Squash rackets, generally known simply as squash, is a
ball-and-racket court game with two players (singles)
or four (doubles). Squash is now played by more than
10 million people in 120 countries and has become internationally known and accepted.
History
The first recorded reference to the game of squash
rackets appeared in 1890 in the Badminton Library of
Sports and Pastimes. As the story goes, schoolboys at
England’s Harrow School occupied themselves while
waiting their turns for the rackets court by hitting a
hard rackets ball around the courtyard, often breaking
windows.
With increased popularity, various designs for
squash’s play area were introduced, eventually culminating in four walls of varying size. Courts were not
standardized, but the early ones were constructed of
wooden planks for both walls and floor, since wood
was easier on the feet than asphalt.
Eustace Miles, a world champion rackets and tennis
player, wrote the first book on the game of squash in
1901. Miles offered coaching tips in his book, although
he felt that squash was generally a “selfish” game unless played as doubles in a larger court. Nevertheless,
squash was considered good for the development of
the body, health, mind, and character, and was regarded as a “grand game” for ladies, unlike many others of the period.
The first recognized squash championship was the
American National in 1907. In 1920, the first Professional Championship of the British Isles was played between the only two entrants. The next championship,
between the same two players, did not take place until
1928.
The English Squash Rackets Association was
founded in 1928 to act as the game’s central authority
and to formulate, add to, and alter the rules. It was this
body that decided to use the English spelling of “rackets” (as opposed to the French “racquets”) and to reduce the number of squash balls to three varieties of
hollow, black rubber.
The International Squash Rackets Federation
(ISRF) was founded in 1967 as the game became a
worldwide sport. The European Squash Rackets Federation was founded in 1973, followed by the Asian
Squash Rackets Federation and others.
Rules and Play
Squash rackets is a ball game much like rackets, from
which it was developed. The main differences are that
squash rackets is played in a smaller court using a
somewhat shorter racket and a hollow ball of black or
colored rubber. The court has four walls and is 9.75
meters (32 feet) long and 6.40 meters (21 feet) wide.
Most courts are indoors with wood floors, but countries with mainly sunny climates have outdoor courts
with concrete floors.
The object of the game is to keep the ball in play,
above this board. The two players (“singles”) or four
players (“doubles”) take turns striking the ball. A rally
(series of hits) continues until one player fails to return
the ball above the board. Points are scored by the server
on winning rallies, but on losing a rally, the receiver becomes the server. The player who first scores nine
points wins the game, unless both players reach eight
points (“eight-all”). At this point, the player who first
reached eight may choose to “set one” or “set two.”
Lively and relatively simple, squash rackets enjoys
steady popularity.
—IAN D. W. WRIGHT
Bibliography: Miles, Eustace. (1901) The Game of Squash.
New York: E.P. Dutton.