- Bolo palma
Bolo palma is a variant of
bowls played throughout the north ofSpain . Although played a lot in the Basque Country, it would appear that the game originated in neighbouringAsturias orCantabria . Records of the game go back as far as the 16th century. The basic aim of the game is the knock over as many pins as possible with a wooden ball.The set-up
The playing field or "bolera" is between 30-34m long and 8m wide and roughly split into three areas, the "zona de tira" (launch zone; "jaurtitzeko aldea" in in Basque), the middle area or "caja" or "zona de bolos" and the "zona de birle" (pin zone; "birlatzeko aldea" in Basque).
The first section is the "zona de tira", the rectangular launching zone 8m wide and 20m long from where the players launch the ball. There are circles on the ground called "tiros" which mark different foot positions for the players.
The "caja" straddles the "zona de tira" and the "zona de birle" at the far end. It also has a borderline to its front called "fleja". Here, there are 9 wooden "bolos" (pins) with a metal base ("argolla" or "anilla" in Spanish), about 45cm tall and 5cm diameter, weighing between 550-630g. These are placed on pegs in a 3x3 square exactly straddling both "zonas". There is also a tenth pin called "emboque" or "cachi" ("txakina" in Basque) which is smaller and off to one side.
The ball itself is spherical, about 12-18cm in diameter and made of oak, sometimes with a
lead centre to make the ball heavier. It usually weighs between 1.5-2.3kg.The game
Every game consists of two phases:
*"Tiro": the shot, where the player launches the ball from the launching area.
*"Birle": the second shot where the player is allowed to launch the ball again from the position it landed in the "tiro".In the first phase, the player stands on the "tiro", at least 12m and at the most 20m away from the nearest pin depending on the distance selected. The player then launches to ball upwards into the air, employing a number of different techniques depending on whether the "emboque" is to the left or the right of the "caja".
Any pin knocked over is worth one point but if only the central pin is knocked over, two points are won. After having thrown three balls, the player passes over to the "zona de birle". They are then allowed to bowl the three balls again from where they fell in the first throw, a move called "birlar" ("birlatu" in Basque). If a ball comes to rest very close to two pins, a special move called "segar" in which the player knocks over the close pins while aiming for others.
A "bola queda" is a bad ball that cannot be re-thrown. The most common causes of a bad ball is a ball that touches the ground before crossing the "fleja", a ball that lands on the "fleja", when the ball does not cross the line of the "emboque" and when the ball first touches the ground to the right or left of the "caja"
There are a number of ways in which this game can be won, either by reaching an agreed number of knocked over pins (usually between 20 and 40), by throwing eight balls and meeting a variety of challenges and so on.
References
*Zorilla, J. "Bola Jokoa/El juego de bolos", exhibition brochure by the Culture Department of the "Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia" (Regional Government of Biscay), Bilbao 2006, ISBN 84-88916-96-5
ee also
Basque rural sports External links
* [http://www.semanabolistica.com Bolo Week]
* [http://www.maderadeser.com Cantabrian Bolo Federation]
* [http://www.rutasporcantabria.com/fotos_bolos.htm Pictures of bolo games]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
