You can play paddleball with two teams of two players each or with two individual players. One-wall paddleball and four-wall paddleball follow similar basic rules. Standard paddleball courts are 40 feet long and 20 feet wide, and have 20-foot high front and sidewalls as well as a 12-foot high back wall. You can also play paddleball on standard racquetball or handball courts. You’ll need a few paddleballs and a standard paddle for each player.
Game Play
You win a point by hitting a serve or return that your opponent cannot hit back to the front wall before the ball bounces twice. You can only score points on your serve. If you win a rally on your opponent’s serve, you do not score a point but you win the serve. You must win 21 points to win a game, and you must win two games to win the match. Players must win a game by at least two points.
Serving
Each point begins with a serve. If you win the coin toss, you can decide whether to serve or return first. You must serve the ball from within the service zone between the court’s short line and service line. The short line runs across the center of the court, and the service line runs five feet in front of the short line. Your opponent must also stand within the service zone, but with his back against the wall. To serve, bounce the ball once and hit it in the air toward the front wall. Your serve must hit the front wall and bounce behind the short line. The ball cannot hit the ceiling before hitting the floor behind the short line. If you are playing four-wall paddleball, your serve cannot hit both sidewalls before bouncing behind the short line.
Interferences
If you interfere with your opponent’s ability to return the ball by blocking him or refusing to move out of the way, for example, the point becomes a “dead ball” and you must replay the point. If a foreign object enters the court during a rally, you must replay that point as well.
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