Racquetball Strategies

Strategy is a big part of winning or losing a racquetball match. Court position, serving and return shots are essential to strategy. These actions and how they are executed are as important toward determining who wins and who loses a match as how hard the ball is hit.

  1. Serve

    • The serve you use is dictated by your skill level and the impact you want it to have on the opponent, according to the Hobby Stop website. The drive serve, racquetball's most common serve, is hit low so it quickly heads to one of the back corners in an attempt to catch the opponent off-guard. The jam serve utilizes spin off the racket and either side wall to keep opponents from making good contact. A pinch serve requires skill and spin, but the fact that the ball hits the side wall close to the ground again makes solid contact difficult for the opponent.

    Pinning the Opponent

    • Pass-pinch and pass-pass strategies to pin an opponent in the back court is one method to help secure an advantage in match. The idea of both is to pin the opponent in the back court and then return the ball in the front court where the opponent can't make a legal return. This return can look a lot like a pinch serve. The only difference between the two strategies is that the pass-pass method keeps the opponent from moving side to side in the back court. This strategy is especially effective against slower players.

    Momentum

    • Momentum entails hitting the ball where the opponent just left. This works especially well when the opponent is simply trying to keep up with the ball and not utilizing strategy. Since the opponent's momentum will be heading in the opposite direction of the return, changing direction to track down the ball will be difficult.

    Jamming

    • This isn't always a favorite strategy among those it is used against, according to Hobby Stop. Basically, you hit the ball as hard as you can directly at the opponent in the hope that it won't be returned. This strategy works well with players that aren't particularly strong.

    Control Center Court

    • Players that control center court usually control the match, according to tips published by Racquetball Depot. By controlling center court, you can take advantage of your opponent's mistakes. Remember that you must yield position to give your opponent a fair chance to play a shot.