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Racquetball

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Racquet and ball

History and Overview:

Joe Sobek invented racquetball in 1949 on a Connecticut handball court. Seeking a game with fast pace that was easy to learn, Sobek designed the first short strung paddle, devised rules combining the basics of handball and squash, and named his modification "paddle rackets." His experiment was an overnight success; the sport caught on quickly and has since evolved into racquetball as we know it today.

By the early 70's, court clubs could be found in every state and the sport enjoyed a rapid and steady rise in popularity. As Americans sought new and challenging athletic activities, the timing was perfect for racquetball -- courts were accessible nationwide and the sport was fun and easy to learn. The late 70's and early 80's saw racquetball become one of the fastest growing sports in America as thousands of new racquetball courts were built to satisfy the demand.

But the sport saturated the market and reached its peak in the mid 80's, when many clubs either closed their doors or began converting courts to other uses. But by 1987 the decline leveled off and racquetball regained a steady, manageable growth rate.

From an original core group of loyal enthusiasts, participation has stabilized at just below five million American players who enjoy the sport each year.

Internationally, the sport has also attained great heights in its short history -- with World Championships held bi-annually since 1981, the addition of five International Olympic Committee approved events and its debut as a Pan American Games Sport in 1995.

These are exciting times for the sport of racquetball. With increasing exposure to a growing market of recreational and competitive players -- combined with the sport's proven track record of retention and steady annual growth, plus the promise of achieving the "Olympic Dream" racquetball is well positioned for the future.

TYPES OF GAMES
Racquetball is played by two or four players. When played by two, it is called singles and when played by four, doubles. A non-tournament variation of the game that is played by three players is called cut-throat.

DESCRIPTION
Racquetball is a competitive game in which a strung racquet is used to serve and return the ball.

OBJECTIVE
The objective is to win each rally by serving or returning the ball so the opponent is unable to keep the ball in play. A rally is over when a player (or team in doubles) is unable to hit the ball before it touches the floor twice, is unable to return the ball in such a manner that it touches the front wall before it touches the floor, or when a hinder is called.

POINTS AND OUTS
Points are scored only by the serving side when it serves an irretrievable serve (an ace) or wins a rally. Losing the serve is called a sideout in singles. In doubles, when the first server loses the serve it is called a handout and when the second server loses the serve it is a sideout.

MATCH, GAME, TIEBREAKER
A match is won by the first side winning two games. The first two games of a match are played to 15 points. If each side wins one game, a tiebreaker game is played to 11 points.

COURT SPECIFICATIONS
The specifications for the standard four-wall racquetball court follow.

BALL SPECIFICATIONS

BALL SELECTION

RACQUET SPECIFICATIONS

APPAREL

 

What Level am I?

Level Description
Pro Highest level. Competes on PRO tour. Trains year round to achieve highest skill level and physical conditioning.
Open Competes or has competed at Open level in sanctioned tournaments. Can hit any shot from anywhere on the court with great accuracy. No apparent weaknesses. Can develop and execute game plans and mental strategies.
A One of the top players in the club. Probably trains for racquetball. Forehead and backhand strokes are equal. High level of knowledge. high percentage of successful shots. Hits kill shots and re-kills. Accurate serves, passes, kill shots. Able to compete regionally and nationally, if interested.
B More experienced player/athlete; probably plays and/or practices regularly. Knowledge of offense vs. defense and shot selection. Able to execute most shots; lacks consistency; improving footwork and ability to wait for shots; may have developed a variety of serves; and backhand is starting to become more equal to forehand. Weakness are apparent.
C Plays frequently, developing strengths. Starting to understand and execute "basic" shots consistently. Level of knowledge is improving. Learning pinches, ceiling shots, basic serves, strategy, and center court positioning.
D Lacks playing experience and may not play on a frequent basis. Learning basics: safety, rules, forehand and backhand strokes, serves and returns. Shots are inconsistent; often follows ball direction rather than anticipating where to move to wait for a return; most shots will be high and rebound back to the center court area. Has difficulty judging shot and return angles.
Novice Just starting to learn to play. Lacks knowledge of all aspects or sport. May be taking lessons or someone who rarely plays.

 

PLAY REGULATIONS

 

Picture of a court with players.

 

 

SERVE
In Open Division competition, the server will have one opportunity to put the ball into play. In all other divisions, the server will have two opportunities to put the ball into play.  

The player or team winning the coin toss has the option to either serve or receive at the start of the first game. The second game will begin in reverse order of the first game. The player or team scoring the highest total of points in games 1 and 2 will have the option to serve or receive first at the start of the tiebreaker. In the event that both players or teams score an equal number of points in the first two games, another coin toss will take place and the winner of the toss will have the option to serve or receive.

START
The server may not start the service motion until the referee has called the score or "second serve." The serve is started from any place within the service zone. Neither the ball nor any part of either foot may extend beyond either line of the service zone when initiating the service motion. Stepping on, but not beyond, the lines is permitted. However, when completing the service motion, the server may step beyond the service (front) line provided that some part of both feet remain on or inside the line until the served ball passes the short line. The server may not step beyond the short line until the ball passes the short line.

MANNER
After taking a set position inside the service zone, a player may begin the service motion--any continuous movement which results in the ball being served. Once the service motion begins, the ball must be bounced on the floor in the zone and be struck by the racquet before it bounces a second time. After being struck, the ball must hit the front wall first and on the rebound hit the floor beyond the back edge of the short line, either with or without touching one of the side walls.

READINESS
The service motion shall not begin until the referee has called the score or the second serve and the server has visually checked the receiver. The referee shall call the score as both server and receiver prepare to return to their respective positions, shortly after the previous rally has ended.

DELAYS
The referee may call a technical foul for delays exceeding 10 seconds.

  1. The 10 second rule applies to the server and receiver simultaneously. Collectively, they are allowed up to 10 seconds after the score is called to serve or be ready to receive. It is the server's responsibility to look and be certain the receiver is ready. If a receiver is not ready, they must signal by raising the racquet above the head or completely turning the back to the server. (These are the only two acceptable signals.)
  2. Serving while the receiving player/team is signaling not ready is a fault serve.
  3. After the score is called, if the server looks at the receiver and the receiver is not signaling not ready, the server may then serve. If the receiver attempts to signal not ready after that point, the signal shall not be acknowledged and the serve becomes legal.

DRIVE SERVICE ZONES
The drive serve lines will be 3 feet from each side wall in the service zone. Viewed one at a time, the drive serve line divides the service area into a 3-foot and a 17-foot section that apply only to drive serves. The player may drive serve between the body and the side wall nearest to where the service motion began only if the player starts and remains outside of the 3-foot drive service zone. In the event that the service motion begins in one 3-foot drive service zone and continues into the other 3-foot drive serve zone, the player may not hit a drive serve at all.

  1. The drive serve zones are not observed for cross-court drive serves, the hard-Z, soft-Z, lob or half-lob serves.
  2. The racquet may not break the plane of the 17-foot zone while making contact with the ball.
  3. The drive serve line is not part of the 17-foot zone. Dropping the ball on the line or standing on the line while serving to the same side is an infraction.

DEFECTIVE SERVES
Defective serves are of three types resulting in penalties as follows:

  1. Dead-Ball Serve. A dead-ball serve results in no penalty and the server is given another serve (without canceling a prior fault serve).
  2. Fault Serve. Two fault serves result in an out (either a sideout or a handout).
  3. Out Serve. An out serve results in an out (either a sideout or a handout).

DEAD-BALL SERVES
Dead-ball serves do not cancel any previous fault serve. The following are dead-ball serves:

FAULT SERVES
The following serves are faults and any two in succession result in an out:

OUT SERVES
Any of the following results in an out:

RETURN OF SERVE

CHANGES OF SERVE

RALLIES


All of the play which occurs after the successful return of serve is called the rally. Play shall be conducted according to the following rules:

DEAD-BALL HINDERS


A rally is replayed without penalty and the server resumes play at first serve whenever a dead-ball hinder occurs. 

AVOIDABLE HINDERS


An avoidable hinder results in the loss of the rally. An avoidable hinder does not necessarily have to be an intentional act.  Any of the following results in an avoidable hinder:

TIMEOUTS

TECHNICAL FOULS AND WARNINGS

 

Warming Up and Stretching
Warm-up. We all know we need to do it - so why don't we always do it? And more importantly - do we do it correctly??

The simple answers are: many of us look for short cuts and are sometimes willing to take unnecessary risks often thinking "I'll just hit around and get warmed up to play" or "Oh, I'll be ok - it won't matter this time" (That is exactly what I thought 10 minutes before I tore cartilage in my left knee while "just hitting around"). I truly believe that we all do in fact know better but sadly enough most of us are guilty of doing just that - not properly warming up before starting a game or practice. And yes, it is just as important to warm-up properly prior to practicing as it is before the finals of the Hilton U.S. Open!

Ok, I have eluded to it a few times now but - what exactly is a "Proper warm-up"? To properly warm-up does not mean to take a ball into the court and try your hardest to break it. In fact, a proper warm-up should start long before you ever enter the court. The sport of Racquetball involves the whole body and thus you need to warm-up the whole body and not just your hitting arm! A proper warm-up should include moderately intense exercise for 8-10 minutes followed by light stretching and finally hitting/chasing the ball around the court. The 8-10 minutes of exercise can be easily performed on a stationary bike, treadmill, or any exercise equipment; however, if you do not have access to exercise equipment the same goal can also be achieved by jumping rope, running in place or chasing (preferably) your own kids around the playing facility. The easiest way to know if you have exercised enough is that you really should "break a sweat" before you stop.

The goal of this exercise is simple: you need to make the muscles work.

Increased muscle activity will produce heat as well as increase heart rate and circulation. The body circulates the blood to move the heat produced by the active muscles to the skin and thus causes you to sweat. It is not appropriate or advised to try and warm-up in a sauna or a steam bath. This simply increases your body temperature and although it does make you sweat it does not increase the temperature of your muscles nor does it get your muscles ready to play. The idea of exercising in a sauna or steam bath is NOT advised and is actually VERY DANGEROUS as it can lead to a variety of heat injuries such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Now that you know why you should do what you already knew what to do - please please please - practice it! Maybe, just maybe, we can send one less person to the orthopedic surgeon.

J Timothy P. Scheett, Ph.D.
Research Fellow and Semi-OK Racquetball Player
The Human Performance Laboratory
Ball State University
Muncie IN 47304
tscheett@bsu.edu


© RACQUETBALL CENTRAL 2001 All Rights Reserved

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Drills


Practicing, or "drilling" is a very important part of improving your game. If you find drilling boring, try to find ways to make it fun and interesting...bring a radio into the court, work on different drills for different days, track your progress, etc.

Serious players should practice more than they play in the off-season and at least as much as they play during the playing season.

Make sure to spend time during every drill session to work on your serve and return of serve. You should spend at least 1/3 of your drill session on serves. The serve is your best weapon and the return of serve you best opportunity.

Ceiling Drills


I like to start my practice sessions with ceiling drills...it's a nice and easy way to warm-up your shoulder and swing. I usually start by hitting 10 forehand and backhand ceiling shots...they must carry into the far backcourt (ideally, a ceiling shot should fall 5' before the back wall) to count and I must hit 10 shots in a row or I have to start over.

Then I'll do 10 cross-over/down-the-line (DTL) ceiling shots. I'll start with a backhand or forehand DTL ceiling shot, then hit a cross-court ceiling shot...move over to the other side of the court and hit a DTL and then another cross-over, etc...until I've hit 10 successful cross-over ceiling shots (and DTL shots).

Depending on what I may be working on that day, I will usually repeat this routine 2-3 more times during the drill session...particularly after some anaerobic drills such as "wrist flicks" from the service zone.

One secret toward hitting a good ceiling ball is to get under it well before you hit the ball. In other words, do not be lazy in getting into position to hit the ceiling shot. I often see people sluggishly getting into position because they think they have all day since the ball is going so slow...they get into position just as the ball is coming down and don't have enough time to get set for the shot (feet planted, racquet back, stepping forward into the shot). This is true for any shot, it's just that everyone thinks they have all day to get to a ceiling ball.

Too often the ceiling game is neglected. Players misunderstand that playing aggressively means you must never hit a ceiling shot. There's a fine line between playing aggressively and playing outside your limits...you should always be able to count on your ceiling game to out position your opponent and put you in an offensive position.

Strategy (courtesy of Velocity Racquetball ® 2004)

Tactical:

Shot Selections

Positioning

Relocation to Center Court

Serve Return Strategies

Trapping, faking, & screening

Analysis: High % shot off a ceiling back wall

Tactical Strategies

Game Management

Attacking Defense

Spaghetti Racquetball

General:

Calculated Risks

5 Basic Strategies

Perfect Practice

Service Return: Playing the percentages

 

Racquetball magazine
Information contained on this page is courtesy of the United States Racquetball Association

 

 

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