Play Racquetball
Racquetball can be a great way to exercise while building relationships with your friends or colleagues. The sport is relatively simple to learn and can be played with minimal equipment. Played indoors, it is not dependent on weather or season and can be played any time.
Contents
Steps
Before You Play
- Prepare your body. As with any sport or serious physical activity, you will want to prepare your body to ensure it will be at peak performance. This will help you play better but also keep you from injury or illness.
- Stretch and warm up. This will loosen your muscles and reduce the risk of injury. It will also help your coordination once the game has started.
- Eat well and hydrate. Eating healthy foods will give you the energy for playing and hydration is key to peak physical performance. Continue to hydrate during the game and be sure you are taking in electrolytes.
- Understand the objective and rules. Understand and be sure the other players understand the objective of the game before playing. A poor understanding of the game will slow down gameplay and lead to tension and arguments between players.
- Read the official rules of the game and watch videos of others playing. This is a great way to thoroughly understand the game before you play.
- Practice. You can practice on your own before playing with others. This will help you to play your best when it’s time for a game. You can practice at home if you have a large enough area and a very solid wall or you can practice at a gym or community center.
- Coaches and classes are often available at gyms and community centers as well, if you want to improve your game even further before playing with others.
Setting Up
- Gather equipment. You will need particular equipment to play racquetball properly. Equipment can be purchased at sports stores, rented, or borrowed from a gym or community center. Be sure that your equipment is in good condition and appropriate for the sport.
- A racquet. You will need a racquetball racquet. This is a slightly different shape than a tennis racquet, so be sure to pay attention. These cost anywhere between $20-$200, depending on personal preference.
- Ball. Racquetballs are made specifically for the sport of racquetball. Balls come in a variety of colors and are made of hollowed rubber. The standard size is 2.25” in diameter. The most common brand is Penn.
- Glove. Gloves are extremely important for playing racquetball. They ensure a solid grip and prevent slippage. Wear a glove on any hand you intend to hold your racquet in.
- Eyewear. Wear proper protective eyewear. The ball will be moving very fast and you want to be properly protected if you are hit in the face, as being hit can cause permanent eye damage. Eyewear is required in competitions.
- Shoes. You will want to wear appropriate shoes. Any athletic or tennis shoe should be fine. Ensure that the shoes fit well and you can move easily. Shoes which cause blisters and sores should not be worn.
- Find a court. You will need an appropriate place to play a match. The easiest place to find a racquetball court will be at a gym or community center. Local universities may also have appropriate facilities, as well as clubs specifically for racquetball. Find a local racquetball association to get more information about the facilities available in your area, as well as events in which you can participate.
- Get players. You will need other people to play with. You can find these people in a variety of ways. Friends, business associates, or other serious players can make great partners and opposing teams. Decide before which style of racquetball you wish to play, as this will determine how your team is formed.
- Singles. Two players will play against each other
- Doubles. Four players will play against each other, two to a team.
- Cut-throat. Three players will play, all against each other.
Gameplay and Winning
- Begin the game by serving the ball. The player may make the serve from anywhere within the service zone, including but not over the line. The ball should bounce and then immediately be hit by the player.
- Know about fault serves. There are certain serves which should be avoided by players. These serves can result in a hand-out (the player losing the serve). Two fault serves are necessary to result in a hand-out.
- Foot fault: when a player steps outside of the service zone before the ball has crossed the line.
- Short serve: when the ball hits the front wall but bounces off the floor before crossing the line.
- Three-wall serve: this occurs when the ball hits the front wall but then bounces off of both side walls before hitting the ground.
- Ceiling serve: when the ball hits the front wall and bounces off of the ceiling.
- Long serve: when the ball hits the front wall and bounces to hit the back wall before hitting the ground.
- Screen serve: this is when the ball is served in such a way that it returns so close to the server that the other players cannot see the ball.
- First serve can be decided by a coin toss, order of the previous match (first serve should go to player who did not have first serve in the previous game), by simple agreement, or any other method of the players’ choosing.
- Avoid out serves. Out serves, unlike fault serves, automatically result in a hand-out and should be absolutely avoided. Examples of out serves include:
- Missed attempt: this is when the server swings at the served ball but misses entirely.
- Non-front wall serve: any serve where the ball does not hit the front wall first.
- Touched serve: this occurs when the ball bounces off of the front wall but hits the server or their racquet before hitting the floor.
- Rally with your opponent. Rallies are any continuous pass of the ball after it has been served. Rallies are generally won when the opposing player makes a poor return by allowing the ball to skip on the ground twice or hitting the ball against the floor without first hitting the front wall.
- A rally can also be lost when a a player switches racquet hands during a rally, carries or slings the ball with the racquet, touches the ball with their body, or causes the ball to leave the gallery.
- Points are awarded when a rally is won. The games are played to fifteen points and the matches are generally best two out of three.
- A replay hinder occurs when a player stops play because they are concerned they may injure another player. The last rally will then be replayed.
Techniques
- Get your grip straight. How the racquet is gripped can have a serious effect on gameplay. Two grips are acceptable and each is used to hit the ball in different ways. The method will depend upon your skill and the way in which the ball has been hit towards you.
- Forehand grip. Hold the racquet the same way you would shake someone’s hand and then curl your fingers around it. There should be a slight space between your fingertips and the heel of your palm. Your fingers should be low on the handle without going off the edge. Avoid holding the racquet so that it is perpendicular to your arm as this will make it harder to serve.
- Backhand grip. This is done by holding the racquet in the standard forehand grip and then turning the racquet roughly ⅛” clockwise. This is a difficult grip to master but gives the player a more powerful swing.
- Practice your strokes. Depending on your grip style, you will use the according stroke (or method of hitting the ball). Different strokes achieve different ball movements and should be used as is appropriate. The stance for both is similar: knees should be bent and loose, legs should be placed a shoulder-width apart, and torso should be parallel with the side walls.
- Forehand stroke. This should be done similar to a baseball swing, with one knee lowering to the ground but not touching. Remember to try to keep your swing level.
- Backhand stroke. This stroke is done with the racquet beginning near your head, swinging forward around your body and ending behind you.
- Shot types. In order to make the ball go in particular directions across the court, you will have to hit it against the different walls in different ways. Knowing the different shots will allow you better control of the ball as well as giving you the tools you need to defeat your opponents.
- Ball height. For any given shot, it is important to understand the different heights at which a ball can be hit. Aiming low, just a few inches off the ground, is called a kill shot and often ends a rally. Aiming higher, one to two feet off the ground, is called a pass shot and is easier to achieve. A pass-kill shot is in between the other two types.
- Straight in. A straight in shot is when the player hits the ball directly at the front wall so that it bounces back parallel with the side wall. This is a very effective shot and can be taken at any height.
- Cross-court. A cross-court shot is when the player hits the ball so that it bounces to the opposite corner from where the shot began. This shot can be taken at any height. The intended purpose is to move your opponent out of the center of the court.
- Pinch. A pinch shot is taken low, preferably at kill shot level, and intended to end a rally. It is done by hitting the ball against the far end of the side wall and immediately bouncing off the front wall.
- Splat. Similar to a pinch shot, the splat shot is when a player hits the ball against the side wall (close to them, rather than at the far end as in a pinch shot) and it then hits the front wall in such a way that the opponent should not be able to follow. This is a low shot.
- Ceiling. A simple ceiling shot, should be carefully aimed to hit the front wall before hitting the ceiling. This is a common defensive shot to move your opponent out of the center of the court.
Warnings
- Getting hit with the ball hurts. Your opponents may become annoyed if you ricochet the ball off them too many times.
Things You'll Need
- A racquet. Don't buy the cheapest!
- A racquetball.
- A pair of protective eye wear.
- A racquetball glove helps if you are using a (rubber) aftermarket grip, however if your using the stock grip that came with the racquet you are better off without a glove because a glove can make things a bit more slippery when using the original grip.
