Jai alai Jai alai Jai alai (; Basque: ) is a sport involving a ball bounced off a walled space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held device (cesta). It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where the sport is played. The game is called "zesta-punta" (basket tip) in Basque. The Basque Government promotes "jai alai" as "the fastest sport in the world" because of the speed of the ball. The sport once held the world record for ball speed
Pelota Mano Court, Trebonne during village festivals is now played competitively at international competitions. The supreme version of the game is today "cesta-punta" and is played with a long, scooped wicker basket, a "chistera", on a fronton called a "jai-alai". Besides the chistera, the game can be played with an assortment of equipment, for example, the bare hand, a wooden bat or a wooden-framed strung racket called a "xare". There are also different types of balls, for example, one is covered in leather and weighs , another is covered in parchment and weighs , while yet another is rubber and weighs . Originally played