Stické, also called stické tennis, is an indoor

racquet sport Racket sports (or racquet sports) are games in which players use a Racket (sports equipment), racket or paddle to hit a ball or other object. A racket has a handled frame with an open hoop that supports a network of tightly stretched strings. A pa ...

invented in the late 19th century merging aspects of

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

, racquets and

lawn tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. It derives from (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

meaning "the art of playing ball"), the term originally given to lawn tennis by Walter Clopton Wingfield.

Manner of play

Stické is played with standard lawn tennis racquets and low-pressure balls in an enclosed court. The court is somewhat similar to a real tennis court in shape, but is smaller (about 78 feet by 27 feet) and different in construction. Play takes place using all the basics of lawn tennis and the same scoring system, with the addition of side and back walls. Players face each other over the net in pairs. As in real tennis, there is a ''penthouse,'' used throughout the game as a playing surface and on which the service has to land to start each point. Some courts have a penthouse only down the side, while others have a penthouse at both ends as well.

History

There were over 50 courts built throughout the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

since 1875. The game was created in the 1870’s as an outdoor game by the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

to keep soldiers fit. The first court was constructed using 9-foot square artillery targets. The dimensions of the Taplow Court built by Lord Desborough in 1892 became the standard. In the early 20th century, stické was a popular recreation at many country houses. At the time it was one of the few games that was played by both men and women. As of 2005 only two playable courts remain: * Hartham Park in

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the southwestern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 road (England), A4 national route. It is southwest of Swindon, east of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

(

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

). Built in 1904 out of wood. * Knightshayes Court in Tiverton,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

(England). Built in 1907 out of wood. The court at Viceregal Lodge complex, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla,

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

(

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

), has been adapted and is used for badminton. Both English courts have active player groups, with an exception of Knightshayes during August to November 2015. During this time, the court was used to present an exhibition on the First World War, as the stické court was used throughout both the world wars as wards for wounded soldiers when the estate was used as a military hospital. The Indian court is used for

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

. On July 13, 2024 Adrian Chivers and Hugh Richman retained their title as World Doubles Champions at the Hartham Park stické court. A booklet about the sport, ''Sticke Tennis'' by Graham Tomkinson, was published in 2004. A book ''The Rise and Fall of Sticke Tennis 1874-1939'' by Nigel Courtenay à Brassard, was published by Ronaldson Publications in 2017, and republished in 2024.

References

External links

Hartham Park Stické Club

National Trust Knightshayes website

* ttps://www.sportshistorian.co.uk Sports Historian - Nigel Courtenay à Brassard ''The Rise and Fall of Sticke Tennis 1874-1939''{{DEFAULTSORT:Sticke Individual sports Indoor sports Ball games Racket sports Forms of tennis