Coffee Table Book of: Racquetball (Paperback)

Description

Coffee Table Book of: Racquetball is a large format book of racquetball, printed edge to edge in colour, one picture to a page and the widest carried across two: short rackets and the bright blue ball, the indoor court with its red lines and its ceiling in play, outdoor one wall and three wall courts standing empty, the kit being made and cared for, the early days of the game, and a few players seen far off in plain dark clothing.

The kit is laid out plain: a racket hanging by its wrist cord, one with a scuffed bumper guard, two lying crossed, a bare frame with no strings and one zipped in a padded cover, a ball resting on a red line, a heap of blue balls, a ball on the strings and another cut in half to show it is hollow, a thin white glove, eyeguards, a court shoe turned to show its gum sole, a headband and wristband, a backpack with racket handles standing out of it, and a rope ladder and small hurdles for footwork.

The making follows hard maple from the tree and the log to the cut ends of the boards and a floor half laid, a wall frame and smooth white panels, a slab poured and smoothed, a wall of concrete block, a red line painted between strips of tape, a glove cut and stitched from white leather, and rubber trees tapped for latex. The past runs from an old wooden paddle and worn handball gloves to an early short racket with a small round head, a metal racket from the boom years, a leather grip, striped tube socks, an old canvas bag and old brick and stone walls built for handball.

Short notes run through the book, on the rules and how the game is played, the rackets, balls and courts and how they are made, and the history of the sport: rules call for a cord from the handle round the wrist, so the racket cannot fly loose, only the server can win a point; when the server loses a rally, the serve passes over, the front wall carries no lines, and every part of it is in play, and most frames today are moulded from light graphite composites.

Printed in full colour on heavy 150gsm coated paper at 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 inches), as a paperback.