How To Play Racquetball – The Rules Explained

Racquetball Overview

Racquetball is a game enjoyed by many throughout the world. It is a sport played with a racquet and a ball. Once you understand the Racquetball rules and how to play Racquetball, you’ll be ready to enjoy this amazing sport.

The sport is played with two or four players in a court with a wall, with the goal being to make the other player or team miss the ball, thus scoring you a point.

Racquetball was invented by Joseph Sobek in 1950, after adding a stringed racquet to the sport of Paddleball. The sport was invented in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The sport was originally called Paddle Rackets and was invented due to Sobek wanting to create a fast-paced sport, that was both easy to learn and play.

The Racquetball rules were codified in 1952 and were printed in a booklet. The sport became popular because of Sobek’s continual promotion of it. He was helped by the thousands of Handball courts in America, wherein the sport could be played.

Aim of the Game

The object of Racquetball is to score more points than your opponent. You score a point by making your opponent miss the ball. The winner is the player or team at the end of the game.

Playing Field

Racquetball is played on an enclosed court 20 feet wide, twenty feet high and 40 feet long.

Players and Equipment

When played one vs one it is called singles and when played two vs two it is called doubles. So Racquetball can be played with two or four players

There a few things you will need to play Racquetball :

• A racquet.

• A racquetball.

• Eye guards are required only for professional play but are still very important for safety.

• A glove can also be useful to help with grip.

• Racquetball shoes can also give you an advantage by helping with your movement.

Scoring

In racquetball, players need to hit the ball to the walls alternatively using their rackets without obstructing their opponent.  You can only score a point on your own serve.

A player gets a point when a shot is missed by the opponent, and in this way the player who achieves the required score first wins the match.

The idea of this game is to make it difficult or impossible for your opponent to play a good shot back, or to force an error out of your opponent. This exchange is known as a rally.

According to the Racquetball rules you lose a point when :

• If the ball skips or does not hit the front wall without bouncing when you play your shot.

• If the ball hits the floor more than once before you play your return.

• If the ball goes into the viewing gallery, wall opening or out-of-bounds from your shot.

• If the ball hits you (the player who originally hit it).

• If the ball hits the other player but was clearly not going to hit the front wall.

• If you switch racquet hand during the point.

• If you carry or throw the ball with the racquet (double hit).

• If you touch the ball with any part of your body or clothes.

• If the player serving makes two (or one, under the one serve rule sometimes used at the top level) illegal serves.

How to Win

Matches consist of the best two of three games. The first and second games are played to 15 points, the third game to 11 points. (First player to 15 points wins; you do not have to win by 2 points.)

Racquetball Rules

• The game starts with a player serving the
  ball.

• To serve, you must be in the serving zone and bounce the ball onto the floor before hitting it.

• The ball must bounce behind the short line and travel over the receiving line.

• The opponent must wait behind the receiving line during a serve and cannot cross it until the ball has crossed the receiving line.

• You have to play the ball by hitting it on to the front wall.

• The ball may hit any of the walls and the ceiling, but you are only allowed to let the ball bounce on the floor once.

• If you let the ball bounce twice on the floor,
  you lose a point.

• In Racquetball, you can only score a point if you serve the ball.

• If the server wins the rally, they score one point and continues to serve.

• If the opposing player wins the rally, then no point is scored, but that player then takes over serving.

• Once you play a shot, you have to try and get out of the way of the ball and your opponent.

• If you tried to get out of the way but couldn’t, this is known as a ‘hinder’ or a ‘replay’ and the point is replayed again.

• If you obstruct your opponent to deny them a clear winning shot, your opponent will win the rally. This is known as a ‘penalty hinder’.

Serve Faults

There’s a lot of things you cannot do when serving the ball, without going into too much detail, here’s a list of things you cannot do :

• Short serve : If the ball lands before the short line.

• Long serve : If the ball hits the back floor before hitting the floor.

• Screen serve : If the ball, after rebounding off the front wall, passes the server so closely that the receiver doesn’t have a clear view.

• 3-wall serve : If the ball, after hitting the front wall, hits two side walls before hitting the floor.

• No serve : If the ball doesn’t touch the front wall first it’s an immediate out.

• Hit player : if the ball, after hitting the front wall, hits any part of the server or the server’s racquet, it’s an immediate out.

• Double Fault : similar to Tennis, you are allowed two chances to serve the ball properly. If you make two serving faults in a row, you lose the serve and the serve goes to your opponent

• If you believe that by making your next shot you risk injuring your opponent, you can call a hinder and the result is that you replay the point.

• Click here to watch the video explanation of the Racquetball rules.

Learn More

Visit here to learn more about Racquetball and here and here to learn more about the Racquetball rules and how to play Racquetball.