Q. What is the fastest a jai-alai ball has been thrown?

A. Jose Ramon Areitio, a former backcourt player at the Newport, R.I., fronton holds the record for the fastest pelota ever thrown. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, on Friday night, August 3, 1979, at Newport Jai-Alai, he threw a ball which was officially clocked at 188 MPH.

Q. When a player serves the ball and it lands directly on the underserve or overserve line is the serve good or bad?

A. When the ball is served it must land between the underserve and overserve lines. If the ball should touch either line the server loses the point.

Q. After making a catch, how long can a player legally hold the ball before returning it?

A. Once a player makes a catch he must immediately return the ball toward the front wall in one fluid motion. If the player hold the ball in his cesta for more than the required time (which is decided by the court judges), holding would be called and that player would lose the point.

Q. What is the purpose of the white towel which can be seen hanging in the players’ cage?

A. The white towel which hangs in the players’ cage is kept wet and is used to moisten the frame and the outside of the player’s cesta before he goes onto the court. Because the cesta is made of straw it is most important that it be kept damp to give it strength. If the cesta gets too dry then the straw will get brittle and can easily break.

Q. What is the significance of line 11 on the playing court?

A. The 11 line is also known as the serve line. At the start of each point the serving player must bounce the ball behind this line. The player is permitted to stand in front of the line but the ball must be bounced behind it.

Q. Why do the players catch so many difficult balls, then miss the easiest ones?

A. Of course, missing “an easy one” is very noticeable. First of all, the width of the cesta in the area where the ball enters is approximately 3 ¼ to 3 ½ inches and the ball’s diameter is almost 2 ½ inches. That leaves ½ inch or less for error on either side of the ball. Not much of a margin especially when the ball is curving or wobbling. And it typically has a lot of “English” which is difficult to see from the audience where the perspective is a side-view flat trajectory. And, then, there is the difficulty of catching the ball off the side wall or close to it. In addition, as in football when an easy pass is dropped, or in baseball which actually records “errors”, there is always the “human factor.”

Q. What happens in a doubles game if a player is injured during the playing of a point?

A. If a player is injured during the playing of a point his partner must continue to play alone until a point is scored, after which the injured player could be replaced by the official substitute.

Q. Why does a backcourt player on the receiving team sometimes inspect a ball and then give it to the judge?

A. The server has a choice of ball. He must however, give the ball to the receiver for inspection. If the cover is torn or stitches are missing, the receiver has the right to refuse the ball. If there is any doubt as to the condition of the ball it is given to the judge who has the authority to rule whether or not it is playable. After inspecting the ball, he will either keep it in play or remove it to be resewn by the ball maker.

Q. It is permissible for a player to return a ball by hitting it with the back of his cesta?

A. Yes. You will see it attempted; however, only as a last resort. A player who is trying to return a ball which is coming off the back wall may find himself hopelessly out of position with the ball going over his head. He will then swat at the ball with the back of his cesta. If the ball should bounce off his cesta and strike the front wall, the ball would continue to be in play.

Q. How come before every serve the server throws the ball to the opposing backcourter who then gives some kind of signal to his frontcourt partner?

A. The server has the choice of ball. Depending on the server’s preference, he may choose a lively ball, an average ball, or a dead ball. All three types of balls are available when the player makes his selection from the box of balls which is cared for by the ball boy. After the server chooses the ball, he gives it to the opposing team’s backcourter for inspection. The backcourter will first check to make sure that the stitches on the cover are not ripped. If one stitch is missing, he has the right to reject the ball. Next, the receiver will bounce the ball to determine if the ball is lively, average, or dead. He then relays this information to his partner by means of a hand signal. The player will hold out his hand and raise or lower it according to the liveliness of the ball. The higher his hand, the livelier the ball. A low hand placement would signal a dead ball.

Q. I have been to different frontons and I noticed that the colors of the player’s shirts for each post position are the same at each place. Is this a coincidence or are they required to be the same color?

A. Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering regulations require that the shirt colors for each post position be the same at all frontons. The post positions and their corresponding shirt colors are as follows:

• No. 1-Red | No. 2-Blue | No. 3-White | No. 4-Green
• No. 5-Black | No. 6-Yellow | No. 7-Brown | No. 8-Purple

A. The youngest professional player in the history of jai-alai was Piston I. He began his professional career in Madrid, Spain in 1922 at the age of nine.

Q. Has any player ever been fatally injured while playing jai-alai?

A. Since the 1920s there have been at least four players killed by a jai-alai ball. Only one of these deaths occurred in the United States. During the early 1930s at the old Biscayne fronton, the frontcourter Ramos was struck in the back of the head by his partner, Esquivel, who was attempting to return a ball off the back wall. Ramos was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he died a few days later. Fortunately, there have been very few instances of serious head injuries since the introduction of helmets in 1967.

Q. Why aren’t there any left-handed jai-alai players?

A. Due to the centuries-old tradition of the game of jai-alai, all players (“lefties” included) are required to wear the cesta on their right hand. Also, because of the side wall being on the left side of the court, it would be dangerous and almost impossible for players to throw with their left hand.

Q. What is the purpose of the numbers on the side wall?

A. Other than the four, seven and eleven lines which are used to mark the underserve, overserve and serve lines, the only function of the numbers is to serve as reference points. A player may tell his partner to play at the nine line to catch a ball. If the court were not marked it would be difficult to know exactly what area he should go to.