Slovenia – Pandolo

Equipment
1 Base (a firm flat rectangle made from metal materials),
1 Mazza (a 55 cm long piece of wood with rounded ends),
1 Pandolo (made from wood. On both of the edges it is shaped into a cone),
Face protections (a protective shield for the face, which is usually made of plastic. All defense players should use them),
Gloves (for protection of the defense players hands),
Uniforms (players of each team have their own uniform, although it is not required).
The game is played in rounds. In each round, both teams take part in attacking and defending. The toss of a coin before the start decides which team will start first on the offensive side and which in the defence.The attacking team has only player active on the playing field while the other teammates are watching. On the other side the whole defending team is active on the field. When the first player completes his turn, he is replaced with the next player from the attacking team. When all the offensive players have finished, the teams switch places the defending team becomes the offensive team and the offensive team goes in defence. The game then continues until all of the new offensive team’s players have finished playing. Then it’s the end of the first round.
In the second round everything repeats. The only difference is that the first attacking team now starts in defense.
Phase One – Active game of the first player
The first step is to toss the pandolo into the game or “service”. The defense team spreads out in the wide area of the field. No defense player, however, can be closer than 12 mazza (stick) lengths from the base. The active player places himself maximum 1 mazza far from the base. He holds the pandolo in his hand. When the game starts, the active player: hits the base with the mazza. then he shouts “Pandolo, pandolo zero” so everyone on the field can hear. With his hand, he throws the pandolo straight up into the air and he hits it with the mazza into the playing filed. If the pandolo doesn’t land in the field he has two more attempts.
Phase Two – Catching the Pandolo
The defending players tries to catch the pandolo in the air. If they succeed the active player has ended his turn. Otherwise the pandolo is stopped on the ground by defending players, or it stops somewhere in the field by itself.
Phase Three – Targeting the Base
From the point where the pandolo was stopped, one of the defense players tries to throw the pandolo to strike the base. The active player can defend the base only with the mazza. If the pandolo anyway hits the base the active player is struck out and he ends his turn. Otherwise the game continues.
Phase Four – Striking the Pandolo
The active player that has not been struck out continues the game. The active player places the pandolo near the base (1 mazza). The defense team players take their positions in the playing field and no closer than 12 mazza lengths from the base. When everyone is ready the active player places himself near the pandolo. With one hit, on the edge, the pandolo lifts in the air and with the second hit he sends the pandolo towards the end line. If the defending player doesn’t catch the pandolo in the air, the active player repeats the last step two more times.
Phase Five – Counting Points
The points are counted only if the active player has finished everything without the pandolo being caught in the air by the defending players. The attacking team measures, by eye, the distance between the base and the pandolo. One of the players than loudly says the distance in the unit of mazza. If the defending team agrees with the distance the players scored as much points as the distance was. Otherwise they measure it mazza by mazza from the pandolo to the base. If the attacking team said a bigger number then the measured, they lost all the points. If they said a correct or a smaller number, the points are doubled.
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