Racquetball Rules

Racquetball rules were set up and imposed so that all players would play under the same guidelines of fairness. The official racquetball rules can be found online and every player should at least familiarize himself with the basic laws of the game.

Some of the more useful racquetball rules include:

The standard racquetball court is rectangular. It is 40 feet long, 20 feet wide and 20 feet high. The court is marked by several red lines to define service and reception areas.

Under the current racquetball rules, the player who is serving must bounce the ball on the floor once and then hit it directly to the front wall. After hitting the front wall the ball must rebound beyond the short line and touch the floor either with or without touching one side wall. If this does not happen it is a fault.

Once the ball bounces behind the short line, or passes the receiving line, the ball is considered 'in play' and can be returned by the opposing player(s).

The server is allowed two attempts at serving if a fault serve is committed. The racquetball rules allow that there are different methods to determine who receives first serve.

The current racquetball rules do not allow for a three wall serve in which the ball touches both side walls before touching the floor. A ceiling serve in which the ball touches the ceiling on the serve is also a fault and does not count.

The player who is serving must stand within the service zone during the serve, and the service receiver must stand behind the receiving line when the serve is being made and until the ball bounces on the floor or crosses the receiving line. After the serve is hit by the service receiver, there are no restrictions in the racquetball rules on where players must stand. The player who won the last point or rally makes the next service.

Points are scored only by the server, or in the case of a doubles match, the server's team, when the served ball is not returned by an opposing player.

In professional play the racquetball rules require that play continue until the best of 5 eleven-point games is reached and a two-point margin has also been reached. Amateur players play 2 fifteen-point games, with an eleven-point tiebreaker if necessary. It is not necessary to win by two points in amateur racquetball.