Traits
The vaqueta ball has a diameter of 44 mm, its circumference is 138 mm, and its weight is around 42 and 48 gr, depending on the variant (in Escala i corda lighter balls are preferred, while in Raspall heavier balls are used).
The actual weight of the balls is the end of a process, that is, historical pilotaris such as Quart in the 1930s played with balls around 28 and 33 gr. The lighter the ball the slower it goes and the less it flies (its direction). This change of weight has been favoured by "rest" players, who tend to be stronger and have to send the ball longer, but it's an extra handicap for "mitger" and "punter" players, who have to stop the ball or strike it in the middle of its trajectory and while it's still carrying a lot of force.
During the matches, and before beginning every "quinze", the team who stands at the "dau" is allowed to change one of the 6 disposable balls (each team previously chose 3 of them). This way, if playing again a double team, a trio would choose a new ball, which are fast and with a long bounce, so that the opposing two players are forced to move constantly. Otherwise, the attacking team tends to choose heavier balls, since they exhaust more when defensing.
Read more about this topic: Vaqueta Ball
Famous quotes containing the word traits:
“It is my conviction that in general women are more snobbish and class conscious than men and that these ignoble traits are a product of men’s attitude toward women and women’s passive acceptance of this attitude.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“A child is born with the potential ability to learn Chinese or Swahili, play a kazoo, climb a tree, make a strudel or a birdhouse, take pleasure in finding the coordinates of a star. Genetic inheritance determines a child’s abilities and weaknesses. But those who raise a child call forth from that matrix the traits and talents they consider important.”
—Emilie Buchwald (20th century)
“And, beholding in many souls the traits of the divine beauty, and separating in each soul that which is divine from the taint which it has contracted in the world, the lover ascends to the highest beauty, to the love and knowledge of the Divinity, by steps on this ladder of created souls.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)