Frescobol (Portuguese, lit. fresh ball) is a racket sport originating in Brazil in the 1950s. The game is played between 2 (or occasionally 3) players with solid rackets, most often made of wood or fibreglass, and the aim of the game is to hit a small rubber ball between players for as long as possible. It is often considered a beach activity. [1]
The racket used is made out of wood or composite materials such as fibreglass or carbon fibre. It can be hollow or solid. The maximum measurements are a width of 25 centimetres and a height of 50 centimetres. It should weight between 300 and 400 grams, depending on player preference. A non-slip grip can be added to the handle.
The ball is a hollow sphere of pressurized rubber. Often racquetball balls are used.
Frescobol is very similar to the Israeli sport matkot/kadima. They are identical in how they are played, but matkot is usually played with round rackets instead of the teardrop shaped rackets used in frescobol.
Table tennis is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of two, players take alternating turns returning a light, hollow ball over the table's net onto the opposing half of the court using small rackets until they fail to do so, which results in a point for the opponent. Play is fast, requiring quick reaction and constant attention, and is characterized by an emphasis on spin, which can affect the ball's trajectory more than in other ball sports.
Squash, sometimes called squash rackets, is a racket-and-ball sport played by two (singles) or four players (doubles) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow, rubber ball. The players alternate in striking the ball with their rackets onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court. The objective of the game is to hit the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. There are about 20 million people who play squash regularly world-wide in over 185 countries. The governing body of squash, the World Squash Federation (WSF), is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the sport will be included in the Olympic Games, starting with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Professional Squash Association (PSA) organizes the pro tour.
A racket or racquet is an item of sporting equipment used to strike a ball or shuttlecock back-and-forth in games such as tennis, badminton, squash, racquetball and padel. The typical basic structure of a racket consists of a widened distal end known as the head, an elongated handle known as the grip, and a reinforced connection between the head and handle known as the throat or heart.
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United States, royal tennis in England and Australia, and courte-paume in France. Many French real tennis courts are at jeu de paume clubs.
Basque pelota is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall or, more traditionally, with two teams face to face separated by a line on the ground or a net. The roots of this class of games can be traced to the Greek and other ancient cultures.
Rackets or racquets is an indoor racket sport played in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. It is infrequently called "hard rackets" to distinguish it from the related sport of squash.
Matkot is a popular Padel ball game in Israel similar to beach tennis, often referred to by Israelis as their national beach sport.
Table tennis is unique among racket sports in that it supports a wide variety of playing styles and methods of gripping the racket, at even the highest levels of play. This article describes some of the most common table tennis grips and playing styles seen in competitive play. The playing styles listed in this article are broad categories with fuzzy boundaries, and most players will possess some combination of these styles while leaning towards a "favorite". Many advanced players will also add some "special" shots of their own.
Squash at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games took place in the Makati Sports Club in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Padel, also sometimes called padel tennis, is a racket sport of Mexican origin, typically played in doubles on an enclosed court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court. Although padel shares the same scoring system as tennis, the rules, strokes, and technique are different. The balls used are similar but with a little less pressure. The main differences are that the court has walls and the balls can be played off them in a similar way as in the game of squash and that solid, stringless bats are used. The height of the ball being served must be at or below the waist level.
Dunlop Sport is a British sports equipment manufacturing company established in 1910 that focuses on racquets and water sports, more specifically tennis, swimming, squash, padel and badminton. Products by Dunlop Sport include racquets, strings, balls, shuttlecocks, and bags. Sportswear and clothing line includes t-shirts, shorts, skirts, jackets, pants, socks, caps, sneakers, and wristbands.
Since the sport's inception, the design and manufacture of tennis equipment has been affected by technological advances and regulations. As is common in major sports, regulations became more exacting over time, with improvements affecting the qualities of the tennis racket and the tennis ball.
A table tennis racket is used by table tennis players. It is usually made from laminated wood covered with rubber on one or two sides depending on the player's grip. Unlike a conventional "racket", it does not include strings strung across an open frame. Though the official ITTF term is "racket", the US generally uses the term "paddle", while Europe and Asia use the term "bat".
Paddle ball is a one-person toy played with an attached ball and paddle.
Four wall paddleball, or paddleball, is a popular court sport in the Upper Midwest of the United States, on the West Coast of the U.S. and in the Memphis, Tennessee area. It is played with a paddle and small rubber ball on a standard handball or racquetball court, with similar rules to those sports.
Roliball, (Chinese: 太极柔力球; pinyin: Tàijí róulìqiú; lit. 'taiji soft ball' also known as Bailong ball, is a kind of sport played with a racket and ball over a net. The racket has a silicone membrane and the ball is made from rubber and is partially filled with sand. The goal of the game is to land the ball on the opponent's side and prevent it from falling on your own half of the field. Contestants can be two players or two pairs of players.
Bernard Francis Hock was a table tennis "bat maker", considered a world-class pioneer in the design and fabrication of table tennis rackets. Many of the great American players of the classic "Table Tennis Era" exclusively used Hock rackets. Hock is remembered as a true craftsman. In 1977, Sports Illustrated described Hock as the "Stradivarius of bats".