Rackets (sport)

For the individual piece of sports equipment, see Racquet. For the illegal business, see Racket (crime).

Not to be confused with Racquetball.

R. P. Keigwin (right) with AEJ Collins the College's rackets team at Clifton College circa 1902

Rackets (British English) or Racquets (American English) is an indoor racket sport played in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. The sport is infrequently called "hard rackets," possibly to distinguish it from the related sport of squash (formerly called "squash rackets").

Manner of play

The Rackets Hall built by the 13th Earl of Eglinton.

Interior of the Eglinton Castle Rackets Hall in 1842.

Rackets is played in a 30 by 60 foot (9.14 × 18.28 m) enclosed court, with a ceiling at least 30 feet (9.14 m) high. Singles and doubles are played on the same court. The walls and floor of the court are made of smooth stone or concrete and are generally dark in colour to contrast with the white ball. A player uses 30.5 inch (775 mm) wooden racket, known as a bat, to hit a 38mm (1.5 inch) hard white ball weighing 28 grams. Currently there are only two companies in the world producing rackets bats: Grays of Cambridge (UK) and Harrow Sports (US), in Denver, Colorado. A good stroke must touch the front wall above a 26.5-inch-high wooden (often cloth-covered) board before touching the floor. The ball may touch the side walls before reaching the front wall. The player returning a good stroke may play the ball on the volley, or after one bounce on the floor. The play is extremely fast, and potentially quite dangerous. Lets (replayed points) are common, as the striker must not play the ball if doing so risks hitting another player with it. Matches preferably are observed by a "marker," who has the duty to call "Play" after each good stroke to denote that the ball is "up." Games are to 15 points, unless the game is tied at 13-all or 14-all, in which case the game can be "set" to 16 or 18 (in the case of 13-all) or 17 (in the case of 14-all) at the option of the player first reaching 13 or 14. Only the server can score — the receiver who wins a rally becomes the server. Return of service can be extremely difficult, and, in North America, only one serve is allowed. Matches are typically best of 5 games.

A Toff playing with the rabble in prison

Because the game of squash rackets (now known as 'squash') began in the 19th century as an off-shoot of rackets, the sports were similar in manner of play and rules. However, the rules and scoring in squash have evolved in the last hundred years or so. Rackets has changed little; the main difference today is that players are now allowed brief rest periods between games. In the past, leaving the court could mean forfeiting the match, so players kept spare rackets, shirts, and shoes in the gutter below the telltale on the front wall.

The governing bodies are the Tennis and Rackets Association (UK) and the North American Racquets Association.

History

A Racket Court layout

Rackets began as an 18th century pastime in London's King's Bench and Fleet debtors prisons. The prisoners modified the game of fives by using tennis rackets to speed up the action. They played against the prison wall, sometimes at a corner to add a sidewall to the game. Rackets then became popular outside the prison, played in alleys behind pubs. It spread to schools, first using school walls, and later with proper four-wall courts being specially constructed for the game. Some historians assert that the game was codified through its popularity at the Harrow School in London, where it was played as early as the second half of the 18th century.

Eglinton Castle has a 'Racket Hall' which is first shown on the 1860 OS map, but estate records show that it was built shortly after 1839, the first recorded match being in 1846. The floor is of large granite slabs, now hidden by the wooden floor. It is the very first covered racket court and is now the oldest surviving court in the world, as well as being the oldest indoor sports building in Scotland. It has been restored as a racket hall, but used as an exhibition area.

Rackets being played at a prison – where the game developed

Some private clubs also built courts. Along with real tennis and badminton, rackets was used as an inspiration for the game of lawn tennis, invented in 1873 by Walter Clopton Wingfield. A vacant rackets court built into the University of Chicago's Stagg Field served as the location of the first artificial nuclear chain reaction on December 2, 1942. The Stagg Field court is often mistakenly identified as having been a "squash rackets" court. Rackets was part of the 1908 Summer Olympics program.

The Book of Racquets was published by J. R. Atkins in 1872 and is a good guide to the game. It was reprinted to commemorate the 1981 World Rackets Challenge Match between W. J. C. Surtees and J. A. N. Prenn as a limited edition of 250 copies.

Court locations

United Kingdom

There are about twenty courts in some of the major public schools and private clubs in the United Kingdom.

Schools

These schools are considered to be Britain's major public schools.

• Charterhouse School – 2 courts
• Cheltenham College
• Clifton College – recently refurbished for the world championships
• Eton College – 2 courts
• Haileybury
• Harrow School – 2 courts
• Malvern College – 2 courts
• Marlborough College – 2 courts
• Radley College
• Rugby School – 2 courts
• St Paul's School (London) [1]
• Tonbridge School – 2 courts
• Wellington College
• Winchester College – 2 courts

Clubs

• BRNCC Dartmouth
• Hayling Island
• Manchester Tennis & Racket Club
• Queens Club, London
• RMA Sandhurst

There are also private clubs that the public may join, and a nomadic club, The Jesters.

North America

There are eight active courts in North America, all at private clubs:

• Chicago

Chicago has 2 courts. Opened in 1924, with a Court Tennis and two double squash courts

(A rackets court underneath the now-demolished west stands of the original Stagg Field at the University of Chicago was the site of the world's first nuclear reactor CP-1)

• Detroit

Opened in 1902, designed by the noted architect Albert Kahn. Constructed by Joseph Bickley. Originally open to the air with natural lighting until it was glazed over with lights added in 1912

• New York

Opened in 1918 on Park Avenue, the building designed by Mckim, Mead and White. The building originally housed two courts: one was converted to a double squash court in 1956

• Tuxedo Park

Opened in 1902

• Philadelphia

Opened in 1907 with two courts, one of which now has been converted to a double squash court, at The Racquet Club of Philadelphia.[2]

• Boston

Opened in 1902, with two courts, one of which has now been converted to a double squash court

• Montreal

Opened in 1889, the court was constructed four feet longer and two feet wider to facilitate doubles play. It was resized to regulation 60 by 30 feet in 1909

There may be unused courts elsewhere in the former British Empire that are still in good condition. Rackets is overwhelmingly a male sport.

Disused, lost or converted courts

Country	Name	City	Information
USA	The University Club	Detroit, Michigan	University of Michigan. The last court built in North America, constructed by Joseph Bickley. This court is unused, in a now-vacant building.
	The Tavern Club	Cleveland	36th and Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Now houses a doubles squash court.
	The Pittsburgh Athletic Association	Pittsburgh	5th Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The court now houses three squash courts installed laterally, making use of the original walls of the hard rackets court. The marker's gallery is still present.
	St Louis Racquets Club	St Louis	Now houses a doubles squash court.
	Lakewood	New Jersey	Unused.
UK	Devonshire Park	Eastbourne, Sussex	Built in 1875, this court is now used as a prop store for the Devonshire Park Theatre. A section of the front wall has been bricked up and used as a ladies' toilet for the pub next door. This court could be converted back for play.
	Belmont House	Wraxall	This is in Bristol. Built in the 1860s by Williams Gibbs, whom made his fortune out of guano – bird droppings imported from the Pacific, a popular Victorian garden fertilizer. It passed through the family and was last owned by the second Lord Wraxall. This court has now been lost. Sections of it have been taken to be part of the main house and the remaining is to be converted into a theatre.
	Copped Hall	Epping	This is in Essex. The main house is under restoration. The rackets court has now been converted into a tea rooms; the gallery still remains.
	Park Place Estate	Henley-on-Thames	Built in 1900, it is at the moment in disrepair. Plans were afoot to restore it to its former glory, but its future is now unsure.
	Eglinton Castle	Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland	Built in 1842 and refurbished circa 1985 as an exhibition hall.
	Fyvie Castle	Scotland	Fyvie Castle was built in 1903. Restored and used as a playhouse / exhibition space.
	Stoneyhurst College,	Clitheroe, Lancashire	Converted to squash courts in 1933.
	Newcastle University	Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland	Part of the University Building, was being used for play as late as the 1980s. Its future is now unsure. Now used for ping pong.
	Kinloch Castle	Rum, Scotland
	Rossall School	Lancashire	Converted to squash courts.
	Royal Naval College	Greenwich	These two courts were built in 1874 & converted to squash courts in 1882, and now converted into an exhibition space..
	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Millbay	Converted to squash courts in 1930s.
	Samsome Walk	Worcester	Converted to apartments.
Ireland	Leinster Lane	Dublin	Now used as a book archive for the National Library of Ireland.
	Trinity College	Dublin	Now used as a bookstore and possibly to be absorbed in new building development.
	Dawson Street	Dublin	Now used as a car park, including vehicle lift.
	Carlton House	Maynooth	Believed absorbed in current commercial development.
	Curragh Camp	County Kildare	Converted to squash courts.
Gibraltar			Now converted into a Squash Club.
Australia	Melbourne Club	Melbourne	Converted into squash courts 1913.
Pakistan	Kuldana Cantonment, Murree Hills	Pakistan	Built in 1897, still standing, now a gymnasium.
India	Calcutta Racket Club	Calcutta	Converted to squash courts in the 1930s.

Tournaments

The entrance and viewing balcony at the Eglinton Racket Court.

The old court at Eglinton Castle.

The world championship for singles (and doubles) is decided in a challenge format. If the governing bodies accept the challenger's qualifications, he plays the reigning champion in a best of 14 games format (best of 7 games on each side of the Atlantic). If each player wins seven games, the total point score is used as a tie breaker. The current singles champion is James Stout. The current doubles champions are amateurs Alex Titchener-Barrett and Tim Cockroft, who beat amateurs, and World Title holders, Mark Hue Williams and Harry Foster in a two-legged challenge in March / April 2011. The first leg was played in the Montreal Racquet Club, and was won by the challengers 4 games to 3 The second occurred in London's Queen's Club, and was also won by the challengers 4 games to 2

The tournament system for Rackets is being revolutionised by a new World Ranking System, developed by Richard Spender and ex-New York professional, James Beaumont. The scheme is on a year experiment with the Tennis & Rackets Association and can be found at T&RA Rackets World Rankings The development of the rankings model and the online system has been sponsored by Robinson McColl Architects+Designers, founded by former doubles World Champion, Alister Robinson.

There are various tournaments that are hosted in North America and the UK.

These are:

In North America

• The Canadian Amateur Championships
• The US Amateur Championships
• The US Open
• The Western Open
• The Tuxedo Gold Rackets

In the UK

• The British Amateur
• The British Open
• The Invitational Singles
• The Manchester Gold Rackets

World Championship

Organized on a challenge basis, the first champion in 1820 was Robert Mackay (Great Britain).

Recent winners

• 2008– James Stout (Bermuda)
• 2005–8 Harry Foster (Great Britain)
• 2001–5 James Male (Great Britain)
• 1999–2001 Neil Smith (USA)
• 1988–99 James Male (Great Britain)
• 1986–8 John Prenn (Great Britain)
• 1984–6 William Boone (Great Britain)
• 1981–4 John Prenn (Great Britain)
• 1975–81 William Surtees (USA)
• 1973–4 Howard Angus (Great Britain)
• 1972–3 William Surtees (USA)
• 1954–72 Geoffrey Atkins (Great Britain)
• 1947–54 James Dear (Great Britain)
• 1937–47 Donald Milford (Great Britain)
• 1929–35 Charles Williams (Great Britain)
• 1913–29 Jock Soutar (USA)
• 1911–13 Charles Williams (Great Britain)
• 1903–11 J. Jamsetji (India)
• 1887–1902 Peter Latham (Great Britain)
• 1862 William Hart-Dyke (Great Britain)
• 1860–1862 Francis Erwood (First closed court champion)(Great Britain)
• 1860 John Charles Mitchell (Open court champion) (Great Britain)

References

• Squires, Dick. The Other Racket Sports New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978. ISBN 0-07-060532-7
• Lord Aberdare. The JT Faber Book of Tennis and Rackets, London: Quiller Press, 2001. ISBN 1 899163 62 X

External links

• Tennis and Rackets Association
• North American Racquets Association
• Detroit Racquet Club
• Tennis and Racquet Club, Boston
• Racquet Club of Philadelphia
• The Tuxedo Club
• Montreal Racket Club

Video

World Doubles Championship - Second Leg 26 March 2011 - www.realtennis.tv

Rackets on YouTube