ABSTRACT
Played predominately in winter on a moveable wooden court, platform tennis grew out of playground paddle tennis which Frank P. Beal invented in 1898. Beal devised the game as a substitute for lawn tennis, one that could be set up practically anywhere with minimal expense: in a backyard, gymnasium, or on the street. The first courts were one-quarter the size of a regular tennis court, and were used to teach the rudiments of tennis. Tape marked the boundaries with a simple net stretched across the middle of the court. The players hit old tennis balls with solid wood paddles scoring the same as in tennis. The game achieved enough popularity that in 1923, the United States Paddle Tennis Association was formed. In 1928, Fessenden S. Blanchard and James K. Cogswell changed the game by enlarging the court size, employing slower balls, and erecting a chicken wire fence around the court to keep the ball in play. They liked platform tennis because it got them outdoors on wintry days to bat a ball on a platform raised above the snow and slush. Under frigid conditions they could get in a good workout safe from the cold and damp.
