In which sport, whose name you might have a hard time pronouncing, does the ball move the fastest?

This distinction belongs to a sport with Basque origins, where the ball, or "pelota," can travel at speeds exceeding 188 miles per hour. The game's name, which means "merry festival" in the Basque language, was coined in 1875. Players use a long, curved wicker basket called a "cesta" strapped to their arm to catch and hurl the goat-skin covered, hard rubber ball against a three-walled court. It is this cesta that allows players to generate the incredible speeds that make this sport so dangerous and exciting.

The pelota itself is remarkably hard, often compared to a golf ball, and is only about three-quarters the size of a baseball. This hardness, combined with the throwing motion using the cesta, results in the ball's record-breaking velocity. The game is played by either individuals or teams of two, who must catch the ball either on the fly or after one bounce and return it to the front wall in one fluid motion. Points are scored when an opponent fails to make a successful return.

Originally played outdoors against church walls in the Spanish Pyrenees, the sport's popularity grew, and it was introduced to the United States at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. While it gained a following in several states, particularly Florida, it remains a relatively niche sport. Despite this, its claim to having the fastest moving ball in any court game is a well-established piece of sporting trivia.