Rules Rule: Ready or Not, Here Comes a Serve

This past July, I took my daughter to play in a tournament in Lombard, Illinois, at the Glass Court Swim and Fitness Club (many thanks to the new owners for hosting such a wonderful event!). During a men’s doubles match, one of my opponents walked up to the service box (after a side out), glanced back to make sure I was in a ready position, and served almost immediately.

I was caught off guard, not anticipating he was going to serve so quickly. That was on me. Nothing he did was improper or illegal, and it was within his right to play at a faster pace. My daughter later explained to me that perhaps the reason I wasn’t ready is because I am simply too old (43 years to be precise). I reminded her that I could rescind my promise of Chicago deep-dish pizza that night. She stopped harassing me, funny enough.

Of course, knowing that I would not have a full ten seconds before he served, I had to adjust. I could either start raising my racquet to indicate that I was not ready, or I could simply get mentally ready to receive serve before he even got to the service box.

Interestingly, shortly after that tournament, I received a question from a USAR member in a similar situation. Here’s a summary of what the member asked:

During a tournament my opponent walked to the service box with ball in hand and eyes fixed upon me. Upon entering the service box, my opponent immediately started the service motion without checking that the receiver is ready. When must the "check the receiver" occur and when is it satisfied such that the service motion may begin?

Let's start with the text of the most relevant rule, in this case, Rule 3.4. That rule says that the service motion "shall not begin until the referee has called the score or ‘second serve’ and the server has visually checked the receiver's readiness.” In this situation, the player would have violated Rule 3.4 if he or she did not check the readiness of the receiving player prior to beginning the service motion.

Unfortunately, Rule 3.4 does not itself clarify what the consequence of violating the rule should be (and perhaps it should). However, if we look to Rule 3.9(j), we see that a serve made while the receiver is not ready is a fault serve (resulting in a second serve, or an out serve if the server was already serving a second serve). Moreover, Rule 3.5(a) says that a server is obligated to first check and be certain that a receiving player is ready.

Accordingly, it is logical to conclude that a violation of Rule 3.4 should also result in a fault serve. 

Thus, the player who serves without checking the readiness of the receiving player should be assessed with a fault serve. Of course, the receiver would be wise in such situation to raise her racquet above her head or turn her back to the server in accordance with Rule 3.5(a). 

With that in mind, there are a number of different rules regarding the serve that all players should be aware. Some of the less well-known rules are outlined below.

• A serving player may not begin the service motion until after the referee has called the score. Rule 3.2
• Referees may issue technical warnings or technical fouls if a server delays the serve longer than 10 seconds after the score is called. Rule 3.5
• If the serving player attempts to hit a serve but misses, the result is an out serve (resulting in an automatic side out or hand out). Rule 3.10(b)
• If a server intentionally carries the serve or hits the ball with the handle of his or her racquet, the result is an out serve. Rule 3.10(e)
• If a server hits the ball without first letting it bounce on the floor, the result is a fault serve (resulting in a second serve, presuming the illegal serve was a first serve). Rule 3.9(g)
• If a server bounces the ball outside the service zone before serving, the result is a fault serve. Rule 3.9(f)

We Need Certified Referees!

In September 2025, I wrote about the need for certified referees. Please consider taking the test to become a USAR Certified Referee. The test is completely free, and the link can be found HERE.

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!