Three-Man Racquetball Rules

Three-man racquetball is also known as "cutthroat" racquetball. Typically, racquetball is played either in a singles or doubles format; however, there are a few game variations that allow for the odd number of players: three. These games are just as competitive and fast-paced and in some ways more demanding on a player's skill and stamina level. Except for a few specific service rotation rules, these games follow the basic rules of singles play.

  1. One-Out Rules

    • This is basically a singles game with a third person on the court waiting for his turn to play. This player stands in the back court in an "out" position. He stands out of the way of the other two players, and moves when necessary to stay clear of the action. When the rally is over, the winner serves the next point while the loser takes the "out" position. For example, when players 1 and 2 play a singles point, player 3 is in the out position. If player 1 wins the rally, player 2 moves to the "out" position and player 3 steps in to play against player 1. After every point, players make any necessary changes in position. Games are played to either 11 or 15, whatever has been decided amongst the players. To start the second game, the winner of the previous game starts in the "out" position, the player with the lowest score serves first and the third player starts as the receiver. Singles racquetball rules are followed.

    One-On-Two Rules

    • With this game, all three players play at the same time and there is always one person playing against two. At the start of the game, the number of points per game and the serving rotation is determined amongst the players. The single player is always the server. If the server wins the point against the other two players, she remains the server for the next point. If she loses the point, she rotates out and the next player in the service rotation serves the next point. The server alternates sides of the court when serving. Play continues until one player has reached the predetermined number of points. The player with the lowest score in the previous game starts serving in the next game and the winner of the previous game will be the third person to serve in the rotation. Singles racquetball rules are followed.

    Ironman Rules

    • This cutthroat game is sometimes referred to as two-on-one and is played with one player playing against two players, a doubles team, for the entire game. There are special rules for serving. The singles player serves twice. With the first serve, he is allowed two attempts to get the ball in play. If he loses the first rally, he serves the next point to the other doubles player; however, this time he only has one chance to get the point started. If he wins the second rally, he continues to serve, with just the one chance to get the ball in play, until he loses a point. When this happens, the doubles team serves and the singles player is the receiver. Each player on the doubles team serves one point with just one chance to get the ball in play. The singles player alternates between the back halves of the court when receiving serves. Games are played to 7, 11 or 15 points, whatever has been decided by the players. All other singles racquetball rules are followed.