Squash racket and ball Racquetball racket and ball A racket or racquet[1] is a sports implement consisting of a handled frame with an open hoop across which a network of strings or catgut is stretched tightly. It is used for striking a ball or shuttlecock in games such as squash, tennis, racquetball, and badminton. Collectively, these games are known as racket sports. This predecessor to the modern game of squash, rackets, is played with 30 1⁄2-inch-long (77 cm) wooden rackets. While squash equipment has evolved in the intervening century, rackets equipment has changed little.