Rules Rule: All I Want This Holiday Season Are Rules Answers

As you finalize your holiday preparations, gatherings, and reverie, here are three racquetball rules questions and accompanying answers recently submitted by USAR members. If it all gets to be too much, come to this safe haven of rules questions for a temporary escape back to the court!

1)  A player asked whether a server could bounce the ball behind his body before hitting. Confused, I asked for clarification. He sent me a rather hilarious video of another player bouncing the ball from behind his back to his front foot before hitting a drive serve. He explained that this was all in good fun but was still curious whether it was legal.

Rule 3.9(g) simply requires that the server bounce the ball in the Service Zone at the beginning of a service motion. Failure to do so is a fault serve. However, the rule does not require that the bounce occur in front of the server’s body. Of course, if the player in the video attempted such a serve during regulated play—and for my own amusement, I hope he does—from what I observed in the video, he will need to be careful not to violate Rule 3.5(a) which requires the server to begin the service motion within ten seconds of the score being called. Unless the server has eyes behind his head, he will not be able to see where he is bouncing the ball (because he’s bouncing the ball behind his back while looking forward). Therefore, the server should be aware of Rule 3.9(f), which says a fault serve occurs if the serving player bounces the ball outside the service zone at the beginning of a service motion.

2) I received a question about screen serves in doubles. In summary, Players A and B are receiving serve in a doubles match. Both are right-handed. Player A is on the left side of the court while Player B is on the right. The serving team decides to serve to Player B. Player A “cheats” forward and stands either directly behind or just to the right of the serving player. From that position—and even though the serve went to Player B—can Player A call a screen serve?

Rule 3.9(i) says that a screen serve occurs when the ball passes “so closely to the server” that it prevents the receiver from “having a clear view of the ball.” Thus, regardless of where the receiver is standing, the referee must determine whether the ball (having rebounded off the front wall) passes “so closely” to the serving player (or to the serving player’s partner in doubles) that it prevents the receiving player from having a clear view. Further, Rule 3.9(i) goes on to say that the “receiver is obligated to take up a good court position, near center court, to obtain that view.”

Given the rule, my view is that a referee should not call a screen serve in this situation.

First, a screen serve should not be called unless the ball, having rebounded off the front wall, passes “so closely” to the server (or his/her partner) that it prevents a receiving player from having a clear view. If the ball does not pass closely to the server (e.g., a high lob serve), Player A could not claim a screen serve occurred.

Second, a referee would certainly, in my view, be justified in determining that Player A had not taken up a good court position as required by Rule 3.9(i).

3) A question was asked whether a player may slide on knee pads to get to a ball.

Certainly, players may dive for balls to return a shot. Nothing in the USAR Official Rulebook prohibits a player from having knee pads. As “value added” to this question, Rule 2.5(b) does stipulate that a referee may require a player to change clothing—including knee pads—if the clothing is wet, “extremely” loose fitting, or otherwise distracting. Additionally, Rule 3.16(c) requires a player to use a timeout if he or she needs to adjust or replace clothing during play. However, in the absence of anything in the rules, the player may slide on the knee pads to reach the ball.

To round out this year’s offering of Rules Rule! articles, a special congratulations goes to the 33 U.S. Junior Team athletes who represented the United States at the 2025 International Racquetball Federation World Junior Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, December 5-13. Because of you, the future of our sport and the national program is stronger than ever!

From my family to yours, I wish you a HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND NEW YEAR!!

National Rules Commissioner Joshua Jones welcomes questions from members and will respond timely along with occasionally featuring a few in USA Racquetball’s Serving Up the News. Write to Josh at rulescommissioner@usaracquetball.com, and you may see your question in a future issue of this newsletter!