Racquetball is an indoor sports that combines elements of tennis, handball and squash. Like its outdoor cousin, tennis, the racket used to play racquetball has undergone changes to the size of its playing surface since the game was invented in 1950. Today, players use an oversized racket, which increases the ability to hit the ball.
Beginnings of Racquetball
The game of racquetball was invented in 1950 by Joe Sobek, a professional tennis and squash player in Greenwich, Connecticut. Sobek, looking to create a game that combined the essence of squash and handball, designed a racket the size of a paddle, but with a badminton construction. The strung paddles became the bedrock of the game moving forward.
Early Rackets
The original rackets designed by Sobek were made of wood, with leather handles, giving the appearance of a table tennis racket, only with a string-woven strike area, as opposed to solid.
Racquets in 1970s
By the early 1970s, the wood racket gave way to aluminum alloy and fiberglass frames. By 1979, fiberglass frames became common, but the original size of the racket's surface area did not change.
Oversized Rackets
Racquetball changed forever in 1984, when the first oversized racket heads were introduced by the New Jersey-based company Ektelon. A pioneer in racquetball equipment, Ektelon introduced the Contra and MACRO series rackets, the first oversized aluminum rackets. While the length of the racket remained the same, required 22 inches, the width of the racket face increased by several inches, making the strike area considerably larger.
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