squash racquets or squash, game played on a four-walled court, 16 ft (4.88 m) high by 181/2 ft (5.64 m) wide by 32 ft (9.75 m) long. The back wall, shorter than the front wall, usually measures 9 ft (2.74 m). A horizontal service line 61/2 ft (1.98 m) high is painted on the front wall, while a floor service line is marked off 10 ft (3.05 m) from, and parallel to, the back wall. The court is divided into two service zones by a line running midway between, and parallel to, the side walls. The inflated, black, hard rubber ball (1 3/4 in./3.18 cm in diameter) has a relatively "dead" bounce, and squash players must be fit and agile. Using a round-headed, strung racket that is no more than 27 in. (68.58 cm) long, the server hits the ball to the front wall above the service line (with caroms off the side walls permitted) without bouncing it on the floor, and directing it to the opposite service floor. Returning the ball before it hits the floor is permitted (even on service), and a point is scored when either player fails to return the ball before it bounces twice. All balls must strike the front wall above a tin "telltale" covering the bottom 17 in (43 cm) of the wall. Two serves are allowed a player per point. The small court usually makes doubles play inadvisable. In match play, 15 points win a game. Squash racquets, its name coming from the "squashy" ball first used, probably originated at England's Harrow School in the late 19th cent. from the older game of racquets. In the 20th cent. it became moderately popular in American colleges and universities. The U.S. Squash Racquets Association and the U.S. Women's Squash Racquets Association conduct annual national championships.

racquets, game played by two or four persons on a court 60 by 30 ft (18.3 m by 9.1 m); it is surrounded by three walls 30 ft (9.1 m) high and a backwall 15 ft (4.6 m) high. The ball, 1 in. (2.54 cm) in diameter, is made of polyethylene with an adhesive tape cover. The gut-strung racket is 30 in. (76.2 cm) long, has a circular head about 8 in. (20 cm) in diameter, and weighs 8 to 10 oz (about .25 kg). A service line is painted horizontally across the front wall a little over 9.5 ft (2.9 m) from the ground, and a short-line is painted 36 ft (11 m) from, and parallel to, the front wall. A line also extends from the center point of the short-line into two service courts. The rules of the game are similar to those of squash racquets. The hardness and speed of the ball makes racquets one of the fastest and most dangerous games. It originated in 18th-century England, probably in debtors' prisons, but was soon adopted by the wealthier classes. Expensive racquets courts were built in England, and racquets was introduced into the United States in the 19th cent. by way of Canada. The United States Racquets Association annually conducts national championship matches. The sport's popularity is limited to the NE United States and certain areas of Great Britain.

Singles or doubles game played in a four-walled court with a long-handled racket and a rubber ball. A descendant of rackets, it probably originated in the mid-19th century at England's Harrow School. The standard international game uses a relatively soft, slow ball; hardball squash, popular in the U.S., is played on a narrower court with a harder, faster ball. The object of squash is to bounce, or rebound, the ball off the front wall in such a way as to defeat an opponent's attempt to reach and return it.

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Game for two or four players with ball and racket on a four-walled court. Rackets is played with a hard ball in a relatively large court (approximately 9 × 18 m), unlike the related games of squash and racquetball. As in these other games, the object of rackets is to bounce, or rebound, the ball off the front and other walls in such a way as to defeat an opponent's attempt to reach and return it. It appears to have developed in England in the early 19th century.

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