the origins of the game of racquetball

The sport of Racquetball does not have a long history like many other sports that are popular today.  Racquetball is a game that was developed from other popular sports in early 20^th century.  It is a combination of handball, tennis, a Spanish sport - Jai Alai, and squash.

This is a game that is played in an indoor court with three walls, a rubber ball, and a small racquet. It is rare, but existent that there are outside courts. One could play solo, doubles, and even with four players. Some say that the beginning of racquetball started in prisons in the 1800’s when prisoners were allowed balls to hit against the walls.  During this time it was just called “rackets”.  However, in America, the game can be traced back to the 1920’s.

It was Joseph G. Sobek who was a professional handball, squash and tennis player from Greenwhich, Connecticut in the 1940’s that has taken most credit for the invention of the game. At this time, racquetball was still known as paddle rackets.   At that time, history states that he was working in a rubber factory and it was where he worked that Sobek had designed the rubber ball that is used for the sport today.  He, along with a partner also decided to combine the rules of handball and squash and start the rules for the racquetball.