Racketball Rules

Racquetball is a competitive game played on a handball court with short-handled rackets and a hollow rubber ball. It is similar to squash, but played with a bigger ball and shorter handles. A match is best two out of three games. The first two games are played to 15, the third to 11. A rule book for U.S. play can be found at the USA Racketball site (see References).

  1. Objective

    • The objective is to win each rally by serving and returning the ball so that the opponent is unable to keep it in play. A rally is over when a player lets the ball bounce twice before returning it or returns the ball without touching the front wall before it touches the floor.

      Points are scored only by the serving side. A game is played to 15 points. A match is won by the first side to win two games. If each side wins one game, a tiebreaker is played to 11 points. It is necessary to win any game by two points.

    Serve

    • The ball must hit the floor after leaving the hand and before being struck with the racket. The ball must first hit the front wall, then hit the floor past what is called the short line. The short line is midway between and parallel to the front and back walls. Before striking the ground, a serve can strike one side wall, but only after hitting the front wall. A serve must hit the ground before hitting the back wall or ceiling. Both the back wall and ceiling are valid during rallies.

      Loss of serve occurs when the server fails to put the ball into play or fails to keep it in play. A penalty hinder (see below) also leads to loss of serve. Loss of serve is called an "out."

      Depending on the division of play, a server is allowed one or two serves to put the ball into play. The serve is made anywhere in the service zone, i.e., not beyond the service line and the short line. The service line is 5 feet in front of the short line.

    Blocking

    • A rally can also end when a hinder is called. Whether a hinder is a penalty hinder or a replay hinder depends on the circumstances. For example, the ball's hitting a grate on the wall and leading to a loss of play would be a replay hinder, and the point would be played again. The ball's hitting the opponent before reaching the wall is normally a replay hinder, but not if the ball clearly wouldn't have made it to the front wall without the opponent in the way. Unintentional interference by the defensive player is generally ruled as a replay hinder, unless the offensive player suffered no loss from it.

    Other Failures to Make a Legal Return

    • A legal return has not been made if any of the following occur: the player switches hands during a rally, the wrist safety chord is not used, a ball hit by a player then strikes that player, the ball is struck more than once in a return, or the ball is touched with any part of the body.