What Was The Original Sport That Inspired Squash And Tennis?

One fascinating element about racquet sports such as tennis and squash is that, unlike other sports, the original game that inspired their creation is still played to this day and there is a direct line between it and the beautiful squash courts we see today.

Squash was inspired by rackets, which in turn was inspired by royal tennis, a game that has been played at least since the 16th century and has been played without a racquet since the 12th century.

Royal tennis, also known as real tennis to distinguish it from lawn tennis, was originally based on the French game jeu de paume and uses an almost-identical asymmetrical court.

Between the first known games of jeu de paume and the 15th century when it became popular with English royalty, the palm shifted to a glove and then a racquet, whilst the game moved indoors into dedicated playing spaces.

Henry V was the first to show an interest, but arguably royal tennis’ most famous player was Henry VIII, who built a dedicated court at Hampton Court Palace that still exists today.

It was one of the first sports in the world to establish a professional corporation in 1571 alongside sumo wrestling and established the first world championship of any sport in the world in 1740.

It operates on a similar system to chess or boxing in that a challenger must defeat the champion for the title, rather than winning it through regularly scheduled tournaments as in squash or lawn tennis.

It was very popular up until the fall of the old nobility throughout Europe, including the Interregnum period in England and the rise of Puritanism as well as the French Revolution.

Its association with the royal courts of Europe meant that it entered a quiet period, during which time rackets, squash and lawn tennis took over as the dominant racquet sports in the world.

It is still played today, with an official player base of around 3000 compared to the millions who enjoy squash.