Spectator
Basics
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Racquetball -- once dubbed "high-speed tennis in a box" -- is the fastest-paced racquet sport in the world. At the elite level, service speeds alone can reach 180 mph, while each shot exchange revs up the tempo. Even at a slightly more moderated local level, heated rallies and diving retrievals by weekend warriors give added meaning to the term "blue streak." Speed and power aside, in its basic form racquetball shares strategies with other racquet sports. Like tennis, a player retrieves each shot on one bounce. Unlike tennis, points are scored only by the server. Like squash, the walls are used to strategically place the ball, and the player, in scoring position. Unlike squash, the lower the shot, the better. To begin, the server takes up position between two solid lines at mid-court which mark the service zone. The service motion is limited to that area and the ball is put into play after contacting the racquet, the front wall and passing into the back court. On that course, the ball can touch one side wall, but no more. If it hits three surfaces (including the ceiling or back wall) before bouncing, a "long" or fault serve is called. A serve which does not carry beyond the mid-court service line is "short" and is also a fault. In everyday play, the server is given two opportunities to put the ball into play. In U.S. National Team qualifying events, only one serve is allowed. See Court Diagram & Floor Markings Once the ball is in play, there is no limit to the number of walls that can be used for shot variations in a rally. A side-wall-to-front-wall shot is called a "pinch," and a slow series of high ceiling-to-front-wall combinations is a "ceiling ball rally." In a game, players earn points or win the serve by ending the rally. "Good shots" hit the front wall so low they can't be returned before the second bounce. Errors, or "skipped" balls contact the floor before reaching the front wall.
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