Spanish for "ball". It is handmade of virgin rubber, layered with nylon thread and two goatskin covers. Slightly smaller than a baseball and livelier than a golf ball, the pelota weighs about 4½ ounces. It has been clocked in play at more than 185 miles per hour and can shatter bulletproof glass.
CESTA
Spanish for "basket". It is the curved throwing and catching instrument in jai-alai. Hand-woven and tailored for each player, depending on his position and physical size, the cesta is made of Spanish chestnut and reeds imported from the Pyrenees Mountains. It is these closely woven reeds which give the ball its "English" as it comes spinning out of the cesta. A leather glove is sewn to the outside for the player's hand. The width of the cesta is only 3¼ to 3½ inches which leaves only ½ of an inch margin for error on each side of the ball which measures 2 1/2" in diameter.
CINTA
The string used to tie the cesta to the player's right hand.
FAJA
The fringed, red sash worn as part of the standard uniform of white shoes and trousers and the colored and numbered shirts indicating post positions.
CASCO
Spanish for "helmet". Frontcourt players wear yellow helmets. Backcourt players wear red helmets. Until 1967, players went without helmets or, in Spain and France, wore the traditional berets.
COSTILLAS
Name for the ribs of the cesta that make the form that is woven by cestero (cesta repairman) to make a finished cesta.
