Squash Rules Explained

Many beginners struggle even with the basic squash rules – they make mistakes, alter the gameplay and the result is a total mess. So let`s dig right into it and explain how the squash gameplay is organised.

The court
The squash court consists of four walls and a floor (take a look at the picture for better view):

    • The front wall is the largest and you can see three horizontal lines on it.
        Ë The middle one is called service line and is only used when serving while the remaining two are taken into consideration during the entire game.
        Ë The topmost line (the out line) descends along the side walls and all balls struck above or on it are considered out.
        Ë The bottom line indicates the top of a tin which is 43 centimeters-high metal section. If struck, the ball is out so metal is used to make a different sound when hit.

    • The rear wall is often made of glass. It is the smallest one which also contains the entrance to the court.

    • The markings on the floor are used only when serving – the service boxes, front line which separates the front a back part of the court and half court line which divides the back part in a half.

Serve
The game begins with a serve from the small marked rectangle on the floor – the service box.
    • One of the server`s feet must be inside the box and not touching the lines of it.
    • The ball must hit the front wall between service line and out line and then land in the oppossite quarter court (it can hit any other wall before that).
    • The receiving player may hit the ball after bouncing off the floor or volley it after it has hit the front wall.

The players switch sides for the next serve if the server wins the point.
 
Play
If the serve was succesful, the players take turns hitting the ball.

The ball can hit back or side walls at any time – but:
    • It must hit the front wall between the tin and out line before it touches the ground.
    • Any hit on the out line or above is out, hitting the tin is also considered out.

After striking the front wall (and any number of other walls) the ball can bounce once on the floor before the next player must return it.
Players may move freely anywhere on the court but accidental or even intended obstruction of opponent`s movement is prohibited.
 
Points
You win a rally if your opponent:
    • does not hit the ball before it has bounced twice on the floor
    • strikes the ball out (on or above out line / on the tin)
    • does not hit the front wall with the ball before the ball touches the floor
    • obstructs your movement

There exist two systems for counting the points nowadays:

    • Side-out Scoring System is a "serving" system – which means that only the currently serving player can get a point. The receiver have to win the serve first.
        Ë The game is played to 9 points (respectively 10 when the score become 8-8) and the winner is determined by "best-of-five" (who wins the most out of 5 games).

    • Point a rally Scoring System (PARS) – here every rally won means a point to the winner, no matter who is serving.
        Ë The winner of the rally also takes the next serve.
        Ë PARS scoring goes to 15 points (16 if 14-14 happens).

The PARS system has been declared as the only official scoring system for competitive squash by World Squash Federation in 2009.