Racquetball

Played my first game of Racquetball with Adam today. This was my first gym outing since joining last week (beefcake) and my first time in a court since Edinburgh. The racquetball court is longer (8 feet) but slightly narrower (16 inches) than a squash court. The racquet is shorter but has a larger head and the ball is much bigger and bouncier. Serving is more strict: you must bounce the ball first, hit the front wall first and then bounce in the service area before hitting the back wall. After that you have more freedom (too much?) and can hit the ball almost anywhere… ceiling included. There is no ‘tin’ line at the front so you can hit directly at the ‘crotch’ - nasty. Unlike in squash this isn’t actually that useful as the ball bounces like crazy.

It will take a while to get used to the ball bouncing so high and fast but it seems like an entertaining alternative to squash. I’m not quite sure why it needed to be invented (Americans just being different?) or which sport is superior (squash is an olympic sport?) but since there are far more racquetball courts at UCLA it is probably the way to go.

Here are the rules, some eHow Tips and the history of the game - seems it was invented by one bloke in the 1950s because he couldn’t find anyone good enough to play him at squash (weird).