Well, this article is about racquetball as you might have already concluded from the heading of this article.
There is a lot of interesting facts about sports and the way they are played that we commonly do not look into. But why not?
They offer for a gripping read. If you want to get into racquetball or maybe have gotten into it recently then this is the one article for you.
We have all the things that you need to know about Racquetball.This article includes the definition of Racquetball alone with its history and set of rules.
We have also included strategy at the end of this article for an added bonus.You have come to the right place. So without any further ado let’s get right into this article.
What is Racquetball?
This is an outdoor sport. This includes a hollow ball. Remember that this can be played indoors too if the space is big enough but it is mostly preferred to be played outside.
Joseph Sobek is the person who introduced this modern game of Racquetball in the year 1950. In Racquetball there is no net to play the ball over.
This is how Racquetball is different from other racquet sports like badminton and tennis.The courts walls, floor and ceiling are legal playing surface.
If you have played Racquetball before then you will know what we are talking about. It is a lot different than the other sports in terms of its set of rules.
It originated in the United States Of America. It is not an official sport of the Olympics though. Both singles and double game play can be seen in this game. Let us take a brief look at the history of the great game.
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History
Like we said before Joseph Sobek is responsible for the creation of the game. He is a professional tennis and American handball player.
To say that he is good is the least we can do. Squash, paddle ball and handball are the sports from which he drew inspiration for this new game.
He however did not name this game Racquetball. He called it Paddle Racquets.In 1952 he founded the National Paddle Racquet Association.
The set of rules was also published in a handbook. It was a fast, simple and easy game that people started to enjoy.
Through continuous promotions, he made the game so popular that more and more people got invested in it.
In 1969 the International Racquetball Association was formed. The term was however coined by Bob Mclnerney.
He was a professional tennis player. This association has been through a lot of hurdles but it still stands today as the American Racquetball governing body.
In 1974, they organized the first professional tournament. In 1995 it was renamed as United States Racquetball Association.In 2003 they again renamed itself as USA Racquetball.
Yes we know what you are thinking they did change their name a lot but change is the only constant in life (we got a bit philosophical there but let’s move on).
Racquetball is still a widely played sport in the United States and many people seem to enjoy watching the sport too. It has gained a lot of popularity in the recent years too.
Equipment
A Racquetball court along with certain equipment is required to play the sport. The court has to be fully enclosed or outdoors with a front wall. It is rectangular in shape.
It is usually 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. It is also 20 feet high with red lines. We have listed some of the items or rather equipment that is required to play the sport –
- A Racquetball racquet obviously. It is bot supposed to be longer than 22 inches.
- A Racquetball. It is supposed to be a bouncy rubber ball. It is 57 mm in diameter.
- Racquetball Eye guards. This is to protect the eyes from getting hit by the ball and risk some serious injury. Professional games always require the players to wear these.
- These are optional equipment. The player can wear it or ignore it too. It all depends on their personal choice
Rules
The game has some rules for playing like all other games do. To start the play one player has to server. They have to bounce the ball on the ground once before hitting it forward towards the front wall.
The ball may touch one side of the wall but not two. Then it can it the floor. If it does touch two sides of the wall and then the floor then it is considered a fault.
The server also has to be careful of a ceiling fault or they should wait for the ball to pass the short line before moving from the service box. Otherwise it will be a fault.
If the ball hits any other surface than the front wall then the server will immediately lose the serve. There is usually two serve rule where the server gets two serves (a first and the second).
However you have to understand that in professional plays you must always get one serve according to the one serve rule.
There is an alternate hitting of the wall after the successful serve. These are some of the important rules in Racquetball that you have to keep in mind.
1. Scoring
If a person is serving and they win the rally then one point is awarded to the server. He or she will again get another chance to serve.
However if the server loses and the opponent wins the rally then no point is awarded to the server.
The serve also goes to the opponent and the server is not allowed to serve for the second time. The matches are confirmed with a best of three games.
The first two games are set up to point 15 and the third game is set to 11 points. This format of game or rather rules of the play is dominant in United States and Canada.
This is also the rule that is set for the International Racquetball games. The two games of 15 points and then a third one with 11.
2 .Hinders
The nature of the game demands for the opponent to occupy the space the player wants to occupy. That’s just how the strategy of the game works.
The opponent blocked the player to play the ball. This is known as hinders. The hinder is a type of screen where the player is unable to see the ball before passing through the opponent’s side.
There is a hinder and a penalty hinder. A hinder is a replay of the current Rally and the penalty hinder is said to be when the player who caused the avoidable obstruction loses the rally.
There is also something called the court hinder. Don’t worry we will explain that too. This is when some part of the court causes the ball to bounce untrue.
This can be due to some problem with the playing field. This can be a flaw in the floor or walls. If this is the case then the valley is a re serve.
3. Game Variations
Racquetball can be played with up to 4 players. This can be individual games or double games. Two player games are usually the single games, they are also known as one ups.
The four pair games are obviously the doubles with 2 pairs of players playing the field. In tournaments there are both single and double games of Racquetball.
There are also three pair games. They are mostly referred to as cut throat or ironman games. They have chosen a fascinating name for it that’s for sure.
If you have never watched a three player Racquetball game then go to YouTube and search it right now. It is a very unique game play that we can not just define simply in words.
A visual representation is required for such a game play. These variation of Racquetball are the most popular and many people play in this formation.
Strategy
The strategies of Racquetball is infinite. We are no expert on the game so we are only going to note what we have read and learned from the various sources that we have read.
The main play of this game is to command the center of the court. This will allow the players to move to all the places in the court in a very fast manner.
After a serve the player should immediately make their way to the center of the court.
It is also important to keep an eye on the opponent by glancing side ways in their direction and thinking about their return shot.You have to learn to be unpredictable in your plays.
But at the same time you have to try to read the moves of your opponent. You can also use your play to move your opponent from the center court. Good luck!
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Conclusion
We hope that this article has been useful for you. We really tried our very best to include everything about Racquetball that we could. We really hope that this has been a good and informative read on your end.
If there are some problems then please let us know in the comment section below. We are always eager for some constructive criticism.
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