In racquetball, players compete in a closed court, each attempting to win rallies by hitting a shot or serve that her opponent cannot return to the front wall before the ball bounces twice. Racquetball closely resembles other indoor racquet sports, such as squash and paddleball, but it follows different rules and requires a different court and equipment. You can play singles, doubles or three-person racquetball.
History
The United States Racquetball Association, the governing body for the sport in this country, credits Joe Sobek with the invention of racquetball. The sport quickly gained popularity after its invention in 1968. Joe Sobek's original racquetball racquet model was made of wood. In the 1970s, players began to use racquets with aluminum alloy, fiberglass and graphite frames.
Court
The standard racquetball court is longer and narrower than the standard squash court. Regulation racquetball courts measure 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. The distance from the floor to the ceiling should measure 20 feet. In racquetball, unlike in squash, all surfaces of the court, including the ceiling, count as in bounds.
Court Lines
Though the racquetball court has no boundary lines, certain lines on the court's floor dictate where the server must stand and where the serve must bounce. The server must stand between in the service line and the short line in an area called the service zone. The receiver must stand behind the receiving line. The server's serve must hit the front wall and then bounce on the floor behind the short line. The serve can hit one side wall before hitting the floor, but it cannot hit both side walls, the ceiling or the back wall before it hits the floor.
Scoring
Racquetball continues to follow side-out scoring, a method that many similar sports, such as squash, badminton and volleyball have abandoned. In side-out scoring, players can only earn points on their own serve. If a player wins a rally on his opponent's serve, he gains the serve but not a point. Squash, badminton and volleyball now follow rally scoring, in which players can win points on their serve as well as on their opponent's serve.
Match Format
Racquetball matches consist of individual games. Players must with the best of three games to win the match. Players must win 15 points with a two-point margin of victory to win the first or second game. If the match goes to a third deciding game, a player must win only 11 points to with a two-point margin of victory to win the game and match.
Equipment
Racquetball requires a larger ball and a shorter, wider racquet than squash. The racquetball ball bounces much higher than the smaller ball used in squash. United States Racquetball Association rules prohibit racquetball racquets from exceeding 22 inches in length. Racquetball racquets typically have a much wider hitting surface than squash racquets. Players must wear a safety cord around their wrists that attaches to the racquet's handle. Players must also wear protective glasses or goggles at all times while on the court.
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