What is Pallone?
{{Sports}} '''Pallone''' ([[Italian language|Italian]] for an inflated ball, similar to the word ''[[balloon]]'') is the name of several traditional ball games, played in various regions of [[Italy]], with minimal differences in regulations. ==Games== ===Pallone col bracciale=== ''Pallone col bracciale'' was particularly popular throughout Italy in the [[18th century]] then in [[19th century]] and [[20th century]] until 1930 was the most popular sport of ancient Italian [[national sport]]s; its first official regulations date back to 1555. The ''pallone col bracciale'' players are called ''pallonisti'' and during 19th century Italian professional pallonisti were richest and best rewarded sportsmen of all the world. This sport and his champions were described by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], [[Giacomo Leopardi]], [[Edmondo de Amicis]], [[Antonio Francesco Grazzini]], [[Ottavio Rinuccini]], [[Gabriello Chiabrera]], [[Tommaso Grossi]], [[Giuseppe Gioachino Belli]]. [[Where Angels Fear to Tread]] (1991) includes a brief film depiction of this game. Balls are struck back and forth with a wooden cylinder, called ''bracciale'', worn over the forearm, if carelessly played, a broken arm can result: in fact bracciale weighs 2 or 1 [[kilogram]]. Originally the ball of 934 [[gram]]s was inflated, but now hard rubber ball of 350&nbsp;grams is used. Scoring is by fifteens, as in [[tennis]] and the team which wins 12 games is final winner of the match. A special feature is that the ball is put into play by a designated server, who otherwise is not part of the game. The receivers can reject serves at will. Pallone is played on courts marked out on town streets. Registered players of official championships dispute their matches in a kind of [[stadium]] named ''sferisterio'' or ''sferodromo'' in Italian language.<ref>[http://www.clubsportivofirenze.it/immagini/tamburello/bracciale7.jpg Registered players with bracciale in sferisterio of Florence]{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref