Squash Rules
An Overview Of Squash Rules
Watching a game for the first time may lead you to wonder if there is such a thing as squash rules. A game of squash appears to be two people, batting a ball around at high speed in a small enclosure. If doesn't seem at first glance, to particularly matter where the ball hits. In truth, a ball in play, can hit any of the four walls (front wall, sides walls, and back wall), but must make contact with the front wall on the serve, before hitting any other walls or the floor.
An official squash court is 32 feet long and 21 ft wide. Squash is also played on courts of the same length, but 18.5 feet wide or 20 ft wide, the latter being the width of a racquetball court. A ball is served from one of two services boxes, and generally the services alternate from one service box to the other. The server gets a point for each rally won and continues to serve until losing a rally, giving the receiver the point, and the ball. The ball, once striking the front wall, needs to land in the opponents quarter to be in play. When the serve is returned, a hit ball can then strike any wall. Once the ball is in play, a rally is under way, and continues until one of the following occurs:
According to squash rules, you will lose the rally, and your opponent will gain a point, if (1) the ball hits the floor twice before you can return it, if (2) a ball you hit, hits the tin (a 19" strip at the base of the front wall) or goes outside of the lines, or (3) if you interfere with your opponent's attempt to hit the ball. The outside lines are on the wall, and a hit ball must strike the wall below these lines. Hitting on a line is the considered out of bounds.
Scoring in squash can vary, with 15 point, 11 point and 9 point games played. In Traditional squash, only the server can score points, and the server continues to serve until losing a rally. In Point A Rally (PAR) squash, the winner of a rally gets the point and the next serve. 15 PAR (point a rally) games used to be played, with points going only to the server, but eventually fell from favor as they tended to often be of very long duration. Most games nowadays are either 11 point or 9 point. 9 point games are particularly popular, it being easier for a player who has fallen several points behind to make a comeback. Traditional squash matches are "best of five", in other words, the first player to take 3 matches wins.
Squash tends to be a very social game, and when not played professionally, or without a referee, squash rules are often adjusted to suit the player’s wishes. It is important, especially if a referee is not present, that agreement is reached insofar as the rules on interference are concerned. In a game of squash, a player should never strike at a ball if there is any possibility of causing injury to the opponent. This situation normally occurs when the opponent is about to cause an inadvertent interference. Play should stop and the person who refrained from hitting the ball should ask for a "let". The players can reach an agreement as to whether the let results in a point being awarded, or that the rally should simply be replayed.
A final set of squash rules: A game of squash at one time had to be won by two points, but this is no longer a hard and fast rule. In a 9 point game tied at 8-8 for example, you can choose either "set 1" or "set 2", which simply means you can continue with the next point becoming the winning point (set 1), or the first player to reach 10 points wins. The first player to reach 8 points gets to make that decision. In a 15 point game, the decision is made if both players are tied at 14, where the first player to reach 14 will decide if they will play to a 15 or 17 point game.
Once you're familiar with the squash rules, it will not seem to be such an out-of-control game. All you need is a racquet, a pair of safety goggles, and a reasonable state of fitness, to get started.