When do you swap sides in squash

Under PAR scoring, players can wins points during every rally — with the winner of the rally earning a point. In HIHO , you can only score points when you are serving — so if the player receiving serve wins a rally, the score does not change, but he or she becomes the server. If you are facing serve, you need to win two rallies to register a point — with games being played under a first to 9 points basis.

Refereeing Decisions With two players occupying space inside the court, there are occasions when players will obstruct each other's path to the ball and ability to play a shot. In such a scenario, a penalty point may be awarded to either player, or the rally may be replayed with no penalty depending on the decision of the referee or the competing players.

The incoming player must then also make every effort to play through minimal interference and complete their shot. Where there are no officials, players must agree when a stroke, no let or let should be awarded. Normally the offending player makes a sporting acknowledgement that he is at fault and agrees to give the opponent a point. Who Goes First In PSA events and in social matches around the world, players spin a racket to decide who serves first — choosing which way up the racket will land, similar to a coin toss.

Starting Play — The Serve The first shot in any squash rally is the serve. When serving for the first time — either at the start of a match or after earning a handover of serve by winning a point on the opponents serve — players can choose which side of the court to serve from. To serve, players must keep one foot inside the service box during the serving motion. The ball must hit the front wall between the service line and the out line , and then land in the area behind the short line on the opposite side of the court from which the ball has been served.

The receiving player can choose to volley a serve after it has hit the front wall. If the server wins the point, the two players switch sides for the following point. Constructing A Rally The basic principle of squash is to keep hitting the ball against the front wall until your opponent cannot successfully get it back — either by the ball bouncing twice, or them hitting the ball out of play. After the serve, the players take turns hitting the ball against the front wall, ensuring the ball strikes above the tin and below the out lines.

The ball may strike the side or back walls at any time, as long as it hits below the out line, but must hit the front wall after each strike in order for the shot to de deemed legal.

A ball landing on either the out line or the line along the top of the tin is considered to be out. After the ball hits the front wall, it is allowed to bounce once on the floor and any number of times against the side or back walls before a player must return it. After a good service has been delivered, the players return the ball alternately until one or the other fails to make a good return, or the ball otherwise ceases to be in play, in accordance with the rules.

NB: If any part of the ball touches the out line the ball is deemed out or if the ball hits the tin or the floor on its second bounce the ball is deemed down. Similarly, if the ball bounces on or before the short line from a service, the serve is deemed a fault. A let is an undecided stroke, and the service or rally in respect of which a Let is allowed, shall not count and the Server shall serve again from the same box.

A player wins a stroke: a If the server fails to make a good serve See point 4 on the Service. That is: i A player must make every effort to give the opponent a fair view of the ball, so that it may be sighted adequately for the purpose of playing it. Immediately preceding the start of play, a period not exceeding five minutes shall be allowed on court for the purpose of warming-up.

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New user? Sign up: Sign up. Think you already have an account? Recover account. Search Connect Play Find people and places to play:. Sign up. Squash finder. Get involved. Play Why play squash? Ways to play. Where to play. Master the basics. Find a coach. Find a court.

Dunlop team kit competition - terms and conditions. Coach Get into coaching. About our courses. Apply for a DBS check. Safeguarding courses. Junior coaching resources. In PAR Point-A-Rally or American scoring , played by junior and professionals, players play to 11 points and are able to score points regardless of who serves. In a match, players play best of five games. In PAR scoring, if the game is tied at , players have to win by 2 clear points, e.

There is no requirement to win by 2 clear points in this scoring system. In or out? Service Rules You only get one serve in squash so take your time. However, if a player makes no contact with the ball, it does not count as a serve and theoretically, this could happen over and over again. You must serve the ball from one of the two service boxes. If the ball had hit or would have hit any other wall before the front wall and the striker had not turned, a let is allowed, unless the return would have been a winning return, in which case a stroke is awarded to the striker.

If the striker had not turned but was making a further attempt, a let is allowed; If the striker had turned, a stroke is awarded to the non-striker, unless the non-striker made a deliberate movement to intercept the ball, in which case, a stroke is awarded to the striker.

Otherwise, the non- striker wins the rally. If a player stops play to appeal that the Squash Ball is broken, and it is found that the Squash Ball is not broken, that player loses the rally. If a Squash Ball has been replaced, or if the players resume the match after a delay, the players may warm up the Squash Ball.

Play resumes when both players agree The Squash Ball must remain in the court at all times. If the Squash Ball becomes wedged in any part of the court, a let is allowed. No let is allowed for any unusual bounce of the Squash Ball. It is the responsibility of the player to ensure that the quality of the product worn is appropriate for the purpose. A fake swing is also an attempt, but racquet preparation with only a backswing and no forward movement towards the ball is not an attempt.

GAME - A part of a match. A player must win 3 games to win a best of 5-game match and 2 games to win a best of 3-game match. GOOD RETURN - A return that is struck correctly and that travels to the front wall either directly or after hitting another wall or walls without going out, and that hits the front wall above the tin and below the out-line. LET - The result of a rally that neither player wins.