Paddleball

Not dead

I was searching the net for subjects that interest me and I looked for paddleball and came upon your homepage. I thought that paddleball was more of a midwestern game. I am from the Detroit area and I played a lot of paddleball in college. The difference I see is that the ball that you described does not sound like the one we use. The midwestern paddleball is black, the same size as a racquetball, but there is a hole in it and it is much less lively than a racquetball. It also is made by Penn.

I have not played much lately because of children, I plan on starting to play more when the weather breaks. I have two outdoor three wall courts close to my house.

Congradulations David,

On the second baby. I have an almost 3 year old boy and another boy 10 1/2 months. They will both be paddleball players I hope, The equipment is more affordable than hockey! I have seen one wall paddleball in films that were shot in NY and Florida, but we do not have one wall courts here that I am aware of.

The racquet are usually made by Marcraft, wood and full of holes. The ball is the same size as a standard racquetball, but it is black and has a small hole in it. What it plays like is a dead racquetball. This changes the dynamics of the game. We have to run more because the ball does not bounce as far.

I played a lot at Schoolcraft Community College. There were a few nationally ranked players that practiced there. And there is an association like there is in racquetball. I have even went to the national championships some years back when they were held in Davison Michigan.

Old-timer

Finally finding someone who understands what paddleball actually is.

I was highly involved in the formative years of the sport, after being fortunate to have Howard Hammer as a teacher. Howard wrote "Paddleball, how to play the game."

I grew up in Rockaway Beach, and aside from developing a passion to play in all weather.. we used to heat up the Seamco balls in boiling water during sub-freezing weather.

I was able to get Bobby Schwarz and Andy Krosnick to team up, and become the one-wall champions. We had created the Paddleball Players Association to rival the Hammer-created American Paddleball Association.

Most of our torneys were held in the Brighton Beach Baths in Brighton Beach.

Now here I am in upstate NY and can't find handball courts.

The great thing about paddleball, at least initially was that it was a sport of young and old.

Hmm, Marcraft.. I used to go to Marcraft when their were in the Bronx. I still have several of my Marcraft paddles. It was funny though, I used to get Sid Marx? at Marcraft to re-do my handle before a tourney, e.g. One Wall CUNY after Howard Hammer introduced me. Yet Hammer had a paddle that was manufactured by Sportcraft. Bobby Schwarz did have a Marcraft paddle. I did the artwork and photos for the paddle, and wonder if it's still available from Marcraft.

Have you ever heard of the book, "Paddleball How to Play the Game?" by Howard Hammer?

Official rules, I helped write them, around the early 70's, if i find one i'll send em to you.

A court in Brookline, Mass.

CLShansky@aol.com writes on March 16, 1997:

We found your web site on paddleball. Thanks for the confirm of the rules! One question; Serving - Can you stand outside of the court or anywhere in the court? Do the players switch sides as in tennis?

I've played paddleball since High School (NYC area, of course - Dad used to play tournaments in No. New Jersey) now I'm teaching my husband (from Pittsburgh originally, what does he know?) It's great to find out about other enthusiasts.

For your info. There's a wall in Brookline at an elementary school. It's been 9 years since we lived there, so the exact location escapes me. It is off of Kent St. between Longwood and Ackerman. There's a ball field and the wall is at the far end of the field, kind of hidden. I can't say it's in the greatest shape, but it's really hard to find anything.

I thought the server's position was constrained, and I'm thinking that it was between the baseline and the service hash. (I've played so much volleyball in the intervening time that I want to say "behind the baseline", but I don't remember that.) Maybe it was between the baseline and the short line.

I remember the rule that the served ball had to be to the "major" part of the court (no fair going up the side alley), and a constraint, in doubles, on the server's partner.

I wish I knew the official rules -- I'm not sure that this wasn't just an elevated street game.

> Brookline

An honest-to-goodness paddleball court? Not just a cement wall for practicing tennis? (One-wall outdoor handball would be enough to make me very happy.) The key things that let you know it's a paddleball court, besides the obvious lines, both present and absent, are the small-gauge fence (especially on the top) and, to a lesser degree, that there is more than one court.

There are adequate tennis walls in Belmont and Somerville.

Michigan

Doug Krause dkrause@globalbiz.net writes on March 18, 1997:

As I was reading your web page on paddleball, I feel like I have finally found something close to what I am looking for. In Michigan, if I ask someone about paddleball, they assume I mean platform tennis or paddle tennis - played outdoors on some wacked out court. Instead, I am referring to a game much closer to racquetball as you describe that is played with perforated racquets and a ball that resembles a racquetball but has less bounce. At my father-in-laws country club, they actually have an old-fashioned, indoor paddleball court. While it is a little different than the court you describe, it is definitely not a racquetball or squash court - different dimensions, etc. Here is my problem, we cannot find any gear to play. While we could use "platform tennis" racquets (they seem very similar), we cannot find true paddleball balls. Racquetballs are of course to lively and there really is not anything else to substitute. I was wondering if you know where I could get my hands on a half dozen true paddle balls...

I wrote back

The classic equipment supplier was Marcraft, I think in NJ, maybe in the Bronx. The last paddleballs I got (about 6 years ago) were made by a California firm named Mikasa (and they were blue, not black.) I don't have definite current pointers -- would love to have some.

(See the main page for equipment suppliers.)

Wisconsin

Steven Shafer shafer@couger.cray.com writes on March 27, 1997:

So you play a little paddleball eh? I got your name working my way through 'Yahoo' on my quest for a paddle. There's a group of us, maybe 30-40 people, that play paddleball here in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. But if you drive 20 minutes down the highway they don't know what your talking about!

So I have this problem. Broke my paddle the other nite and the national doubles tournament will be here next month! Not that I could place very high but I am signed up. So I call Marcraft in Jersey and the guy that answers says Marcraft is out of business. At least at that number.

Do you know of any other paddle manufacturers? All the local sport shops around here don't carry paddles and seem not to have any interest in finding a rep.

The Paddle Company

See pointers to Jerry Brown and The Paddle Company on the main page.

National Paddleball Association

Michael G. Magnaldi npa man1@aol.com wrote on April 25, 1997:

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