Racquetball words · Intermediate

The words that make the commentary make sense. They build on the beginner words.

I · Intermediate · 55 words · Step 2 of 2

Court and equipment terms

Service box

A box at each end of the service zone, marked by lines parallel to the side walls whose inner edge is 18 in from the nearest side wall. In doubles the server's partner stands in it.

Receiving line

A broken line parallel to the short line, its back edge 5 ft from the short line's back edge, made of two 21 in lines and 6 in dashes and spaces.

Safety zone

The 5 ft by 20 ft area between the short line and the receiving line. It is observed only during the serve; the receiver may not enter it until the ball bounces or crosses the receiving line.

See also: Receiving line, Server, Short line

Out-of-court line

The line on the back wall whose upper edge is 12 ft above the floor. A ball hitting above it, or any gallery or wall opening, is out of play.

Ball selection

The players agree on at least two acceptable balls before a match. The ball may be replaced during a match if both sides ask or the referee decides, and only an IRF-approved ball is used.

Scoring terms

Tiebreaker

The deciding fifth game, also played to 11 and won by 2. The side with the most points in the earlier games chooses to serve or receive in it; a tie is settled by a coin toss.

Choosing to serve

The winner of the coin toss chooses to serve or receive the first game. The second game reverses it, and games three and four alternate.

Serving terms

Drive service zone

The 3 ft strip of the service zone next to each side wall. For a drive serve the server must not start or stay in it, and the ball must not be dropped on the line or the line stood on when serving to that side.

See also: Server, Service zone, Drive serve, Drive

The ruleWhat is the drive serve zone in racquetball?

Serve variations

Drive serve

A hard serve aimed to run along a side wall. A player may drive serve between the body and the nearest side wall only if the player starts and stays outside the 3 ft drive service zone, with a 17 ft section in the rest of the zone. Crosscourt drive, z and lob serves are not subject to the zones.

Lob serve

A high, slow serve that arcs up and drops near the back wall, to slow the rally. The rules mention lob and half-lob serves only to exempt them from the drive service zones.

Z serve

A serve that hits the front wall, then a side wall, then crosses to the other side. The rules mention hard and soft z serves only to exempt them from the drive service zones.

Faults and outs

Long serve

A served ball that hits the front wall and carries to the back wall before touching the floor. It is a fault serve.

Ceiling serve

A served ball that hits the front wall and then the ceiling before the floor. It is a fault serve.

Crotch serve

A served ball that hits the junction of the front wall with the floor, a side wall or the ceiling is an out serve, because it is treated as not hitting the front wall first. A ball that hits the floor and back wall, or the floor and a side wall beyond the short line, after the front wall is in play.

See also: Front wall, Ceiling, Short line, Out serve

Fake or balk serve

A non-continuous movement of the racquet toward the ball as it is dropped, meant to deceive the receiver. It is an out serve.

Touched serve

A served ball that touches the server or the server's racquet on the rebound from the front wall before the floor, or one that the server's partner intentionally stops or catches. It is an out serve.

See also: Front wall, Racquet, Server, Out serve

Illegal hit

Contacting the ball twice, hitting it with the handle or a body part or uniform, or serving without first bouncing it. On a serve it is an out serve; in a rally a double hit or touching the ball with the body loses the rally.

Out-of-court ball

A legal return that bounces and then leaves the playing area is a dead-ball hinder and is replayed. One that goes above the out-of-court line or out of a side wall opening without bouncing is an out against the offender, except that a Z shot through a side opening after the front wall and the other side wall is replayed.

Hinders

Court hinder

A ball that hits a part of the court designated beforehand as a hinder, such as a vent grate or door handle, or takes an irregular bounce from a wet spot. The referee stops play and the rally is replayed.

Ball hits opponent

An opponent struck by a return shot in flight is a dead-ball hinder. If the ball did not have the velocity and direction to reach the front wall, no hinder is called and the hitter loses the rally. The struck player must request it at once.

Body contact

Contact the referee believes was enough to stop the rally, to prevent injury or because it prevented a reasonable return, is called a hinder. Incidental contact and racquet contact on the follow-through are generally not called.

See also: Racquet, Rally, Hinder, Referee

Backswing hinder

Body or racquet contact on the backswing that impairs the hitter's ability to take a reasonable swing. The hitter may stop and ask for a hinder at once.

Safety holdup

A player about to hit who believes that striking the opponent with the ball or racquet is likely may stop play and request a hinder. The referee accepts or refuses it.

Responsibility for hinders

The player or team that has just hit the ball must move so the other side can go straight to the ball with a clear view. The receiver must make a real effort to reach the ball, and must have a reasonable chance to return it, for any hinder to be called.

Shot variations

Overhead kill

A kill shot hit from above shoulder height. The rules do not use the name.

Splat shot

A shot hit at an angle off a side wall so it dies near the front wall. The rules do not use the name.

Back wall shot

A shot played after the ball has come off the back wall. The ball may be struck after touching any wall, but a ball off the back wall in the multi-bounce form must be struck before it crosses the short line.

Ceiling ball

A defensive return that goes up to the ceiling before dropping deep, to buy time. The rules do not use the name; a return may touch the ceiling before the front wall.

Tactical terms

Cutthroat

A non-tournament variation for three players. The rules give no further detail.

Doubles rotation

The rules do not describe a rotation. In doubles each team gives the referee its order of service and both players on a side may return the ball, in any order, until it bounces twice.

Rally control

Keeping shots low and tight so the opponent cannot easily reach the middle of the court. The rules do not use the name.

Time and conduct

Injury time-out

No regular time-out is charged for an injury during play. An injured player has up to 15 minutes in total in a match, and external bleeding must stop before play resumes. Cramps, fatigue and ailments not caused by contact are not covered.

Equipment time-out

For non-mandatory garments or equipment, the referee charges a time-out, or grants a referee time-out if none are left. Two minutes are allowed to replace a garment and 30 seconds to replace or adjust equipment.

Technical warning

For conduct not severe enough for a referee technical. No point is deducted and the server does not change.

See also: Server, Referee technical, Referee

Delay of game

Examples: taking too long to dry the court, excessive questioning of the referee, exceeding time-outs or the rest between games, calling a time-out after the service motion starts, or a server who fails to serve within 10 seconds beyond the one warning allowed per match.

Coaches

Coaches and representatives are bound by the same conduct rules as players, must be seated during the match except during time-outs and between games, and may not enter the court without the referee's permission.

Doubles and variations

Order of serve (doubles)

Each team gives the referee its order of service, which must be kept through the game and may change between games. At the start of a game, when the first server of the first team to serve is out, the team is out.

Partner's position

On each serve the server's partner stands erect, back to the side wall and both feet on the floor in the doubles (service) box from the start of the service motion until the server strikes the ball. A served ball that goes behind the partner's body is an automatic screen fault.

See also: Server, Fault, Service motion, Doubles

Out-of-order serve

When either partner serves out of order, that server's points are subtracted and an out serve is called. If the second server serves out of order the out applies to the first server and the second server resumes; if the first server does, it is a side-out.

Returns in doubles

A rally is lost if a player hits their own partner. Both partners may try to return the ball, in any order, until it bounces twice, and either may ask for a hinder. It is not a hinder when players interfere with their own partner.

Doubles teams

A team must meet the age or skill requirements of its division; a mixed-skill team plays in the higher level, an adult team in the division of the younger player and a junior team in that of the older. A partner may be changed until the first match is started by being called to the court.

Multi-bounce

A variation in which the ball stays in play while it is bouncing. The player swings only once and the ball is dead when it stops bouncing and rolls. A ball off the back wall must be struck before it crosses the short line, games are to 11 points and the first to win two games wins the match.

Blast rule

In multi-bounce play, if the ball goes from the front wall to the back wall on the fly the player may hit it from anywhere on the court, including in front of the short line, while it is still bouncing.

See also: Front wall, Short line, Multi-bounce

Front wall lines

Two lines on the front wall, the bottom edges 3 ft and 1 ft above the floor. A ball hitting between them must be returned before a third bounce, below the 1 ft line before a second bounce, and on or above the 3 ft line under the basic return rule.

Wheelchair racquetball

Two bounces are allowed on every rally and serve but are not mandatory. All four wheels count as the feet of a standing player, and the call is wheel fault. Every shot is started with the player seated, buttocks in contact with the chair when the ball is hit, and the racquet may be 22 in long including a bumper guard.

Chair control and maintenance

Intentionally changing the wheelchair's direction or speed with the lower extremities is an avoidable hinder. Each player has up to two 5-minute maintenance delays per match for a chair, prosthesis or assistive device, and one coach per player may enter the court to upright the player during a time-out.

See also: Avoidable hinder, Hinder, Time-out

Officiating

Tournament Director

Manages every recognised IRF tournament, designates the officiating team and the referee, briefs players and officials on the rules and local court hinders, and changes a referee only in an emergency.

Line judges

Two line persons designated by the Tournament Director who, at the referee's signal, agree (thumbs up), disagree (thumbs down) or show no opinion on an appealed ruling. If both disagree the call is reversed, and if either agrees it stands.

Video Review Assistance

Used in place of line judges at the Tournament Director's discretion, run by a second judge who offers input to the referee. The final decision rests with the referee.

Appeal

In matches with line judges, a player may appeal the previous shot, strike or event to the referee, before leaving the court or the next serve. Each player has at most two not-accepted appeals per game, and referee technicals and forfeits cannot be appealed.

Protest

A referee decision can be protested through the tournament desk, the Tournament Director and the Tournament Rules Committee, in that order.

Rule change procedure

Rule changes are proposed in writing to the IRF before 15 January of a World Championships year, reviewed by the Executive Board and the Rules Committee, voted on by delegates at the World Congress, and take effect on 1 September of that year if they win a simple majority.

Rules and officiating terms

Dead ball hinder

A stoppage in which the rally is replayed with no penalty and the server resumes with a first serve. See Hinder.

Out serve

A serve that costs the server the serve: a side-out in singles or a handout (or side-out) in doubles. Examples are failure to serve in 10 seconds, a missed attempt, a touched serve, a fake serve, an illegal hit, a non-front wall serve and a crotch serve.

Three wall serve

A served ball that hits the front wall and, on the rebound, both side walls before the floor. It is a fault serve; two in succession are an out.