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Squier (GEORGE OWEN SQUASH a ball game)

GEORGE OWEN SQUASH, a ball game of which tennis is believed to be a development. It is played in a court at one end of which rises a wall and the contest revolves on the ability of the players, who are provided with rackets, to strike the ball and send it against the wall above a certain line, keeping it all the time within certain enclosed spaces indicated by a central line on the floor and cross lines which divide it usually into four spaces. The players wait till the ball bounces on the floor and meet it before it touches the floor a second time. Skill is shown both in measuring the amount of energy expended in striking the ball and so placing it within the enclosed spaces as to make it difficult for the opponent to meet it. Points are recorded against the player who fails to meet the ball on the bounce, or who sends it against the wall below the line indicated or who so places the ball that in rebounding from the wall it falls outside the indicated space on the floor. The game is exhilarating and players often acquire such skill in hitting that the ball is kept on the bounce for a considerable time. The game is more simple than tennis, and the racket and ball are usually of a heavier make, owing to the greater wear and tear.