Rules Rule: To Call or Not Call a Hinder, That is the Question

Last month, I wrote about the national championship tournaments that took place in February 2026, noting several rules questions that had come up. One issue I noted quite frequently—that  appeared to cause significant confusion among both youth and experienced players alike—is  whether referees should stop play to call a hinder even if the players do not ask for one.

The answer is Yes! Referees should absolutely stop play to call a hinder, even if not requested by the players.

A special “thank you” to Trevor Milton, the racquetball head coach at Liberty University, who emailed me in March about this important topic.

Let’s consider a hypothetical.

Suppose that Dan Witt (the 2026 USA Racquetball High School Coach of the Year) is playing Michelle Andersen (the 2026 Women’s Indoor National Champion). During a rally, Michelle is attempting to take a shot off the back wall but must move around Dan—thus adjusting her shot—because Dan happened to be in her way. Michelle—the epitome of good sportsmanship—does not want to hurt Dan by hitting him! Yet, Michelle does not raise her hand to request a hinder and keeps playing the rally.

Should the referee have stopped and called a hinder?

To begin, this situation would likely be a replay hinder under Rule 3.14(a)(7) because Dan interfered with Michelle having a “fair chance to see or return the ball.” If Michelle had simply held up rather than kept playing, the result would likely have been a replay hinder under Rule 3.14(a)(6) (discussing safety holdups). Of course, this situation would not be a penalty hinder under Rule 3.15(a), because Michelle did not have a shot “straight to the front wall” or a “cross-court shot.” Instead, she was attempting to hit a shot off the back wall.

In refereed games, hinders are within the discretion of the referee. There is an unfortunate, yet all-too-common, misconception that hinders are player-dependent—that is, that players must request a hinder before the referee may call a hinder. This is erroneous thinking. Neither Rule 3.14 (replay hinders) nor Rule 3.15 (penalty hinders) authorizes hinders only in the event that a player requests it. Instead, I encourage referees to call hinders in the same way they would call short or long calls during serves. Referees would never require the receiving player to request a short or long call before calling a fault serve. Likewise, a referee should stop play immediately if he or she witnesses a hinder.

Yes, the referee should have stopped play when Michelle had to adjust her shot to get around Dan.

Aren’t players supposed to raise their hands if they think a hinder has occurred?

Yes, they are. Rule 3.14(b) says that for “all other hinders and other issues, such as a serve thought to be ‘short’ or a possible hinder not called, the player should raise his off hand or racquet to signal/denote the problem but continue to play the rally.”

Some might interpret this language as meaning that players are required to raise their hands or racquets before a hinder can be called. Not true. Once again, think of calling hinders the same way a referee would call a short serve. After all, Rule 3.14(b) uses short serves and hinders as examples of when players should raise their hands. Even if a player does not raise his or her hand to indicate that a serve was short, the referee should still stop play and call a short serve if the ball bounced on or before the short line. Similarly, even if a player does not raise his or her hand to indicate a hinder, the referee should still stop play and call the hinder.

Should players keep playing despite a hinder occurring?

The answer to this question is “it depends.”

We have already discussed that referees should stop play to call a hinder. But what should the players do? To answer this, let’s further explore the language of Rule 3.14(b). The rule provides that “the only hinders that allow a player to stop playing” are those described in Rules 3.14(a)(2), (5), and (6).

• Rule 3.14(a)(2) is a replay hinder when a ball hits an opponent (that is not otherwise a penalty hinder)
• Rule 3.14(a)(5) is a replay hinder for racquet or body contact on the backswing
• Rule 3.14(a)(6) is a replay hinder for a safety holdup

Thus, the only time that a player should stop playing is if one of the above situations occurs. Otherwise, the player should raise his or her hand to indicate a potential issue (e.g., hinder, short call, etc.) but should continue playing until either the referee stops play or the rally ends. However—and I cannot stress this enough—just because the players are told to keep playing does not meant the referee cannot stop play if a hinder other than the types described in Rules 3.14(a)(2), (a)(5), or (a)(6) occurred!

For example, in my hypothetical with Dan and Michelle, the referee should stop play and call a hinder even though it was not one of the hinders described in Rules 3.14(a)(2), (a)(5), or (a)(6).

USA Racquetball

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