Racketball & Basingstoke Squash Club

The Squash Club has launched a Racketball league at the request of some of the veteran members of the club, who are still reasonably fit and enjoy playing racket sports, but no longer possess quite the same levels of subtleness and speed of reflex that they once did.

The league is open to all current club members, there are no additional membership fees due and the Racketball League schedule lags the Squash League schedule by two weeks.  This is to avoid exacerbating “game bunching” in the last week of the league, for those members who wish to play in both leagues.

Although Racketball is the UK’s fastest growing sport, it is relatively new, so some squash players may well be somewhat unfamiliar with its attributes, how it differs (or is similar) to squash, or why it is a very fast growing activity.  Hence, there follows a brief overview and history of the sport, for those who would like to know more.

What is Racketball?

Racketball is currently the UK’s fastest growing sport, played on a squash court with very similar rules.  The main difference between the sports comes from the ball being bigger and much more bouncy, which makes it a lot harder to win a rally than in squash;  thus making racketball easy to learn, but difficult to master.

The game is played between two players on a squash court using a standard racket each and a ball approved by England Squash & Racketball. The ball is hollow rubber, slightly smaller than a tennis ball, is very bouncy and does not need warming up before play. The rackets are wide and have short handles. This makes racketball a simple game to play, as the eye, hand and ball coordination is much easier than in squash, badminton or tennis where the distance to the ball is much harder to judge.  In many ways racketball is very similar to squash, as the basic technique, movement and even tactics are virtually the same. However as the ball bounces a lot higher than in squash, it is far harder to “kill the ball”, so the rallies end up lasting longer.

Racquetball was founded in the US in 1952 and its popularity grew rapidly, a major contributing factor being that the sport was played on American Hardball courts which were already in existence. The sports first governing body was formed in 1969 and now goes by the name of USRA, with an estimated 5.6 million players in the USA.

Racketball first began to be played in the UK in 1976 and is a modification of the US version of the game.  Played on a squash court rather than a hardball court, the ceiling is now out of bounds and the rules closely follow that of squash. The sport in the UK has grown rapidly, with England Squash incorporating racketball in 1984.  This version of racketball is now being played in many countries where squash is popular such as Australia, Bermuda, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Africa, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, North America and many others.

 Why might I want to play Racketball?

Racketball is now the fastest growing sport in the UK and, because the game is played on a squash court, its core infrastructure is already in place with over 5,000 courts around the UK. The England Squash and Racketball quoted participation figure is 500,000 people who play either squash or racketball regularly in the UK.  The sport of racketball is rapidly expanding throughout the world and will continue to do so in the future. There are a number of reasons for this:-

·        The game is easy for beginners. The rackets are very short, making it a simple game to play as the eye, hand, and ball coordination is as easy as hitting the ball with one's hand, rather than trying to judge the distance between the hand and head of a squash, badminton or tennis racket.

·        There are established facilities already in place in the form of squash courts and clubs throughout the UK.

·        Equipment is widely available and thus relatively inexpensive.

·        The ball is very bouncy and does not need warming before normal play

·        The lower intensity and slower pace of movement required by the player allows older or less agile players to hold longer rallies without the risk of further injury. This often means many ex-squash players convert to racketball due to injury or reduced mobility or just for longer rallies.

·        Racketball is one of the fastest ways to burn calories in a short space of time, allowing people to keep fit whilst enjoying themselves.

·        The game is easy to learn but difficult to master, allowing it to be enjoyed by all standards of player

·        This makes the sport accessible and enjoyable, contributing to its current and future growth and success.