Rackets
Rackets (in America also Racquets ) is played in the hall check game and is considered a direct precursor of the squash and racquetball . The sport is now only widespread in a few clubs in the UK, USA and Canada. 1908 in London rackets was Olympic .
game
Rackets are played in halls that are 60 feet (18.28 m) long, 30 feet (9.14 m) wide, and at least 30 feet high. The ball is hard, 1.5 inches (38 mm) in diameter, and weighs 28 grams. It is played with wooden clubs. The rules of the game essentially correspond to the rules for squash, which arose from them.
The ball is hit alternately against the front wall above the so-called board and may previously touch the side walls and the rear wall as often as desired, but not the ground. The board is a 2 foot and 2 inch (0.66 m) high wooden wall, often covered with cloth. Before the return, the ball may only touch the ground once, otherwise it is a mistake. When serving, the ball must be played directly on the front wall and other restrictions apply. If the server makes a mistake, the right to serve changes. If the receiver makes a mistake, the server receives one point. Whoever reaches 15 points first wins the set, in the event of a tie of 13 or 14 points it is extended by 3 or 5 points. A match consists of several winning sets.
Squash and the racquetball, which emerged in the USA at the end of 1920, are based on the same game idea, but differ from rackets in their smaller playing surfaces (9.75 × 6.40 m and 12.19 × 6.10 m), different balls and rackets and modifications to the rules.
history
Rackets is said to have originated in the 18th century as a pastime in the London debtors' prisons King's Bench and Fleet. It was initially played in the open air. The English sports journalist Pierce Egan describes rackets in detail in his Book of Sports And Mirror of Life , published in 1832, and mentions several open rackets places in London inns. Championships in Open Court Rackets have already been held on these courts . Harrow was the first school to play rackets, likely from the early 1820s.
The oldest covered racket hall was built shortly after 1839 at Eglinton Castle in Kilwinning , Scotland. In the middle of the 19th century, the covered courts began to replace the open ones. The old Prince's Club opened in 1853 with seven courts. The dimensions of the main field in the Prince's Club (60 feet long, 30 feet wide) became the standard that is still valid today. Other racket halls followed, including at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge , in Harrow, in the new Prince's Club, in Manchester and Liverpool, and in 1888 in the Queen's Club , where the rackets , indoor tennis and Jeu de Paume competitions at the London Olympic Games in 1908 (English Real Tennis ) were held.
With the change from open to covered courts, rackets became more and more a sport for the wealthy. At the same time, the sport developed competition: in order to practice and to bridge the waiting times on the court, students from Harrow played with a soft ball. It flew slower than the hard ball used in rackets. First reports of this initially squash racquets , later only squash (English. squeeze) come from the year 1850. Squash spread quickly, especially in schools, and was soon played on smaller courts than the classic rackets. In 1908 squash became an independent sport and went its own way from 1928 with the founding of the Squash Rackets Association (SRA) .
Rackets today
Today (as of October 2012) rackets are only played by a few clubs that are organized in two associations: The Tennis and Rackets Association was founded in 1907 and names 18 clubs and schools with rackets courts. The North American Rackets Association has 7 members in the US and Canada. Both associations coordinate regular game traffic.
swell
- ↑ Official IOC report (PDF; 14.7 MB) Rackets - Definition and Laws, p. 614 ff
- ^ The Laws of Rackets. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 12, 2012 ; Retrieved October 16, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ History of Racquets. Retrieved October 16, 2012 .
- ↑ a b c The History of Rackets. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 29, 2012 ; Retrieved October 16, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c History of Squash. Retrieved October 16, 2012 .
- ↑ Official IOC report (PDF; 14.7 MB)
- ^ Racket Courts and Evening Clubs. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 12, 2012 ; Retrieved October 16, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ www.northamericanrackets.com. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 4, 2012 ; Retrieved October 16, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Commons : Rackets - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
- Tennis and Rackets Association
- North American Rackets Association
