Joseph Sobek[1] invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950,[2] adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velocity and control.

Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders being out-of-bounds.

Joe Sobek is credited with inventing the sport of racquetball in the Greenwich, Connecticut, YMCA, though not with naming it.

[4] A professional tennis and American handball player, Sobek sought a fast-paced sport that was easy to learn and play.

The new sport was rapidly adopted and became popular through Sobek's continual promotion of it; he was aided by the existence of some 40,000 handball courts in the country's YMCAs and Jewish Community Centers, wherein racquetball could be played.

In 1973, after a dispute with the IRA board of directors, Kendler formed a competing organization called the National Racquetball Club (NRC), which eventually became the dominant professional tour in the 1970s.

For a period of time in the 1970s, the NRC and the IRA both offered competing "Amateur" and "Professional" tournaments, but by the late 1970s the NRC was focused on the professional game while the IRA became focused on the amateur side, and became recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the official National Governing Body (NGB) of the sport.

Starting in the 1970s, and aided by the fitness boom of that decade, the sport's popularity increased to an estimated 3.1 million players by 1974.

Consequent to increased demand, racquetball clubs and courts were founded and built, and sporting goods manufacturers began producing racquetball-specific equipment.

This growth continued until the early 1980s, and declining in the decade's latter part when racquet clubs converted to physical fitness clubs, in service to a wider clientele, adding aerobics exercise classes and physical fitness and bodybuilding machines.

[10] The IRF also runs the World Junior Racquetball Championships that occur annually in either late October, or early to mid November, as well as the annual World Senior Racquetball Championships for players who are 35 years of age or older.

The sport has a high appeal in the Americas, and because of this racquetball has been included in the Pan American Games in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015 and Lima 2019.

Also, the server must wait until the ball passes the short line before stepping out of the service box, otherwise it is a fault serve.

USA Racquetball rules do not require players to win by two, so a match score line could read 15–14, 14–15, 11–10.

[15] – Racquetball Canada matches are also the best of three format two games to 15, tiebreaker to 11, but require a winning margin of at least two points.

Depending upon the spin the server gives the Z-serve, the resulting carom may prove unpredictable and difficult to return.

Defensive serves do not usually garner aces, but they are designed to generate a weak return by the opponent, thereby setting up the server to win the point.

A plain lob serve is a ball hit with a long, high arch into either back corner.

If the ball contacts the front wall so low as to bounce twice before it reaches the service line it is called a "kill" shot.

The "splat" shot is an elongated pinch that strikes the side wall towards the back part of the court.

The ball will bounce once in the forecourt and should then travel in a high arc to arrive as close to, and as vertical to, the back wall as possible.

This may confuse inexperienced opponents but importantly, if very close to and parallel to the rear wall, makes for a difficult return shot.

If the defensive player is in the backcourt but unable to position himself for a non-defensive shot, he may need to hit the ball off of the back wall.

The antithesis of this is to be against a wall which severely limits the player's movement and allows the opponent an open court.

Hogan continued to be a dominant player into the 1980s, and was rivaled on the scene by Brett Harnett, Dave Peck, and Mike Yellen.

In the 1990s, Ruben Gonzalez, Cliff Swain and Sudsy Monchik dominated pro tournaments, and other great players like Andy Roberts, John Ellis, and Drew Kachtik were often left out of the winner's circle.

She was succeeded by Shannon Wright, who was then rivaled by Heather McKay, a great Australian squash player who made the transition to racquetball when living in Canada.

The 1990s belonged to Michelle Gould (née Gilman) whose drive serve was a huge weapon against her opponents.

Then in the mid-2000s, Christie Van Hees and Rhonda Rajsich were the dominant players, but Paola Longoria finished #1 at the end of the 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 seasons.

In women's play, Paola Longoria (Mexico) has the most US Open titles with five, Rhonda Rajsich (US) has four, one more than Christie Van Hees (Canada) with three.