Paddle Ball Rules
Paddle ball is a game played as singles or doubles. The game is played with a rubber ball slightly smaller than a tennis ball in size. Players take turns hitting the ball using two wooden paddles in between the size of a tennis racket and ping pong paddle. The ball is hit at a single-walled court, so that it reflects and bounces the court surface inside boundary lines and ahead of the baseline. A point is awarded to the serving team when the receiving team commits two faults. The game is played to 11, 15, 21 or 25 with two points needed to win. Players determine the point total to win at the start of the game.
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Court Dimensions
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A basic court includes a wall, floor, non-court area and boundary lines. The court is 20 feet wide and 34 feet deep with boundary lines outlining the outside of the court. The sideline (also called the non court area) is six feet from the boundary line and located on both sides of the court. The wall is 16 feet tall with a fence or netting four feet above the top. When a player hits a ball into the fence or netting, the ball is out of bounds.
The short line is 16 feet from the wall. It stretches analogous with the wall and touches the right and left boundary lines. The long line runs 34 feet from the wall. It's also parallel with the wall and touches the right and left boundary lines. The area between the short and long lines is known as the zone.
The six-inch service line is 9 feet behind the short line. The server stands between the service line and short line to serve.
Coin Toss
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A coin toss determines which team serves first. The winner of the coin toss chooses to either serve or receive first.
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Serving
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Each point starts with a player serving the ball at the wall. A player begins by dropping the ball onto the court surface, and then hitting it off the bounce. The ball must strike the wall and bounce on the court surface in the zone to count as a legal serve. In addition, the server needs to initiate and complete the serve in the designated service area or he receives a fault. In singles paddle ball, a team receives once chance to serve the ball. When the ball doesn't make it in the zone or goes out of bounds, the server receives a violation as a serving fault. The serving team continues to serve until it commits two faults at which point the other team has the chance to serve.
Receiving
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The receiving team is permitted to stand behind the service line when the ball is served even off the court if he so chooses. Upon a successful turn, the receiving team hits the ball after it hits the wall and bounces or on the fly (before it has a chance to bounce). The returned ball must hit the wall and bounce ahead of the baseline. Play continues with teams volleying or exchanging the ball back and forth until a fault is committed. The serving team receives a point when the receiving team fails to return the ball in accordance with the rules (or commits a fault). Conversely, when the serving team makes a fault, the receiving team is awarded a side-out.
Faults
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Two consecutive faults equal an out. A server maintains a fault until a point is scored or an out occurs.
Points
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Only the serving team scores points. It scores a point when the receiving team commits two faults in a row.
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References
- Photo Credit paddle ball image by robert lerich from Fotolia.com
