Today our beach bats are hand-carved by the local artisans, known as the marceneiros, but the first person to make a frescobol bat was Lian Pontes de Carvalho. In 1945, the young Carioca gathered some smooth driftwood from seashore, just a stone's throw away from the grandeur of the Copacabana Palace Hotel, and carved it into a set of bats. He peeled away the outer coating of a tennis ball and took his creation back to the soft sand of Posto 5. A bat was passed to a friend, and a light-hearted rally began naturally, making Lian both the first frescobol player and the inventor of the sport. The spirit of the game struck a chord with the people of Rio, and soon it became a ubiquitous part of a day at the beach for Cariocas of all ages, a tradition that we're happy to say continues to this day.
At Frescobol Carioca, the process for making our bats starts with our beloved rainforest. Each tree that is cut for furniture production leaves behind smaller pieces that are usually discarded. We take these offcuts and combine anything from five to 17 pieces to form the basis of our wooden bats.
Our wood is sustainably sourced from the local furniture industry's offcuts. These pieces are joined together in our signature symmetrical configuration using the most complementary species of wood.
Taking this collage of materials, we carefully cut out the shape of the bat, then sand the edges to create a smooth final product. Each one is therefore unique in both weight and composition, making yours one-of-a-kind.
The finished shape is heat-stamped with our brand logo before coating with a natural resin that is waterproof and sand-resistant to keep your bat at its best.
The final touch is our neoprene grip. It gives a more comfortable playing experience and also allows us to add a tropical flash of colour.