The Game of Rackets - Roots of Squash
- Berlin Tennis Gallery
- Dec 14, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 4
The ancient game of Rackets originated in late eighteenth-century London as a game played in debtor prisons such as the Kidderminster Prison and the Fleet Prison. Prisoners used a hard ball struck against brick or stone walls and improvised wooden bats. The environment required elongated strokes and rapid reactions in confined spaces.
As the sport gained popularity beyond prisons, taverns, schools and clubs constructed purpose-built courts with high surrounding walls, some exceeding thirty feet in height. By around 1800 the wooden bat had evolved into a strung racquet. The racquet’s frame was made entirely of hardwood such as ash or hickory. The head was small and oval and tightly strung with natural gut, designed to withstand the impact of the fast-moving ball. The handle was long to permit leverage for powerful strokes. Surviving examples from the period display a dense diagonal stringing pattern.
Around 1830 students at Harrow School in England discovered that a punctured rubber ball, which “squashed” on impact with the wall, produced a game that differed from rackets. This variation became known as squash. The first purpose-built squash court is recorded as built in 1883 at the Oxford University by Vernon Harcourt. The history traces back to racket courts and the evolution of racquet design.
By the mid-nineteenth century rackets had formal rules, tournaments and recognized equipment. The racquet model seen here remained largely unchanged for over a century and directly influenced early squash racquets. The transition from court architecture, ball evolution and racquet form illustrates the progression from indoor prison play to institutionalized sport.
______________________
About the Author:
Andreas Fixemer
Berlin Tennis Gallery
Social Media: BTG on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Pinterest
Comments