Tennis, badminton, padel - what are the origins of racquet sports?

Today, racquetball is one of the world's most popular sports. The great tennis events that take place every year, such as Roland Garros and the US Open, are just two examples of the fervor that these events generate among many fans. Today, there are a multitude of different games played with a racket. While tennis remains an emblematic illustration due to its great popularity, particularly in the Western world, some games are particularly popular elsewhere, such as table tennis in Asia. Badminton, squash, padel, speed ball... what are the origins of these many racket sports?

Racquet sports: what do they have in common and what are their differences?

Of course, the racket is the first thing that springs to mind when we think of this category of sports. However, it's important to bear in mind that while these sports have much in common, there are, of course, certain central aspects that set them apart. The first point of divergence is the rackets themselves. Depending on the sport, these fundamental objects appear in different versions. Badminton rackets, for example, are much lighter, while those used for table tennis are much smaller and made entirely of wood, as are the rackets used for beach tennis, for example. Other differences: while most of these sports require the use of a ball, of varying size and weight, some games require the use of specific objects. Badminton, for example, uses a shuttlecock. Last but not least, the rules differ greatly from one sport to another. Despite this, all these sports have a common origin: the game of palms.

Jeu de paume: a common ancestor

It was in 13th-century France that jeu de paume was actually categorized as such for the very first time. Indeed, it is reported that games based on the same concept had already existed for millennia. As early as 350 A.D., Saint Augustine mentions the game in his famous Confessions, although it's not clear exactly what the rules were, or how popular it was at the time. Things are clearer, however, when it comes to the frenzy that swept France in the 13th century. L'éteuf, the name of the ball used in this sport, was hit back and forth with palms on either side of the net separating the players, just like modern tennis and the vast majority of contemporary racket games. While the nobility played paume one-on-one or two-on-two, the working classes had their own version, played outdoors and without a net, for lack of funds. This popular game from the 1300s onwards was called "longue paume" (long palm) and could see up to six players per team. It was this incredible popularity, which reached all levels of society and all age groups, that led to the development of more complex games based largely on the same model. Over time, rackets were introduced and the rules refined, leading to those we know today. In the early 16th century, for example, the first rackets for the game of palm appeared. Their purpose was to prevent nobles from injuring their hands.

The emergence of tennis and other racket sports

Tennis also has French origins, as jeu de paume is its direct ancestor. The Duke of Orleans, a prisoner in England following the battle of Azincourt, introduced the game to the British Isles. Four centuries later, Walter Clapton Wingfield patented a completely new sport. It combined the rules of paume with the invention of rubber, enabling balls to bounce on grass. During the Middle Ages, England was also the birthplace of a number of other sports requiring a racket, following the emergence of jeu de paume in British lands. Badminton developed by combining the duels on either side of a net typical of palm and tennis with another common practice, particularly among young women from good families. The latter played a very popular game in which the aim was to keep a light shuttlecock in the air by means of a battledore. Padel, another example of a particularly popular racket sport, is in direct lineage with tennis, testifying to the obvious filiation that exists between most of these sports. It was the Mexican Enrique Corcuera who, lacking the space around his home to practice the noble racket sport, first proposed this singular version, using not traditional rackets but unique flat bats. Today, padel is seen as a kind of condensed version of most racket games, such as tennis, of course, but also squash and table tennis.