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Racquetball Terms

Short Line
Back edge of the short line is midway and parallel to the front and back walls.

Service Line
Front edge of the service line is parallel with and five feet in front of the back edge of the shortline.

Service Zone
Five foot area between the outer edges of the short line and the service line.

Service Boxes
Located at each end of the service zone and are designated by lines parallel with the dies walls. Each box is 18 inches in width.

Receiving Line
A broken line parallel to the short line. The back edge is five feet from the back edge of the short line.

Safety Zone
The five foot area bounded by the back edges of the short line and the receiving line which is observed only during the serve.

Faults

• Short Serve - ball bounces in front of or on second solid line of the service area
• Long Serve - ball carries to back wall before bouncing.
• Three Wall Serve - any served ball that first hits the front wall and on the rebound, strikes both side walls before bouncing.
• Foot Fault - player steps over the service lines during service.
• Out of Court Serve - any served ball that first hits the front wall and before striking the floor, goes out of the court.
• Screen Serve - a served ball that first hits the front wall and on the rebound passes so closely to the server that it prevents the receiver from having a clear view of the ball.

Ace Serve
Serve of any type that goes untouched by the receiver.

Drive Serve
Low, fast, powerful serve into either rear corner.

Lob Serve
High, slow, wall-hugging serve into rear corners. Often used as second serve.

High Lob Z
High, slow front wall to side wall combination that makes a "Z" pattern as it approaches the receiver.

Z-Serve
Front wall to side wall combination that makes a "Z" pattern as it approaches the receiver. May be hit with power or softly, depending on the desired effect.

Rally
Each legal return after the serve.

Skip Shot
Ball hits the floor before reaching the front wall.

Kill Shot
Ball hits the front wall 3 inches or lower and is unreturnable by opponent.

Pinch Shot
Side wall to front wall combination shot into either front corner 6 inches or lower.

Rollout Shot
An irretrievable shot, when the ball strikes so low on the front wall that is rolls rather than bounces back.

Hinder

• Court hinder - play stops when a ball strikes any part of the court that was designated as a court hinder or when the ball takes an abnormal bounce off a rough or irregular surface.
• Ball hits opponent - when an opponent is hit by a return shot in flight it is referred to as a dead-ball hinder. If it is obvious that the ball did not have the velocity or correct angle to make it to the front wall, it is not a dead-ball hinder.
• Body contact with opponent - serious body contact which prevents a playing from making a return. shot is called a hinder. Incidental body contact in which the offensive player clearly has the advantage is not a hinder.
• Screen ball - any ball rebounding from the front wall so close to the body of the defensive player that it interferes with or prevents the offensive player from having a clear view of the ball is a hinder. A ball that passes between the legs of a player is not necessarily a hinder, depending on the proximity of the players.

Avoidable Hinder

• Failure to move - a player does not attempt to move sufficiently to allow an opponent a shot straight to the front wall or a cross court shot results in a point being awarded to the offensive player.
• Stroke interference - occurs when a player moves or fails to move, so that the opponent returning the ball does not have a free, unimpeded swing. This includes intentionally moving in the wrong direction which prevents an opponent from making a clear offensive shot. A point is awarded to the offensive player.
• Moving into the ball - a player moves into the flight of the ball and is struck by the ball just played by an opponent. A point is awarded to the offensive player.

Technical Foul
Any player using profanity, excessive arguing, physical threat or violence, excessive or hard striking of the ball between rallies, slamming of racquet against the walls, excessive delay of the game, or any unsportsmanlike behavior results in one point being removed from the offender's score.

Wallbanger
A racquetball or squash player.