Have you ever heard of squash? Squash is the name given to a sport based on the principles of tennis: it is hitting the ball using a racket. This denomination refers to the sound emitted when the game ball is crushed – squash, in English – by the racket against the wall.
Squash matches can be played with two players (against each other), or with four players (two pairs). Each player must carry a racket and only one black rubber ball is used for each game.
Before explaining how the game is played, it is interesting to understand a little bit about the emergence of squash. There are two main versions of this origin. The first story dates back to 16th-century France, when racket hitting sports gained popularity. Because it was played indoors, it would soon have been practiced in monasteries and other similar places. There is another aspect that attributes the origin of squash to England in the 19th century, when prisoners adapted tennis to the environmental conditions existing there. There is also a third less convincing explanation: that this sport would have emerged in an English school, where the first court specifically for it was built.
As already mentioned, the practice of squash takes place in a court or field closed by four walls, of which, necessarily, one must be made of glass. In official competitions, the four walls of the room must be made of glass. Another particularity refers to the ball: generally, the ball used for matches is black, but in official competitions, it must be white.
The official court must have the following dimensions: 9.75 meters long by 6.4 meters wide. The front wall must measure 4.75 meters high; the rear wall – the rear – must measure 2.13 meters in height; and the service box must be a perfect square, 1.6 meter by 1.6 meter. The markings on the court are made with strips 5 centimeters wide, and delimit, in addition to the service box, the height of the service line, which is 1,783 meters high.
Rules:
- Each match can consist of a total of 3 or 5 games, at the discretion of the competition organization. Each game is played until reaching nine points. In the event of a tie between 8 and 8, the receiver of the ball (player who will not serve) can choose, informing the referee and his opponent, whether he prefers the game to end at nine points or go to the ten mark points;
- Points can only be acquired when you are the server;
- After a correct service, the ball is hit by the players until one of them misses;
- Ninety-second breaks are allowed between the warm-up and the start of the match, as well as between games.
The inclusion of squash as a competitive sport in big games is quite recent. It was included in the Pan American Games in 1995, in Mar del Plata, Argentina. In all editions since then, Brazil has had very significant participations, winning medals in all of them.
To know more:
Squash Brazil – www.squashbrasil.com.br
By Paula Rondinelli
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in Physical Education from the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” – UNESP
Master in Motricity Sciences from the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” – UNESP
PhD student in Latin American Integration at the University of São Paulo - USP
sports - PE - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/educacao-fisica/squash.htm