squash rackets

squash rackets, singles or doubles game played in a four-walled court with a long-handled strung racket and a small rubber ball. The game is played on exactly the same principle as rackets but in a smaller court. Squash is usually played by two people, but it can be played by four (doubles).

Two different varieties of game are played: softball (the so-called “British,” or “international,” version) and hardball (the “American” version). In softball, which is the standard game internationally, the game is played with a softer, slower ball on the kind of wide, tall court shown in the accompanying diagram. The ball stays in play far longer, and there is more court to cover, making it a physically demanding game that requires fitness, patience, and deliberation. Hardball squash, which is popular in the United States, is played on a narrower court with a harder, faster ball. The hardball game emphasizes quick reactions and creative shot making.

History

Squash rackets is a descendant of rackets, having probably originated around the middle of the 19th century at Harrow School in England. Students there who were unable to get into the rackets court took their exercise hitting an India-rubber ball, which squashed when hit against a wall. The new game soon became popular in other English boarding schools. In the 1890s private courts were built, and, after the turn of the century, club courts appeared at Bath, Queen’s, and the Marylebone Cricket Club.

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Not until after World War I did squash rackets catch on, and in the 1920s the game spread rapidly, becoming more popular than its parent game, rackets. Many courts were built in clubs, schools, and colleges. Rules were formulated; the English national association was organized; and dimensions of the court were established, along with regulations in regard to the ball and racket. Many competitions began: the Professional Championship in 1920, the Amateur Championship for men and women in 1922, and the Open Championship in 1930. International competition with the United States began with the sending of a British team to the United States in 1924, though such competition was later hampered by differences in British and American courts, balls, and methods of scoring.

In the United States the game played in the early years was actually squash tennis, using a lawn tennis ball and tennis racket. Squash tennis has been supplanted by squash rackets in most American cities but continues to have a following.

From England the game spread throughout the British Empire—to Canada, India, Australia, and South Africa. Today squash is played throughout the world. The World Squash Federation (WSF) promotes the game and coordinates tours and championships between nations. The WSF membership has grown to over 115 nations, each of which also belongs to one of five regional squash federations.

Outstanding squash players have included F.D. Amr Bey, an Egyptian amateur who won several British open titles in the 1930s; the Khans of Pakistan, a family of professional players and teachers who often dominated open play from the 1950s to the 1990s; Janet Morgan, British women’s champion from 1949–50 to 1958–59 and the winner of American and Australian titles; and Heather McKay (née Blundell), the Australian who won the British women’s championship from 1961–62 to 1976–77, as well as other championships.

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The game

The international version of squash is played on an enclosed rectangular court that is 9.75 m (32 ft) long and about 6.4 m (21 ft) wide. The main features of the court are, on the front wall, a service line above which a ball must bounce on a serve. Below this service line on the front wall is a board or metal liner, which extends to a height of 48 cm (18.9 in) from the floor and which, if hit by a ball, results in a lost play or point for the striker. Another line delimits the height of play along the front and side walls. The “short line” on the floor marks the point beyond which a served ball must bounce on the floor, and the rear area enclosed by this line is divided into two smaller rectangles that function as service boxes, within one of which the server must stand while serving and within the other of which the ball that he has served must bounce on the floor.

The object of the game is to bounce, or rebound, the ball off the front wall in such a way that the opponent is unable to reach it and rebound it off the front wall in his turn. In serving and at any other time, the ball may be bounced directly off the front wall or it may be rebounded off the side or rear walls before or after it hits the front wall. A ball may be returned before it has bounced once on the floor (after rebounding off the front wall), but, after it has bounced on the floor more than once, the ball is dead. A player must give his opponent a fair chance at reaching the ball, which often means getting out of the other’s way after having made one’s shot. Under British rules, a point is scored only if the winner of a rally (exchange, or succession, of shots) was the one who served the ball; if he was not, the winner of the rally becomes the server, and if he wins consecutive rallies he serves consecutively. In American play, a point is scored by the winner of a rally irrespective of who served. A game can consist of 9 or 15 points, with a tie at the 8-, 13-, or 14-point mark being decided by a tie-breaking system of play. The small, highly responsive squash ball is propelled at high speeds both to and from the front wall, and the pace of play is accordingly swift. The players try to put one another out of reach of a shot by skilled placement and by varying the speed of their shots. The game demands good eye-hand coordination and, above all, quick reflexes.

The squash racket itself is similar to that used in the game of rackets, but the handle is shorter; the American racket is heavier than the British. The ball is made of rubber or of a rubber and butyl composition.

The standard British court has four walls, usually of wood. The dimensions and markings of the British court are shown in the accompanying diagram. The board, or telltale, is a strip of sheet metal or other resonant material that produces a clearly different sound when the part of the front wall “out-of-play” is hit. The standard court for the American version is considerably narrower than the English court, being 5.6 m (18.5 ft) wide, and some other dimensions are also slightly different. Doubles courts are 7.6 m (25 ft).