Putrajaya Squash Club

Kompleks Kejiranan Presint 16, Putrajaya, Malaysia

Squash Rules

The basic rules of squash are fairly simple. First the winner of the toss gets to choose which side they want to serve from and alternates sides until they lose a point. The toss is typically done by spinning the racquet, with one player guessing whether the racquet will land up or down based on the direction of the logo at the end of the grip. The ball can hit any number of walls ( i.e sidewall, backwall ) but must eventually hit the front wall before bouncing on the floor. A rally ( the exchange of shots ) ends when one of the following occurs:

The serve is done by having at least one foot in the service box, then hitting the ball to the front wall, above the service line and having it bounce in the opposite quarter-court. The receiver can stand anywhere as long as they do not interfere with the server. Only one serve is allowed. There is no second serve as in tennis.

Your opponent has the option of volleying return your serve before it hits the ground. After hitting the front wall first, the ball may hit any other number of walls before landing in the opponent’s quarter court. However, a serve is illegal if it hits any sidewall before hitting the front wall! Following the serve, the ball can hit any number of sidewalls before hitting the front wall.

The red lines mark the out of bounds of the court. So all shots must be below the lines. If the ball touches the line it is considered out!

Scoring is to 11 or point-a-rally ( PAR ), where every rally is a point, regardless of who served. So if you serve and lose the rally, then your opponents get a point and gets to serve. The professionals play best of five games , PAR scoring to 11. Where the score reaches ten all, the game will be won by two clear points (which will be expressed as 11-10, irrespective of the actual score ).

You also have traditional English scoring to 9 points, where only the server can win a point. This means if you serve the ball and lose the point, then your opponent gets to serve and the score does not change. If you win the point , then you get a point and get to serve from the next side. When service changes it is often called 'hand-out'. When hand-out you can pick which side to serve from, after which you alternate sides if you continue to win points. The first player who gets to 8-8 chooses 9 or 10, called set 1 or 2.

The 11 point scoring is now the official scoring for squash so one should only use this to avoid confusion.

Some not-so-obvious rules of squash are you can not carry the ball or hit the ball twice, but you can make several attempts at striking the ball as long as only contact is made once.

Understanding interference

Regarding interference, one should always say "Let please" whenever you sense interference may occur. In the interest of safety one should never play the shot and allow the interference to occur. If your opponent is interfering with your path to the ball, it is usually a "Let" or play the point again. If your opponent is interfering with your direct swing to the ball, then it should be "stroke" or your point. There are a lot of grey areas and many other situations that could change the call. With experience you will learn what is let , no let, and stroke. As a beginner it is best to play a let on most interferences.

In squash you must make every effort to clear your shot to give your opponent direct access to the ball once you have played it. In other words you can not play your shot and remain standing directly in the path your opponent would take to retrieve your shot.

When interference does occur it results in either a "Let" which is to replay the point or a "Stroke" which is a point to the person who's shot was obstructed. Keep in mind the following rule of thumb regarding Let and Stroke.

Interference far from ball (>1m):