Racquetball is both a competitive sport and a recreational activity played in an enclosed area. It demands speed, quickness and athletic ability from its players, but it is also a game of strategy and mental preparation. Skilled players can overpower their opponents by hitting hard shots, and they can also frustrate them by hitting soft shots that are barely out of reach.
Court Dimensions and Equipment
Racquetball is played on an enclosed court that is 80 feet long by 20 feet wide. The server stands in the server's box, which is 5 feet long by 14 feet wide. The server's box is 15 feet from the front wall, and the serving line is 21 feet 6 inches from the front wall. A serve must get past this line to be legal. The racquetball made out of rubber and is 2.25 inches in diameter, and the racquet may not exceed 22 inches in length. Players regularly wear racquetball eyeguards as well; these guards look like glasses and they are mandatory in all competitions.
Serving
The game of racquetball begins with the server putting the ball in play. In order to serve properly, the server must hit the ball off the front wall and then have it rebound past the receiving line of the server's box. The ball must hit the floor before it hits the back wall. The ball may bound off the side walls after it hits the front wall.
The rules of the game give the server two chances to put the ball in play: if the first serve does not hit the floor past the receiving line, it is called a fault, and the player gets another chance to serve properly. If the second serve is not good, the receiver gets control of the serve. If the serve does not hit the front wall initially, the server loses the opportunity to serve, whether it is the first or second serve.
Game Format
In order to return serve properly, the ball must hit the front wall before it hits the floor. The ball can hit any of the walls or the ceiling prior to getting it to the front wall on the return. Once the returned shot hits the front wall, the server can win a point by hitting it off the front wall so that the other player cannot successfully hit it to the front wall before the ball bounces twice. If the returner accomplishes this, he gains the serve. Games are played to 15 points in a best-of-three format; in the third, tiebreaking game, games are played to 11 points.
Rules
The player loses the point if the ball hits his clothing or his person. Players can not switch hands during the middle of a rally. A player can call a hinder if he believes he will swing his racquet and hit his opponent. A hinder ends a point and results in playing the point over.
History
Racquetball was invented in 1950 by Connecticut tennis instructor Joe Sobek. Sobek was tired of sports like squash and handball as winter alternatives to tennis and wanted to play a game with a faster pace. Sobek spent much of the next 18 years developing and selling his game--it was called paddle rackets at the time--and the first national championship was held in 1968. Shortly thereafter, the International Racquetball Association took over the management of the sport, and it took off in terms of national popularity. By the start of the 21st century, there were more than 10 million players in the United States and 14 million worldwide.
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