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107-422: Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velocity and control. Unlike most racquet sports , such as tennis and badminton , there is no net to hit the ball over, and, unlike squash , no tin (out of bounds area at

214-412: A war of attrition . At higher levels of the game, the fitter player has a major advantage. The ability to change the direction of the ball at the last instant is also a tactic used to unbalance the opponent often called "holding." Expert players can anticipate the opponent's shot a few tenths of a second before the average player, giving them a chance to react sooner. Depending on the style of play, it

321-408: A "knockout" format since 1947. The women's championship started in 1921, and it has been dominated by relatively few players: Joyce Cave , Nancy Cave , Cecily Fenwick (England) in the 1920s; Margot Lumb and Susan Noel (England) in the 1930s; Janet Morgan (England) in the 1950s; Heather McKay (Australia) in the 1960s and 1970s; Vicki Cardwell (Australia) and Susan Devoy (New Zealand) in

428-532: A 32-foot (9.8 m) long by 21-foot (6.4 m) wide squash court –8 feet (2.4 m) shorter and 1 foot (0.30 m) wider than the U.S. racquetball court - using a smaller, less-dynamic ball than the American racquetball. In racketball, the ceiling is out-of-bounds. The racketball is served after a bounce on the floor then struck into play with the racket. Scoring is like squash with point-a-rally scoring of up to 11 points. The British Racketball Association

535-400: A best of five games. Each game is three minutes long; however, this only refers to the three minutes in play. The 'downtime' in between the end of a rally and a serve is not counted. Once the time is up, the clock stops, and the leading player needs to win a final point. If the player who is behind wins the point the game continues until the trailing player catches up and wins one more point than

642-432: A clear opportunity to make a rally-winning shot due to the obstruction by the player's opponent, while in the former case the opportunity missed would not clearly have led to a winning shot. This difference is almost always a judgment call by the referee (if available). There is also a "court" hinder in which some part of the playing field caused the ball to bounce untrue. Often this is the door frame or (recessed) handle or

749-536: A fast-paced sport that was easy to learn and play. He designed the first strung paddle, devised a set of rules, based on those of squash , handball, and paddleball, and named his game paddle rackets . In February 1952, Sobek founded the National Paddle Rackets Association (NPRA), codified the rules, and had the rules printed as a booklet. The new sport was rapidly adopted and became popular through Sobek's continual promotion of it; he

856-403: A fault. The ball may touch one side wall, but not two, prior to hitting the floor; hitting both side walls after the front wall (but before the floor) is a "three wall serve," and a fault. Also, serving the ball into the front wall so that it rebounds to the back wall without hitting the floor first is a long serve, and a fault. Other fault serves include a ceiling serve, in which the ball touches

963-554: A flaw in the floor or walls. In this case, the rally is a re-serve. Racquetball games can be played with two, three or four players, with doubles or singles matches being most common. Two player games are called singles or "one-up" (one vs. one for the entire game), while four player games are doubles with two pairs playing against each other (two vs. two for the entire game). Tournament competitions have divisions for singles or doubles or both. Three-player games are most commonly called "Cut-throat" and sometimes "Ironman" (two-on-one for

1070-426: A front wall, two side walls, and a back wall. An 'out line' runs along the top of the front wall, descending along the side walls to the back wall. The bottom line of the front wall marks the top of the 'tin', a half meter-high metal area. The middle line of the front wall is the service line. The dimensions of the court are: North American hardball doubles courts are larger than international singles courts because of

1177-538: A glove on their racquet hand for the purpose of getting a better grip on the racquet (similar to golfers using a glove when driving), but gloves are optional equipment. Also, players usually wear a comfortable short sleeved shirt and shorts, as well as racquetball court shoes designed for enabling quick lateral as well as forward and backward movement. Racquetballs are manufactured in a variety of colors such as blue, green, purple, black, red, and pink, and some are for specific purposes (e.g., outdoor play and indoor play), but

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1284-400: A hard ball that has a much faster pace. With double the number of players, the doubles court needs to be significantly bigger than a singles court. The doubles court should measure 25 feet wide by 45 feet long and have a ceiling height of at least 24 feet but preferably 26. The players spin a racket to decide who serves first. This player starts the first rally by electing to serve from either

1391-399: A long time it is best to keep them in a room temperature setting and keep them out of extreme cold or heat because this will cause the balls to become less effective and lose their bounce. Play begins with the serve. The serving player must bounce the ball on the floor once and hit it directly to the front wall, making the ball hit the floor beyond the short line; otherwise the serve counts as

1498-561: A match score line could read 15–14, 14–15, 11–10. – Racquetball Canada matches are also the best of three format two games to 15, tiebreaker to 11, but require a winning margin of at least two points. – From 1981 to 2017, the IRT's scoring was best-of-five games to 11 points, requiring a two-point margin for victory. However, in December 2017 the tour announced they were modifying their scoring methods to be in line with USAR and IRF standards at

1605-432: A punctured ball, which "squashed" on impact with the wall, offered more variety to the game. The game spread to other schools. The first courts built at Harrow were dangerous because they were near water pipes, buttresses, chimneys, and ledges. Natural rubber was the preferred material for the ball. Students modified their rackets to have a smaller reach and improve their ability to play in these cramped conditions. In 1864,

1712-440: A purple Penn HD ball as the official ball. A black ball is often used in tournaments for senior players because the ball is designed to be slower moving and allows for longer rallies. The red ball is the fastest in production, and they are known as Red Ektelon Fireballs. This ball is heavier and allows for a quicker pace. Balls do break occasionally, and will lose their bounce over time even without breaking. To keep balls around for

1819-680: A referee and a time keeper to make this match official. Players have two minutes of rest between games, and all other standard PSA and WSF rules apply. In 2004, the Professional Squash Association (PSA) decided to switch to PARS 11. This decision was ratified in 2009 when the World Squash Federation confirmed the switch to the PARS 11 scoring system. Since that time, almost all professional and league games have been played according to PARS to 11. One of

1926-520: A tennis-like variation of squash known as squash tennis . Finally, racketball , a similar sport played on a squash court (as distinguished from racquetball ), has been rebranded as Squash 57 by the World Squash Federation. Squash rackets have maximum dimensions of 686 mm (27.0 in) long and 215 mm (8.5 in) wide, with a maximum strung area of 500 square centimeters (77.5 sq in). The permitted maximum weight

2033-445: A weak return by the opponent if stretched, the majority of the court being free to the striker. Nicks are when the ball comes into contact with the intersection of the floor and any sidewall. Rallies between experienced players may involve 30 or more shots and therefore a very high premium is placed on fitness, both aerobic and anaerobic. As players become more skilled and, in particular, better able to retrieve shots, points often become

2140-584: Is "Sevens" in which one player plays against two players as a team, with the game being played to seven points; if the two player team gets to seven first, the game is over, but if the solo player gets to seven first then the game continues to 14; if the solo player again reaches 14 first, then the game continues to 21, where the game ends regardless of whether the solo player or the two player team reach 21 first. Serve style varies drastically from player to player. Generally, they are divided into two types: offensive and defensive. Most players use an offensive serve for

2247-741: Is 255 grams (9.0 oz), but most have a weight between 90 and 150 grams (3–5.3 oz.). The strings of the racket usually have a tension of 25–30 pounds. Squash balls are between 39.5 and 40.5 mm in diameter and weigh 23 to 25 grams. They are made with two pieces of rubber compound, glued together to form a hollow sphere and buffed to a matte finish. Different balls are provided for varying temperature and atmospheric conditions and standards of play: more experienced players use slow balls that have less bounce than those used by less experienced players (slower balls tend to "die" in court corners, rather than "standing up" to allow easier shots). Squash balls must be hit dozens of times to warm them up at

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2354-404: Is a playing surface surrounded by four walls. The court surface contains a front line separating the front and back of the court and a half court line, separating the left and right sides of the back portion of the court, creating three 'boxes': the front half, the back left quarter and the back right quarter. The back two boxes contain smaller service boxes. The court's four walls are divided into

2461-457: Is an offensive serve which attempts to catch the opponent off balance by making use of difficult angles and unfrequented play space. The most common jam serve is the Z-serve, which strikes the front wall close to a side wall. The ball bounces quickly off the side wall, then strikes the floor and then the opposite side wall about 30–35 feet back. Depending upon the spin the server gives the Z-serve,

2568-407: Is common to refer to squash players as Interference and obstruction are an inevitable aspect of squash, since two players are confined within a shared space. Generally, the rules entitle players to a direct straight-line access to the ball, room for a reasonable swing and an unobstructed shot to any part of the front wall. When interference occurs, a player may appeal for a "let" and the referee (or

2675-528: Is on the program for 2022. There men's and women's professional racquetball organizations. The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) is the men's professional organization, and the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) is the women's professional organization. Both began in the 1980s. This court and equipment are required for playing racquetball: The "service box" is formed by the short line (a solid red line running

2782-670: Is played in parts of North America . In 1988, the British Racketball Association merged with the Squash Rackets Association. England Squash & Racketball is now recognised by Sport England as the English national governing body for the sports of squash and racketball. There is now an established UK Racketball Tournament Series consisting of 8 events around the UK, which forms the basis of

2889-407: Is to hit the ball so that it lands as close as possible to the back wall, giving the opponent very little room to hit a solid return. A junk lob takes a shallower arch, and lands close to the side wall somewhere between the dotted line and the back wall. This lob is intended to deceive the opponent into thinking he has an easy kill. However, since the ball is in the deep zone, it will more likely set up

2996-417: Is unsuccessful they lose their review. Interference also occurs when a player's shot hits their opponent prior to hitting the front wall. If the ball was travelling towards the side wall when it hit the opponent, or if it had already hit the side wall and was travelling directly to the front wall, it is usually a let. However, it is a stroke to the player who hit the ball if the ball was travelling straight to

3103-522: Is very similar to 40×20 American handball , which is played in many countries. It is also very similar to the British sport Squash 57 , which was called racketball before 2016 (see below for a comparison). Joe Sobek is credited with inventing the sport of racquetball in the Greenwich, Connecticut , YMCA , though not with naming it. A professional tennis and American handball player, Sobek sought

3210-529: The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles , on 16 October 2023. The (British) Squash Rackets Association (now known as England Squash ) conducted its first British Open championship for men in December 1930, using a "challenge" system. Charles Read was designated champion in 1930, but he was beaten in home and away matches by Don Butcher , who was then recorded as the champion for 1931. The championship continues to this day, but it has been conducted with

3317-713: The Olympic Games . Squash narrowly missed being instated for the 2012 London Games and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games (missed out again as the IOC assembly decided to add golf and rugby sevens to the Olympic programme). Squash also was not selected as an event in the 2020 Olympic Games. At the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires , the IOC voted for Wrestling instead of Squash or Baseball / Softball . The usual reason cited for

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3424-599: The Professional Squash Association (PSA). The Professional Squash Tour is a tour based in the United States. Squash has been featured regularly at the multi-sport events of the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games since 1998. Squash is also a regular sport at the Pan American Games since 1995. Squash players and associations have lobbied for many years for the sport to be accepted into

3531-540: The RMS Titanic had a squash court in first class , available for 8 pence (£12.22 in 2022 terms). The 1st-Class Squash Court was situated on G-Deck. The Spectators Viewing Gallery was one level higher, on F-Deck. Passengers could use the court for one hour unless others were waiting. In 1923, the Royal Automobile Club hosted a meeting to further discuss the rules and regulations. Five years later,

3638-544: The World Games since 1997 . Squash was accepted as a demonstration sport for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics . The World Squash Federation had hoped that this inclusion would create a strong bid for a potential inclusion at the 2024 Summer Olympics . Although not included in the 2024 Summer Olympics, squash received approval from the International Olympic Committee for inclusion in

3745-736: The World Racquetball Championships , which were first held in 1981 in conjunction with the first World Games . The second World Championships were played in 1984, and since then have been held biennially in August. Players from the United States have won the most World Championship titles. The IRF also runs the World Junior Racquetball Championships that occur annually in either late October, or early to mid November, as well as

3852-459: The 1960s and 1970s; Jahangir Khan (Pakistan) 1980s; Jansher Khan (Pakistan) in the 1990s; and more recently, David Palmer and Nick Matthew . The World Open professional championship was inaugurated in 1976 and serves as the main competition today. Jansher Khan holds the record of winning eight World titles followed by Jahangir Khan with six, Geoff Hunt & Amr Shabana four, Nick Matthew & Ramy Ashour three. The women's record

3959-432: The 1980s; Michelle Martin and Sarah Fitz-Gerald (Australia) in the 1990s; and Nicol David (Malaysia) in the 2000s. The Men's British Open has similarly been dominated by relatively few players: F. D. Amr Bey (Egypt) in the 1930s; Mahmoud Karim (Egypt) in the 1940s; brothers Hashim Khan and Azam Khan (Pakistan) in the 1950s and 1960s; Jonah Barrington (Great Britain and Ireland) and Geoff Hunt (Australia) in

4066-638: The IRA assumed the national championship from the NPRA. In 1973, after a dispute with the IRA board of directors, Kendler formed a competing organization called the National Racquetball Club (NRC), which eventually became the dominant professional tour in the 1970s. For a period of time in the 1970s, the NRC and the IRA both offered competing "Amateur" and "Professional" tournaments, but by the late 1970s

4173-552: The NGBs, as most IRF qualifying events in USAR, Racquetball Canada, and other NGBs are now played under the IRF's rally scoring rules. Due to the nature of the game, players often occupy the space their opponent(s) want(s) to occupy. This may result in a player blocking his opponent's ability to play the ball. Such occurrences are termed either hinders or penalty hinders. A hinder is a replay of

4280-693: The NRC was focused on the professional game while the IRA became focused on the amateur side, and became recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the official National Governing Body (NGB) of the sport. The IRA was a founding member of the International Racquetball Federation (IRF). Eventually, the IRA became the American Amateur Racquetball Association (AARA); in late 1995, it renamed itself as

4387-472: The Squash Rackets Association, now known as England Squash , was formed to set standards for the game in Great Britain and internationally. The rackets were made from one piece English ash, with a suede leather grip and natural gut. The 1980s witnessed a period of restructuring and consolidation. The Cambridge rackets factory was forced to close in face of the move to graphite rackets, and production

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4494-780: The United States Racquetball Association (USRA). In 2003, the USRA again renamed itself to USA Racquetball (USAR), to mirror other Olympic sports associations, even though Racquetball is not an Olympic sport. Kendler used his publication ACE to promote both handball and racquetball. Starting in the 1970s, and aided by the fitness boom of that decade, the sport's popularity increased to an estimated 3.1 million players by 1974. Consequent to increased demand, racquetball clubs and courts were founded and built, and sporting goods manufacturers began producing racquetball-specific equipment. This growth continued until

4601-584: The United States Squash Racquets Association, now known as U.S. Squash , was formed. In April 1907, the Tennis, Rackets & Fives Association of Queens, New York, which regulated those three sports ( fives being a similar sport using hands instead of a racket), established a subcommittee to set standards for squash. In 1912, the association published rules for squash , combining aspects of these three sports. In 1912,

4708-575: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 204877026 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:53:58 GMT Squash (sport) Squash has its origins in the older game of rackets , which was played in London's prisons in the 19th century. Later, around 1830, boys at Harrow School noticed that

4815-480: The aim of wearing down one's opponent before winning by virtue of one's fitness. Such exhausting, defensive play can affect player's prospects in knock-out tournaments and does not make for riveting TV. In English or Hi-Ho, one player might win by 9–0 despite the opponent having repeatedly won service, but without converting that service into actual points. For the World Championships: HiHo to 9

4922-558: The annual World Senior Racquetball Championships for players who are 35 years of age or older. The sport has a high appeal in the Americas, and because of this racquetball has been included in the Pan American Games in 1995 , 1999 , 2003 , 2011 , 2015 and Lima 2019 . And will be part of the games again in Santiago 2023 . Racquetball has also been included in the World Games on five occasions: 1981, 1989, 1993, 2009 and 2013, and

5029-482: The back corners; this is the basic squash shot, referred to as a "rail", straight drive, wall, or "length". After hitting this shot, the player will then move to the centre of the court near the "T" to be well placed to retrieve the opponent's return. Attacking with soft or "short" shots to the front corners (referred to as "drop shots") causes the opponent to cover more of the court and may result in an outright winner. Boasts or angle shots are deliberately struck off one of

5136-411: The back part of the court. It often makes a distinctive splatting sound. The advantage to a splat shot, beyond an unpredictable angle, is that it creates a longer distance to travel forward for the opponent who is held between a tension of going forward and staying back because of velocity of passing shots. Pinches are classified as frontside or reverse. A right-handed player shooting a forehand shot to

5243-403: The back wall as the ball is moving towards the front wall. Pinches and splats are shots that strike the side wall before the front wall. This often makes the ball bounce twice quickly to end the rally. Pinches normally strike the side wall towards the front part of the court, often within a few inches from the front wall. The "splat" shot is an elongated pinch that strikes the side wall towards

5350-470: The beginning of a session; cold squash balls have very little bounce. Small colored dots on the ball indicate its dynamic level (bounciness). The "double-yellow dot" ball, introduced in 2000, is the competition standard, replacing the earlier "yellow-dot" ball. There is also an "orange dot" ball for use at high altitudes. The recognized colors are: Some ball manufacturers such as Dunlop use a different method of grading balls based on experience. They still have

5457-417: The bottom of front wall) to hit the ball above. Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders being out-of-bounds. Racquetball is played between various players on a team who try to bounce the ball with the racquet onto the ground so it hits the wall, so that an opposing team’s player cannot bounce it back to the wall. The sport

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5564-417: The ceiling after the front wall, and serving before the receiving player is ready. Also, the server must wait until the ball passes the short line before stepping out of the service box, otherwise it is a fault serve. If the server hits the ball directly to any surface other than the front wall the server immediately loses serve regardless of whether it was first or second serve. After the ball bounces behind

5671-454: The cerebral magic of the…game." His comments were unearthed when an email chain of referees discussing the problem of shorter and shorter squash matches was leaked in 2011. Squash provides an excellent cardiovascular workout. Players can expend approximately 600–1,000 food calories (3,000–4,000 kJ ) every hour playing squash, according to English or Hi-Ho scoring. The sport also provides a good upper- and lower-body workout by exercising both

5778-404: The court to retrieve the opponent's next shot with a minimum of movement and possibly maximizing the movement required by the opponent to answer the returned shot. Very skilled players will, often times, shift slightly away from the "T," based on the position of the other player, if they believe that their shot selection is limited. A common tactic is to hit the ball straight up the side walls to

5885-427: The court's width parallel to the front and back walls at a distance of 20 feet) and the service line (which runs parallel to the short line and is 15 feet from the front wall). Within the service box there are two sets of lines perpendicular to the short and service lines. One set of lines is 18 inches from, and parallel to, the side walls. Along with the short line, service line, and side wall these lines define

5992-401: The court, but accidental or deliberate obstruction of the other player's movements is forbidden and could result in the point being redone or given to the player being obstructed. Players typically return to the centre of the court after making a shot, as it is the optimal position in the court to receive the opponent's shot. The centre of the court is typically referred to as "the T", named after

6099-417: The current rally (the server resumes play at the first serve), while a penalty hinder results in the player who caused the avoidable obstruction to lose the rally. A type of hinder is a screen in which the player is unable to see the ball prior to it passing the opponent. The difference between a hinder and a penalty hinder (or formerly an avoidable hinder) is that in the latter case a player has missed out on

6206-535: The differences are unlikely to matter for recreational play. Beginners are recommended to use a blue ball by Penn, Ektelon, or Wilson. The blue ball is the most commonly used and it is the most neutral ball for average speed and accuracy of contact. Green balls are similar to blue balls. In the United States the main choices of ball are blue and green for tournament play. In some cases the International Pro Racquetball Tour (IRT) will use

6313-405: The discouraging of spurious appeals for lets. Because of the subjectivity in interpreting the nature and magnitude of interference, awarding (or withholding) of lets and strokes is often controversial and professional players will get "reviews" where a different referee will review the footage and make a decision. If the review is successful than the player will get their review back but if the review

6420-502: The doubles box, where the non-serving doubles partner stands during the serve; 36 inches from the side wall is another set of lines which, along with the short line and the service line, define an area that the server must not enter if he wishes to hit a drive serve between himself and the nearest side wall. The receiving line is a parallel dashed line 5 feet behind the short line. Other equipment needed: Racquetball differs from other racquet sports as most competitive players wear

6527-435: The early 1980s, and declining in the decade's latter part when racquet clubs converted to physical fitness clubs, in service to a wider clientele, adding aerobics exercise classes and physical fitness and bodybuilding machines. Since then, the number of players has remained steady, an estimated 5.6 million. The NRC and Kendler ruled over professional racquetball throughout its early stages of growth, but upon his death in 1982

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6634-503: The entire game) where each player takes turns serving to the other two, who play as a team against the serving player. Another three-player game is "California", "In-and-Out", or "King of the Court" where play is 1 vs. 1 with the third player remaining in the back court out of play while the other two play a rally; the rally winner then serves to the player who was sitting out, and the rally loser stays out of play. Another three-player variation

6741-585: The equivalent dot rating but are named to help choose a ball that is appropriate for one's skill level. The four different ball types are Intro (Blue dot, 140% of Pro bounce), Progress (Red dot, 120% of Pro bounce), Competition (single yellow dot, 110% of Pro bounce) and Pro (double yellow dot). Many squash venues mandate the use of shoes with non-marking tread and eye protection. Some associations require that all juniors and doubles players must wear eye protection. The National Institutes of Health recommends wearing goggles with polycarbonate lenses. The squash court

6848-403: The essence of the game." Ayton was particularly concerned that the "great comebacks" that characterised English or Hi-Ho when "the player who is down in a game can still attack when in hand serving" would disappear as PARS fostered an "ultra-defensive attitude, because every rally counts the same." Jahangir Khan has countered that PARS actually made the game far more attacking, but diminished

6955-410: The failure of the sport to be adopted for Olympic competition is that it is difficult for spectators to follow the action, especially via television. Previous world number one Peter Nicol stated that he believed squash had a "very realistic chance" of being added to the list of Olympic sports for the 2016 Olympic Games , but it ultimately lost out to golf and rugby sevens . Squash has been part of

7062-413: The first serve, and a defensive serve if they need to hit a second serve. Of the offensive serves, the most common is the drive. The intention with this serve is for the ball to travel low and fast towards either back corner, and to bounce twice before striking either side wall or the back wall. If the opponent is adjusting to the drive serve, the server will throw in any variety of jam serves. A jam serve

7169-430: The fitter player, not necessarily the better player. Known as English or hand-in-hand-out scoring, under this system, if the server wins a rally, they receive a point, while if the returner wins rally, only the service changes (i.e., the ball goes "hand-out") and no point is given. The first player to reach nine points wins the game. However, if the score reaches 8–8, the player who was first to reach eight decides whether

7276-404: The front wall hit very softly so as to bounce twice before the opponent can get to it. Dinks are most effective when the opponent is positioned deep in the court. Another important shot type is the "Z" shot. This shot is effective at confusing and tiring out an opponent. To hit a "Z" shot one hits the side wall hard and up high causing the ball to hit the front then the other side wall then back to

7383-410: The front wall or may let it bounce. If the server wins the point, the two players switch sides for the following point. If the server loses the point, the opponent then serves, and can serve from either box. After the serve, the players take turns hitting the ball against the front wall, above the tin and below the out line. The ball may strike the side or back walls at any time, as long as it hits below

7490-433: The front wall when the ball hit the opponent, without having first hit the side wall. Generally, after a player has been hit by the ball, both players stand still; if the struck player is standing directly in front of the player who hit the ball, he loses the stroke; if he is not straight in front, a let is played. If it is deemed that the player who is striking the ball is deliberately trying to hit his opponent, they will lose

7597-410: The front wall. The player returning the hit may allow the ball to bounce once on the floor or hit the ball on the fly. However, once the player returning the shot has hit the ball, it must strike the front wall before striking the floor. Unlike during the serve, a ball in play may touch as many walls, including the ceiling, as necessary so long as it reaches the front wall without striking the floor. If

7704-405: The game and our chances of Olympic entry may be enhanced." One of the problems with English or Hi-Ho scoring is that games often last longer as players continually win service before losing service to the other player without the score being affected. Consequently, the winner is more often than not the fitter athlete. Moreover, English or Hi-Ho scoring can encourage players to play defensively with

7811-495: The game will be played to nine, as before (called "set one"), or to 10 (called "set two"). This scoring system was formerly preferred in Britain, and also among countries with traditional British ties, such as Australia, Canada, Pakistan, South Africa, India and Sri Lanka. The RAM scoring system is a proposed new scoring system created by former World Champion, Ramy Ashour and co-founded by Osama Khalifa . This consists of playing

7918-410: The initially leading player. For example, Player one is leading 5–3 and the clock stops. Player two wins the next two points and the score is 5–5. Whoever wins the next point wins the game. This is called sudden death. If the score is 0–0 when the clock stops the clock is reset and the game restarts. For Let Calls the clock reverts to the start time of that point. Further rules include that there must be

8025-429: The last game, with rally scoring. However, the IRF immediately modified its rally scoring limits and announced that the 2022 World games and World Juniors would be 3 out of 5 games to 11, win by two. The IRF cited several factors for this change: length of matches, confusing scoring system to casual fans, and the need for faster matches to accommodate more matches. IRF's pivot to rally scoring had an immediate reaction in

8132-410: The left or right service box. For a legal serve, one of the server's feet must be in the service box, not touching any part of the service box lines, as the player strikes the ball. After being struck by the racket, the ball must strike the front wall above the service line and below the out line and land in the opposite back quarter court. The receiving player can choose to volley a serve after it has hit

8239-444: The legs in running around the court and the arms (especially the racket arm) and torso in swinging the racket. In 2003, Forbes rated squash as the number-one healthiest sport to play. However, one study has implicated squash as a cause of possible fatal cardiac arrhythmia and argued that squash is an inappropriate form of exercise for older men with heart disease . As of November 2019, there were players from eighteen countries in

8346-519: The national rankings along with the National Racketball championships held annually at The Edgbaston Priory Club. In 2016, World Squash Federation announced an international 're-branding' of racketball as Squash 57 , the 57 referring to the diameter of the ball, in order to emphasize both its membership of the 'squash rackets' family, and its distinctiveness from the U.S. racquetball. The International Racquetball Federation (IRF) governs

8453-679: The organization declared bankruptcy and the professional men's tours fell into disarray. Several professional governing bodies ruled the Men's pro tour throughout the 1980s, and the Women broke away and self-organized their own professional tour in the same time period. Eventually, after the tour collapsed in the fall of 1988, a new men's tour called the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) was created by Oregon State President and popular tournament promotor Hank Marcus, which remains

8560-481: The original side wall. If done correctly, the path of the ball will be Z-shaped. This shot can have confusing bounces which can frustrate opponents. If done correctly, a "Z" shot will apply spin to the ball on the final bounce as well, causing it to rebound perpendicular to the second wall and fall parallel to the back wall, the closer the better. This makes the "Z" shot very difficult to return. List of racket sports Too Many Requests If you report this error to

8667-399: The out line. It must not hit the floor after hitting the racket and before hitting the front wall. A ball landing on either the out line or the line along the top of the tin is considered to be out. After the ball hits the front wall, it is allowed to bounce once on the floor (and any number of times against the side or back walls) before a player must return it. Players may move anywhere around

8774-417: The players themselves if there is no official) then interprets the extent of the interference. The referee may allow a let and the players then replay the point or award a "stroke" to the appealing player (meaning that he is declared the winner of that point) depending on the degree of interference, whether the interfering player made an adequate effort to avoid interfering, and whether the player interfered with

8881-497: The primary men's professional sanctioning body to this day. The women's pro tour has gone by several names in the interim, but is currently known as the Ladies Professional Racquetball tour (LPRT) and has marketing partnerships with the USAR, IRT, and other sanctioning bodies to this day . In 1976, Ian D.W. Wright created the sport of racketball based on U.S. racquetball. British racketball is played in

8988-402: The psychological aspect of the game: "With the nine points scoring system, matches were more mental and physical and could go longer, but now with the 11-point system, every rally counts, and even if you go behind you can still recover. That makes it a lot more attacking." Maj Madan, one of the game's top referees, similarly stated that PARS had "destroyed the fitness element and, more importantly,

9095-621: The reasons for switching to PARS was that long, taxing matches became less frequent and promoters could more easily predict match and session length. Gawain Briars , who served as the Executive Director of the Professional Squash Association when the body decided to switch to PARS in 2004 hoped that PARS would make the "professional game more exciting to watch, [and] then more people will become involved in

9202-415: The referee. The referee may also take away points or games due to improper etiquette regarding conduct or rules. Improper etiquette may include swearing, purposeful physical contact, and throwing equipment. The referee is also usually responsible for the scoring of games. Three referees are usually used in professional tournaments. The Central referee has responsibility to call the score and make decisions with

9309-413: The resulting carom may prove unpredictable and difficult to return. Side spin may cause the ball to bounce parallel to the back wall. A pinch serve is similar to a drive serve; however, the ball strikes a side wall very low and close to the serving box. With the appropriate spin, the ball has little bounce, and is difficult to return. It is possible that a successful serve would strike the sidewall before

9416-415: The right front corner is shooting a frontside pinch. A right-handed player shooting to the left front corner is a reverse pinch. A right-handed player shoots a backhand frontside pinch to the left corner and a reverse double pinch to the right corner. Everything for a left-handed player would be the opposite. The dink is another very effective offensive shot designed to end the point. It is a shot very low to

9523-578: The school built four outside courts. In the 20th century, the game increased in popularity with various schools, clubs and private individuals building squash courts, but with no set dimensions. The first squash court in North America was at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire , in 1884. In 1904 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the earliest national association of squash in the world,

9630-477: The score reaches 10–10, play continues until one player wins by two points. Competition matches are usually played to "best-of-five" games (i.e., the first player to win three games). Squash can also be played with different scoring systems, such as PARS to 15, traditional English or Hand-in-Hand-Out (HiHo) scoring to 9, or RAM scoring (see below). Players often experience PARS and Hi-Ho as requiring different tactics and player attributes. Point-a-rally scoring to 15

9737-522: The server for an offensive shot. Straight-in shots are usually meant to hit the front wall as low as possible. If the ball contacts the front wall so low as to bounce twice before it reaches the service line it is called a "kill" shot. Straight-in shots are normally attempted with the idea of hitting toward the area of the court the opponent cannot cover. Straight-in shots hit where the opponent cannot return them are called down-the-line and cross court passing shots. Often kill shots are returned very close to

9844-487: The server wins the rally, then the server scores one point and continues to serve. If the opposing player wins the rally, then no point is scored, but that player then takes over serving. Several different scoring methods have been or are used in the sport. – Under USA Racquetball Amateur scoring rules, matches are best of three games with the first two games to 15 points and a third game to 11 points, if necessary. USA Racquetball rules do not require players to win by two, so

9951-422: The shape of the floor lines. A key strategy in squash is known as "dominating the T" (the intersection of the red lines near the centre of the court, shaped like the letter "T", where the player is in the best position to retrieve the opponent's next shot). Skilled players will return a shot, and then move back toward the "T" before playing the next shot. From this position, the player can quickly access any part of

10058-443: The short line, and land on the floor after the short line. If the player faults on the first serve, they will usually hit a defensive serve. Defensive serves do not usually garner aces, but they are designed to generate a weak return by the opponent, thereby setting up the server to win the point. Most defensive serves are any variety of lob serves. A plain lob serve is a ball hit with a long, high arch into either back corner. The goal

10165-405: The short line, or passes the receiving line, the ball is in play and the opposing player(s) may play it. Usually, the server is allowed two opportunities (called first serve and second serve) to put the ball into play (two serve rule), although elite level competitions often allow the server only one opportunity (one serve rule). After a successful serve, players alternate hitting the ball against

10272-441: The side walls before the ball reaches the front. They are used for deception and again to cause the opponent to cover more of the court. Rear wall shots float to the front either straight or diagonally drawing the opponent to the front. One goal of a player is to try to move the opponent into each of the four corners so that they have to cover a lot of distance and will get tired. Advantageous tactical shots are available in response to

10379-401: The stroke. An exception occurs when the player hitting the ball has "turned", i.e., letting the ball pass them on one side, but then hitting it on the other side as it came off the back wall. In these cases, the stroke goes to the player who was hit by the ball. The referee is usually a certified position issued by the club or assigned squash league. Any conflict or interference is dealt with by

10486-431: The time, and converted to the standard two games to 15, tiebreaker to 11 format. – International competitions run by the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) also followed the two-games to 15, tiebreaker to 11 format from 1981 (inception) until 2022, when they announced that international competitions were going to move to Rally Scoring. IRF competitions will now be played best 3 of 5 games to 15, win by one except in

10593-460: The top fifty of the men's world rankings, with Egypt dominating with fifteen players, six of whom were in the top ten, including ranks one through four. Similarly, the women's world rankings featured players from sixteen countries, again led by Egypt taking thirteen spots of the top fifty, whilst holding spots one through four in the world. The men's and women's Professional Squash Association tour , men's rankings and women's rankings are run by

10700-431: The two side referees. Games are played according to point-a-rally scoring (PARS) to 11 points. PARS is almost universally preferred by the game's top professionals and is the current official scoring system for all levels of professional squash tournaments. In PARS, the winner of a rally receives a point, regardless of whether they were the server or returner. Games are played to 11 and must be won by two points. That is, if

10807-404: The world, although the international version of the sport has become the dominant form. In the United States, a variant of squash known as hardball was traditionally played with a harder ball and differently sized courts. Hardball squash has lost much of its popularity in North America (in favor of the international version). There is doubles squash a variant played by four players. There is also

10914-494: Was aided by the existence of some 40,000 handball courts in the country's YMCAs and Jewish Community Centers , wherein racquetball could be played. In 1969, aided by Robert W. Kendler, the president-founder of the U.S. Handball Association (USHA), the International Racquetball Association (IRA) was founded using the name coined by Bob McInerney, a professional tennis player. That same year,

11021-628: Was formed on 13 February 1984, and confirmed by the English Sports Council as the sport's governing body on 30 October 1984. The first National Racketball Championship was held in London on 1 December 1984. The sport is now played in countries where squash is played, Australia , Bermuda , France , Germany , Malaysia , the Netherlands , New Zealand , South Africa , Argentina , Ireland and Sweden . Currently, racketball also

11128-406: Was likely to have hit a winning shot had the interference not occurred. An exception occurs when the interfering player is directly in the path of the other player's swing, effectively preventing the swing, in which case a stroke is always awarded. When it is deemed that there has been little or no interference, the rules provide that no let is to be allowed in the interests of continuity of play and

11235-557: Was moved to the Far East. Customization of squash rackets has grown over the years as well. There are custom variations on racket head shape, racket balance, and racket weight. The most common racket variation for international singles squash is a teardrop (closed throat) head shape, even balance, and racket weight of 130g. For hardball doubles, the most common variation is an open throat head shape, even balance, and racket weight of 140g. There are several variations of squash played across

11342-489: Was used for the World Championships between 1989 and 2003. PARS to 15, with the tiebreak being two clear points (as per standard PARS) from 14–14, was used in many amateur leagues because PARS to 11 was considered too short. This system fell out of favor in 2004 when the Professional Squash Association (PSA) decided to switch to PARS to 11. Games were considered to last too long and the winner would usually be

11449-786: Was used until 1988; PARS to 15 from 1989 to 2003; and PARS to 11 from 2004. For the British Open: HiHo to 9 was used until 1994; PARS to 15 from 1995 to 2003; and PARS to 11 from 2004. The WSF's decision to switch to PARS 11 proved controversial in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth where games were usually played according to English or Hi-Ho. When the Veterans Squash Rackets Club of Great Britain surveyed their members in 2012, they found that 80% of their members were against switching from HiHo to PARS. President Philip Ayton argued that PARS would "kill

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