Racquetball Rules and Scoring

The United States Racquetball Association is the "National Governing Body for sport of racquetball." Their racquetball programs cover a wide variety of players, from the novice who just wants to get a little weekend exercise, to the serious athlete desiring to represent the U.S. by playing racquetball in the Olympics. Whatever your reason for wanting to put safety goggles on and pick up that tiny racket, USRA has specific game rules to follow.

  1. Serve

    • A coin toss determines the player to serve first. The player who wins the coin toss may choose to either serve first or receive; should the player defer service to their opponent for the first game, they will serve first during the second game.

      Serves are completed by dropping the ball within the court's designated service area, allowing it to bounce one time and hitting it directly up against the front wall. The ball must bounce back 4 feet into the court beyond the "short line" and cannot hit any of the sidewalls.

      Should the server put his foot or bounce the ball on any of the service area lines, or should the ball fail to bounce beyond the short line, a "fault" serve is called and the player has one more chance to serve the ball correctly.

    Return of Serve

    • The player returning the serve must keep herself and her racquet behind the receiving line of the racquetball court, which is 1-1/2 feet away from the front wall. Should the player accidentally step on the receiving line, play stops and the server is awarded a point.

      Once the ball has been served legally and passes the receiving line, the player may strike the ball either before or after the first bounce; the ball cannot hit the floor a second time. The returned ball must hit the front wall directly, or hit the front wall after bouncing off any of the three surrounding walls or ceiling. The hit ball cannot bounce off the floor before hitting the front wall.

    Rally

    • After a successful first serve and return, a rally ensues. Play will continue between the two (or four, if doubles is being played) players as long as the ball is legally kept in action. In addition to the return rules above, the ball must also be hit by the head of the player's racquet, must remain within the confines of the racquetball court and cannot hit the opposing player. If any of these rules are broken, the rally ends and a point is awarded against the player who committed the infraction.

    Scoring

    • One point is awarded in racquetball each time an opponent cannot keep the ball in play. Points can be earned either by serving an unreturnable ball (an ace), or winning the rally between the two (or four) players. There are two games in a match and the first player to 15 points wins the game. If the match ends up in a tie, a tiebreak game is played up to 11 points.