Racquetball Courts

Racquetball courts are considered specialized playing areas for this sport. What that means is that you cannot play racquetball without the proper racquetball courts being available. This is not true with other racket sports such as badminton or paddleball, which can be played in various places and on various courts.

For those unfamiliar with racquetball, the game is played in what amounts to an enclosed room. There are four walls, a floor, and a ceiling. All of these components must be present in order a good game to be played. It is for this reason that racquetball courts are considered specialized.

Standard racquetball courts are rectangular. They are 40 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 20 feet high. The court is marked by several red lines. These red lines are used to define service and reception areas.

The short line is a solid red line running the width of the court and is parallel to the front and back walls. It is located 20 feet from the back wall. The service line is parallel to the short line and is 5 feet closer to the front wall. Within the area created by these two lines (known as the service zone), there are two sets of lines perpendicular to the short and service lines.

On regulation racquetball courts the first set of lines are 18 inches from and parallel with the side walls and along with the short line, service line, and side wall define the doubles box. This is the box where the non-serving partner in doubles must stand during the serve. Exactly 36 inches from the side wall is another set of lines which, along with the short line and the service line, define an area that the server must not enter if he wishes to hit a drive serve between himself and the nearest side wall.

Also on regulation racquetball courts, the receiving line is a dashed line five feet parallel behind the short line. All of these lines are there for a reason, and new players should spend some time reviewing each line and what it means. Many service faults can be avoided by doing this.

A few years ago, racquetball courts were very popular and could found just about anywhere, regardless of the size of the town or city. As other gym sports began to become more popular, racquetball courts were replaced in order to open up more free space. This resulted in a decrease of racquetball courts.

You can still find racquetball courts but it may take some searching. Once you find one, however, and have played the game yourself, you will be happy that you invested this time.