Racquetball is a very interesting sport invented in the
early 1950's. Racquetball courts can be found in most cities, and very often on
college campuses.
A regulation Racquetball court is 40 feet by 20 feet.
The four walls in the room are 20 feet high. The court is divided by
two solid lines and one broken line. The service line is parallel to the
short line, 5 feet closer to the front wall. The broken line known as the
receiving line runs parallel to the short line. There are also two lines
connecting the short line and the service line. One is the screen
line, which is 3 feet from each side wall, and the other is the
doubles line, 1.5 feet from each side wall.
To start a game of Racquetball you must first find a
court, two racquets (one for each player) and a partner to play
with. A serve starts the game. To serve, stand between the two solid lines
and within the two screen lines to serve. Your serve must hit the front wall
before anything else, then come back over both solid lines and hit the floor
before reaching the back wall. So, if you hit the floor first, or the back
wall before the floor after the serve, you forfeit your serving privileges
to your opponent. Your opponent must hit the ball before it bounces twice
and hit it to the front wall without letting it hit the floor. The rally
continues until somebody fails.
To score, you must be the one serving. If you receive the
serve and get the ball to bounce twice on your opponent's side, you have not
scored yet. Now, you have the serve and have the opportunity to score.
Racquetball equipment needs to fit under a certain
measurement. The largest a racket can be is 18 inches long. The handle needs to
be big enough for you to hold (of course) but it has no real restrictions. The
long side of the elliptical racket head can be no longer than 11 inches. The
short side of the pad can be no longer than 9 inches. The racquetball itself
needs to be precise as well. All racquetballs have to be exactly (or as close
to exact as possible) two and a quarter inches in diameter. It must be rubber and
it must also be hollow for safety and to allow the ball to bounce with ease.
