History
Rackets, also known as "hard rackets," is probably the only sport created in prison; specifically, in London's debtor's prisons, some time during the 18th century.
The sport is first mentioned, in connection with Fleet Street Prison, in a 1749 poem, and a 1760 print shows "Rackets in the Fleet." Rackets was also being played in King's Bench Prison by the early 19th century.
The debtor's prison was a peculiar institution. Prisoners could move in with their families, furnishings, possessions, and money that enabled them to buy special privileges. Many of them were gentlemen who played court tennis; they brought their rackets and improvised a new sport against the prison walls.
The debtor's prison form of rackets was played with or without side walls but always without a back wall. The most common version seems to have used just one side wall.
By the early 1830s, there were rackets courts outside the prisons, most of them associated with taverns. Most of those courts had just a front wall, about 45 feet high and 40 feet wide.
Rackets began to acquire some sort of respectability in 1822, when a court was built at Harrow, the public school near London. The original Harrow court had just a front wall, but two three-wall courts were built there in 1851.
The Princes Club in London built rackets courts in 1853. Its main court, 30 feet wide and 60 feet long, set the standard for most future courts. Oxford and Cambridge added four-walled courts about the same time and played the first inter-university matches in 1858.
By then, British Army officers had brought the sport to North America. Courts were built in Montreal in 1825, Quebec City in 1832, Kingston in 1841, Halifax in 1846, and Hamilton in 1860. Rackets evidently entered the United States from Canada. The first U. S. court was built at New York City's Broadway Racquet Club in 1850.
However, rackets never became genuinely popular. Historically, it's perhaps most important for having given birth to squash racquets when Harrow School students adapted it for play on a handball court.
Rackets courts presently exist at only seven locations in North America: The Tennis & Racquet Club in Boston, the Racquet Club of Chicago, the Detroit Racquet Club, the Montreal Racket Club, the Racquet and Tennis Club in New York, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, and the Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, New York. All are members of the North American Racquets Association.
How It's Played
The rackets court is 60 feet long by 30 feet wide, with front and side walls 30 feet high and a back wall 15 feet high. A service line on the front wall is 9 feet, 6 inches above the floor. A wooden board, known as the telltale, covers the lower 27 inches of the front wall.
The short line is 36 feet from the front wall. At each end of the front line and in front of it is a service box, 7 1/2 feet square. Behind the short line, the court is divided into equal halves, each 15 feet wide by 24 feet deep.
The ball, which is 2 1/4 inch in diameter, is extremely hard and lively. The original rackets ball was made of tightly wrapped cloth strips bound with twine and covered with lambskin. The modern ball has a hard plastic core enclosed in white tape.
The racket is similar to a squash racket, but somewhat longer at 30 inches. The head is 7 to 8 inches in diameter and the overall weight is between 8 1/2 and 10 ounces.
The server must have at least one foot entirely in a service box. The serve must hit the front wall above the service line and must then land in the opposite backcourt; that is, a serve from the right service box must land in the left backcourt.
In North America, only one service attempt is allowed. In England, however, the server is given two chances to make a legal serve.
Opponents then trade shots until the ball is no longer in play. A shot must hit the front wall above the telltale and must be returned before it bounces twice on the floor.
Only the server can score a point. If the server loses a rally, the serve passes to the opponent.
Game is normally to 15 points. However, if the score reaches 13-all, the player who lost the last point can "set" the game at 15, 16, or 18 points. If it's set at 18, for example, the first player to total 18 points is the winner. If the score reaches 14-all without having been 13-all, the loser of the last point can set the game at 15 or 17.
Singles matches are usually the best of five games, while doubles matches are usually best of seven.