| Racquet Ball |
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| Definition And
General Information |
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| racquet - A device consisting of
an oval frame with a tight interlaced network of strings and a
handle, used to strike a ball or shuttlecock in various games. A
wooden paddle, as one used in table tennis. |
| There are 2 types of playing
environments: Indoor / 3 wall and Outdoor / 4 wall |
| Players - 2, 3 or 4 players |
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| Rules |
| Serves |
| The player may drive serve
between their body and the side wall nearest to where the service
motion began only if the player starts and remains outside of the 3-
foot drive service zone. |
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| The drive serve line is not part
of the 17-foot zone.
Dropping the ball on the line or standing on the line while
serving to the
same side is an infraction. |
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| Only the "receiver" or
referee may call a screen serve.
There is no designated distance the ball must pass the server
by, since it
is difficult to measure while playing. |
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| Lose a serve if you get 2 short
serves, or 2 long serves.
You also lose a serve if you have 1 long serve + 1 short
serve. |
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| Doubles |
| The doubles partner must stand
inside either doubles
service box erect to the side wall with both feet on the
floor from the
moment the server begins the service motion until the served
ball rebounds
off the front wall past the the short line. The servers
partner must
have both feet on the ground within the Doubles Service
Box. |
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| The serving team must wait for
the served ball to hit the
front wall and rebound over the the Short Line before moving
back into the
Safety Zone. |
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| Hinders |
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| When the ball hits the opponent.
When an
opponent is hit by a return shot in flight, it is a dead-ball
hinder. If
the opponent is struck by a ball which obviously did not have
the velocity
or direction to reach the front wall, it is not a hinder, and
the player
who hit the ball will lose the rally. |
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| When there is body contact. If
body contact
occurs which the referee believes was sufficient to stop the
rally, either
for the purpose of preventing injury by further contact or
because the
contact prevented a player from being able to make a
reasonable return,
the referee shall call a hinder. |
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| Terms |
| Backhand A fundamental stroke
hit across
the body, which begins on the side opposite the racquet hand.
A right
hander's backhand stroke is from the left to right across the
body, ending
in an open stance. |
| Cut-throat A game variation
played by three
players. The server plays against the other two players, with
each player
serving in turn. |
| Donut A game lost with no
points scored
(15-0); the loser was given a "donut" or zero. |
| Doubles A game variation with
four players,
in teams of two which oppose each other. |
| Eye guards Required protective
equipment,
mandated for all sanctioned tournament play. |
| Fault An illegal serve or
rules infraction
during service, i.e.: short or long serve, ceiling, three-
wall,
out-of-court, foot fault, screen. Two successive faults
result in a
double-fault and loss of serve, or side-out. |
| Forfeit A loss for a player
who is a
no-show for a tournament match. |
| Garbage serve A half-lob serve
designed to
fall short of the back wall for a difficult return. |
| Grip Position of the hand on
the racquet,
the way in which the racquet handle is grasped or the cover
material of
the racquet handle |
| Hinder A replay situation in
which
interference or screen of a ball does not permit the opponent
a fair
chance to make a shot. |
| Long serve A fault serve that
hits the back
wall before hitting the floor. |
| Pinch shot A low shot directed
into a front
corner, hitting first the side wall then the front wall. |
| Rally The alternating exchange
of shots
that occurs after the serve and continues until a point or
sideout is
achieved. |
| Rollout A perfect shot that
hits the front
wall so close to the floor that it rebounds without a bounce
by rolling
back into the court; impossible to retrieve. |
| Screen Serve or shot that
passes so close
to the opponent that the receiver's view of the ball is
obstructed;
replayed without penalty during rally and called a fault on
serve. |
| Service box The 18-inch box at
each end of
the service area, in which the server's partner must stand
until the serve
has crossed the short line, in doubles. |
| Short serve Serve that bounces
before
passing the short line. Fault. |
| Twinkie A game lost with only
one point
scored (15-1); the loser was given a "twinkie" or
single point. |
| Wallpaper shot A ball that
travels so close
to the side wall that a free swing is difficult. |
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| Misspellings |
| "Racquet" is
suggested by spellcheckers
for the following: grecques, Jacquot, jaquet, packquet,
racqet, racquel,
Racquin, raquet, Rasquin, recques, requet, Ricquier, risquet,
Rouquet,
sacque |
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| Similar Sports |
| Tennis, ping pong, badminton,
hand ball,
smash ball |
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| Related links |
| www.racquetball.com |
| www.worldbadminton.com |
| www.dictionary.com |
