Racquetball Rules: How Scoring Works

Racquetball is played in an enclosed court, with the ball coming off every wall. The main source of confusion is that there are two rulebooks: the American one (USA Racquetball) and the international one (IRF). And they differ precisely in how you score. Here are both.

Two rulebooks: USA Racquetball and IRF

Scoring under USA Racquetball

Only the server scores, with an ace or by winning the rally. The first player to two games wins the match. The first two games go to 15. If it is 1-1 after those, a tiebreaker to 11 decides. No two-point margin is needed: the first to the required number of points wins the game.

When the server loses a rally, they lose the serve:

• in singles that is a side-out (the serve goes to the opponent),
• in doubles the first server loses the serve on a handout, and only the second server's loss is a side-out.

Scoring under IRF

Under the international IRF rules for 2026–2028, the winner of every rally scores a point, which is rally scoring. A lost serve means a point for the receiving side. A match is best of five games. Every game, including the decider, goes to 11 with a two-point margin and no cap.

Serving

• You get two serves per turn, so a second attempt if the first is a fault.
• You serve from the service zone. The ball must bounce in the zone, you hit it, and it must reach the front wall first.
• Once the score is called, you have 10 seconds to serve (USA Racquetball).
• A dead-ball serve is simply replayed with no penalty.
• Two fault serves in a row (short, three-wall, long or ceiling serves, for example) cost you the serve. Some faults, such as a missed serve or an illegal serve, lose the serve straight away.

A toss, ideally a coin, decides who serves first. In the second game the other side serves first. In the deciding tiebreaker, under USA Racquetball rules the side with the higher point total from the first two games chooses.

Disputed situations

1. Hinder. If your opponent does not give you a fair chance to play the ball (blocking your view, your swing or your path to the ball), it may be a hinder. The rally is either replayed (a replay hinder) or lost by the player who got in the way (an avoidable hinder).
2. The receiver is not ready. The receiver signals it by raising the racquet head above their head or by turning their back. A serve hit at that moment is replayed.
3. Double hit, or the ball touches your body. Only the racquet head may hit the ball. A double hit or body contact with the ball loses you the rally (IRF).
4. Thrown racquet and wrist tether. Hitting the ball with a thrown racquet, or taking off your wrist tether, loses you the rally.
5. Fault serve. Two fault serves in a row cost you the serve.

Other sports

If you play other racket sports, have a look at the rules of squash or the rules of tennis. The American rules are on the USA Racquetball page.