Rackets (sport)

A ball game for two players (or two pairs of players) occupying the same playing area in a four-walled court, in which the ball is directed with a racket against the front wall, points (in the modern game) being won by the server if the opponent is unable to return the ball successfully within the laws of the game. Rackets is distinguished from the more recent game, squash, in particular by the use of a solid, harder ball. Rackets is now played in covered indoor courts, but rackets is known to have been played in open outdoor courts before the 19th century, though the exact nature of the original game is uncertain.