Racquetball Rules on the Back Wall

The back wall of a racquetball court--generally a feature only available in indoor courts--can change the dynamics of a racquetball game. Courts with a back wall force players to take up different positions when attacking the racquetball than they'd take without it, while also generating a variety of other shot attempts and strategies.

  1. Back Wall Serves

    • Serves that contact the back wall before hitting the floor are considered long serves--whether the ball hits a side will before hitting the back wall or not, the serve is still long. Back wall serves, or long serves, are classified as faults. When combined with any other faults, back wall faults result in a loss of service by the serving player.

    Back Wall Crotch Serve

    • According to the Official U.S. Racquetball Association, a crotch serve is "any served ball that hits the crotch of the front wall and floor, front wall and side wall, or front wall and ceiling" and is considered "an out serve" (because it did not hit the front wall first). Back wall crotch serves--serves that contact the back wall and floor simultaneously--are an exception to this rule, because serves that reach the back wall crotch must first hit the front fall to be directed toward the back wall crotch. Crotch serves that contact a side wall and the floor past the short lines are also admissible.

    Back Wall Returns

    • Incorporating the back wall into a return, along with the side walls and ceiling, is admissible as long as the returned ball hit the front wall before contacting the floor. Specific to returning serves--as opposed to returning defensive shots--a player may only break the plane of the short line if the player is following through on a return that has legally hit the back wall. After a successfully returned serve, the defense can return the ball from any location on the court.