Racquetball Rules
Serve
The game starts with a serve. The player serving the ball must bounce it once on the floor and hit it directly to the front wall, making the ball to touch the floor past the short line; otherwise the serve counts as a foul.
Rallies
During a rally all the play that follows the return of serve a player may hit the ball only with the head of the racket that may hit the ball only with the head of the racket, which may be held in one or both hands. Swapping the racket from one hand to the other, or removing the wrist thong during play, results in loss of the rally.
- Other losses of play results when a player:-
- Touches the ball more than once on a return
- Carries the ball (slings or throws it rather than hitting the same)
- Fails to return the ball before the second bounce
- Fails to hit the front wall on the return, before the return strikes the floor
- Hits his partner or even himself with the ball
- Commits a penalty hinder
- Hits the ball out of the court before the ball has first hit the front wall.
Hinders
A dead-ball hinder returns in a replay with no penalty; the server receives two serves. The receiver must make a reasonable effort and have a reasonable chance to make a return before a referee will call a hinder. Some examples of dead-ball hinder include:-
- When the ball hits a door knob or bounces irregularly off a rough surface
- When the ball hits the opponent
- When body contact occurs
- When an offensive player is screened from the ball passing close to the defensive player.
The penalty hinder results in loss of the rally. Examples of penalty hinder are:-
- When a player does not move enough to allow the opponent a straight shot at the front wall as well as cross-court shot
- When the movement of the player or lack of his movement impedes his opponent’s swing
- When the position of the player blocks his opponent from reaching or returning the ball, and
- When the player moves into the path of, and is struk by, a ball just hit by an opponent.
Timeouts
Each player or the team can make up to three 30-second timeouts in games to 15 and two 30-seconds in games to 11. A player is awarded up to 15 cumulative minutes of injury timeout.
