota mixteca.
Team sports
Mixtec
Sport in Oaxaca
Ball games