Squash is a racquet sport that was formerly called squash racquets, a reference to the "squashable" soft ball used in the game (compared with the harder ball used in its parent game Racquets (or rackets; see below)). The game is played by two players (or four players for doubles) with "standard" rackets in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. Squash is characterized as a "high-impact" exercise that can place strain on the joints, notably the knees. Squash is recognized by CIO and is in way to be integrated at the olympic program.

[edit] History

The game of squash was developed based on other pre-existing racquet sports, especially racquets and fives, a set of sports played predominantly by boarders at British independent schools. Squash itself was developed at one of these schools, London's Harrow School, in the early 19th century, when the boys noted that puncturing a racquets' ball caused it to squash when hitting the wall, allowing a greater variety of shots. By the end of the century it had spread to Britain's other private schools as well as Oxford and Cambridge universities. In 1908 a squash sub-committee of the Tennis and Rackets Association was formed to regulate the sport, followed in 1928 by the British Squash Rackets Association.[1][2][3]