La pala, a traditional sport of the Basque Country.

Get to know, learn and enjoy paddle, a historical sport of our land.

The pala, a sport often “covered” by another of our great sports, the Basque pelota or pelota mano, sneaks daily in our frontons making not fall into oblivion this tradition that has brought so many good times to our people. Currently, the pala is not going through one of its best stages, but thanks to the efforts of lovers of this sport and initiatives such as Innpala is gradually recovering the importance it had in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Spade sign

History of the Shovel: The shovel and its origins are not entirely clear, rather confused. But, what we can testify, is that in the XVII and XVIII centuries the spade begins to be present in the Basque culture, example of it are the pictures painted by Murillo and Goya in which the spade is a clear protagonist. In 1904, with the organization of great paddle matches, the cycle of the modern paddle began, a great impulse for this sport.

Paddlers

The Euskalduna fronton in Bilbao, inaugurated on April 14, 1895, following the example of the Beti-Jai fronton in Madrid, was the place where the first professional paddle court company in history was established, a fronton that was destroyed in 1937 due to the civil war. In 1939, the Euskalduna fronton was built again, this time with a totally modern style, but for economic reasons it was closed in 1957, leaving the city of Bilbao without major paddle events until 1967, the year in which the Club Deportivo fronton was inaugurated. Today, thanks to the fact that the institutions have taken over the responsibility they have with this sport, we can say that we are facing the resurgence of a great one of our frontons.

Innpala. A modern entity that seeks to promote the traditional, the whole life. Innpala, this is the name of the professional paddle project that currently aims to manage all professional paddle matches, an organization that takes the baton from ASFEDEBI PELOTA.

Competitions: The competitions organized and promoted by Innpala are divided into 6 sections

• Couples League.
• Bizkaia Tournament.
• Couples World Tournament.
• Individual World Tournament.
• International Tournament.
• Paleta Tour (Summer Circuit).

Shovel fronton

All of them governed by Innpala’s lively and dynamic rules keep the tension of the last goal for almost the entire match. Among the most innovative rules we can find

• Best of 5 sets games (each set will have 10 points)
• If the serve goes over the passing line, the player loses a direct hit.
• The balls will be of similar conception (regular) and will be replaced every 2 sets.
• Ranking of pelotaris (forwards and fullbacks) with a system of assigning points for matches won.

Curiosities:

Betting: In the Basque Country, betting has always been known as a complement to the sport of the fronton, a complement that increases the tension of each match. Although in other Basque sports, such as pelota, betting is the order of the day, in pala this world, this tradition, has not been created.

Paddlers: Another of the curiosities of this sport is that some of the best current paddlers are from France, Argentina and Bizkaia, a great variety that we are grateful to see in the frontons of our localities. A good example of this is Mr. Pablo Hernan Fusto (Fusto) born in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

Presentation of paddlers

Competitions: The World Cup modality, the competition that has attracted the most people so far has drawn the attention that in the past they loved this sport and over time they were losing it.

Innpala, Shovel World Cup entries

The championship does not have fixed pairs, all the forwards will play against each other, as well as the fullbacks, thus obtaining random pairs that will obtain a score depending on the final result.

The 2 best defenders and the 2 best forwards will qualify for the final.

Definition: The definition of Innpala, the new concept of the game perfectly describes what this sport is today and the way forward. Innpala = Speed + Tradition + Innovation

If you want to enjoy this traditional sport of the Basque Country do not hesitate to consult Innpala’s website or its social networks.