There are essentially two kinds of shots in racquetball, offensive shots designed to win the rally and defensive shots designed to force your opponent deep into the back court so that you can take a good center court position. A complete player has command of both types of shots.
The most important single shot in racquetball is
the
ceiling ball.
It can be struck from almost any place on the court, but is typically
hit from
the back court. The ball strikes the ceiling 4-8 feet in front of the
front
wall, hits high on the front wall, lands in the front court or mid
court, takes
a very high bounce and dies on or near the back wall. A perfect ceiling
ball
hits the crack between the floor and the back wall and dies. A good
ceiling ball
lands on the floor within a foot of the floor crack or anywhere below
the two
foot line on the back wall. Many courts have lights in the ceiling
about the right distance
away from the front wall and are excellent targets. The harder you hit
the
shot, the further back from the front wall to hit the ceiling. The
softer you
hit, the closer to the front wall is the target.
This is the most important shot because it can be hit easily from anywhere, it forces your opponent deep into the back court, and, because the ball travels slowly, it allows you plenty of time to saunter into good center court position. Remember, dominating the center court is the key to winning racquetball games. The ceiling ball allows you to do that. Hitting a ceiling ball is like hitting the reset key in a video game. It gives you time to regroup. If your opponent is in good center court position, and you are not sure that you can hit an offensive shot without setting up your opponent, go to the ceiling. If you are out of position or the ball is above your waist, go to the ceiling. When in doubt, go to the ceiling.
You do not have to be deep in the back court to hit a ceiling ball. Hitting from around the dotted line is a good strategy if you are jammed or simply haven’t got a setup. In this case it is sometimes easier to hit a reverse ceiling ball which hits the wall 16 feet up or higher, hits the ceiling, comes straight down and then rebounds to the back wall. To hit the ceiling ball or reverse ceiling ball from around the dotted line requires that you use a lot of wrist because most of the shots in that area will be below your waist.
Another reason to use the ceiling ball is to test the patience of your opponent. If you are constantly hitting ceiling balls, your opponent might be tempted to try an offensive shot from deep court. This is not a problem because you are in good center court position. Your opponent might try to hit a winner from deep court. This is a low percentage shot and there is a good chance your opponent will skip it. On the other hand, your center court position allows you a play on all but the best shots. Also, some players just hate ceiling balls and other players get worn out by having to run to the back court to cover them.
Don’t try to hit the ceiling ball along the side wall. There is too good a chance that it will hit the side wall and pop out for a setup for your opponent. Keeping the ceiling ball in the center of the court still pulls your opponent deep into the back court and doesn’t run the risk of setting up your opponent.
You should watch your opponent so that you can determine if he or she is going to return the ball to the ceiling (a ceiling ball rally). If your opponent is going to the ceiling, you don’t have to hustle to center court. Stay in front of your opponent, but in the back court. Save your energy. However, if he or she sets up for an offensive shot, move to center court.
Let’s assume that you are in a ceiling ball rally
and your opponent has just hit a ceiling ball. When the ball hits the
floor and takes its high bounce, face the side wall, raise your hitting
arm, and get the racquet in the ready position. Turn your shoulders
away from the front wall and wait until the ball drops about head high
on the forehand side. With the racquet face open, so that the strings
are pointing at the target on the ceiling, rotate your shoulders toward
the front wall and, with your arm partially extended, take a step
forward, lift the ball toward the target. The motion is similar to
throwing a baseball from the outfield. The racquet moves from low to
high, then follows through below the shoulder. Contact the ball
approximately at the midline of your body. If you contact the ball too
far in front, it will miss the ceiling. If you hit the ball too far
behind the midline, you will hit the ceiling too far back. It will miss
the front wall. Some players like to point at the target on the ceiling
with their off
hand to help line up the shot. This is a control
shot, so you don’t need a lot of power. In combat you are likely to hit
the ball harder than in practice, so you should probably practice
hitting the ball a little further back from the front wall or practice
hitting very gently. You do not want the ball to hit the back wall too
high so that it rebounds to center court and sets up for your opponent.
The perfect ceiling ball cracks out from the back wall.
Using the mirror image of the forehand, turn toward the side wall, move the racquet to the ready position, and turn your shoulders away from the front wall. Wait until the ball falls to shoulder height. Then take a step toward the front wall and lift the ball toward the target. The motion is again from low to high, then following through below the shoulder. Contact the ball at the midline of the body. Take it easy.
You can practice the ceiling ball by simply engaging in a ceiling ball rally with yourself. Start by bouncing the ball to about head height and hitting a forehand ceiling ball. See how many you can hit in a row. (This requires that you keep the ball in the middle of the court.) A good ceiling ball player should be able to hit 50 in a row.
There are two ways to hit an underhand ceiling
ball. The
first is to just snap your wrist straight up, flicking the ball
toward
the ceiling. Use this stroke when you are jammed in the mid court. Keep
the
ball in front of you. The second way is to use a standard forehand or
backhand
with the racquet face open (35 degree angle from horizontal) to impart
the
upward trajectory to the ball. Adding a flick of the wrist
will help get the ball to the ceiling. For a video showing several
examples of using the ceiling ball to stay in the rally, click here.
Use this stroke in the back court to
return a
really good drive serve to the ceiling. To see some examples, click here.
Occasionally you will encounter a player that cuts off the ceiling ball. He or she will run up to the dotted line with the racquet held overhead, catch the ball on its rebound off the floor and direct it low into the front wall. It takes a lot of energy to do this, which is probably why you don’t see it very often, but it is most annoying when it does happen. In this case the appropriate defensive shot is the lob or the Z. The lob is hit just like the lob serve, although from behind the service box, at a point 12 to 18 feet up on the front wall and directed into one of the back corners.
Every now and then you will find yourself chasing
a ball in
the front court that is over your head. You have two obvious choices.
If you
are close to a side wall, the first choice is a Z ball which is hit
like the Z
serve upwards into the opposite corner, striking the front wall close
to the
side wall, then hitting the side wall, traveling
to the
opposite side wall, and finally sliding across deep back court. If your
opponent can’t cut it off in mid court, it will pull her deep into one
of the
corners where she will have a difficult time generating an offensive
shot. This shot does not have to be hit hard to be effective, but
most players who use it tend to hit it hard.
The second choice is a reverse ceiling ball, which is hit almost straight up into the top of the front wall. It has all the advantages of the standard ceiling ball.
This shot hits high on the side wall, then high on the front wall, then the other side wall. It then bounces in mid court, rebounds to the opposite side wall, and dies on the back wall. I don’t recommend this shot because it is too easily cut off in the mid court.
This is a desperation shot when all else fails. Hit the ball with an open racquet (35 degree angle) into the back wall so that it rebounds off the back wall high toward the front wall, generating a high lob or ceiling ball. You do not have to hit this ball hard, just with the correct racquet face. All you are doing is keeping the ball in play, forcing your opponent to hit the ball one more time, and hoping for the best. Beginning players hit this shot way too often, usually in an attempt to avoid hitting off the back wall. Don’t make that mistake. Don’t get lazy. This shot is only for the last resort. If your opponent is an advanced player, she will probably run up to the front court when she sees you are in trouble and cut the ball off with a dink to the front wall, leaving you helpless in the back court.
In summary, hit a ceiling ball when a setup is not available. When in doubt, hit to the ceiling. If your opponent is cutting off your ceiling balls, use lobs or Z’s to move her into the back court.
While a defensive shot is designed to move your opponent to deep court and allow you to move into center court, the offensive shot is designed to win the rally. There are two kinds of offensive shots: pass and kill. The pass can win a rally in one of two ways. The first is that the ball gets past your opponent so that she cannot return it. The second way is that the pass draws your opponent deep into one of the back corners forcing a skip or a weak shot that you can exploit.
The DTL pass travels from the front wall directly to the back corner on the same side of the court, bouncing twice before hitting the back wall without hitting the side wall. The target is a point on the front wall somewhere in the area between 4-8 feet from the side wall, depending on your court position. You should try to hit the front wall between one and two feet above the floor. This should keep the ball from bouncing once and rebounding off the back wall for a setup for your opponent.
Try to avoid the temptation to hit the ball very
close to
the side wall in an attempt to get the ball to travel parallel to and
within a
few inches of the side wall. It is possible to hit this shot, but it is
very
likely to hit the side wall and pop out as a set up for your opponent. Click here for some
examples of the down the line shot.
The CC pass hits the front wall at a point within
4 feet of
the center of the front wall, depending on your court position, and
rebounds
directly to the opposite back corner. Hit the ball one to two feet high
on the
front wall so that it bounces twice before reaching the back corner.
The main problem that most players have with the CC pass is hitting the
front wall too far away from the center so that the ball hits the side
wall and bounces out to your opponent as a setup. Practice hitting CC
passes from various positions in the back court and noting the correct
point on the front wall. After awhile your body will remember the
target, so that you can concentrate on other things. Click here for some examples of the cross
court pass.
The WA pass hits the front wall one to two feet high at a point a foot or so closer to the opposite side wall (making a wider angle) than the CC pass. The ball rebounds from the front wall, contacts the side wall around the dotted line, and then angles to the back court so that it dies near the middle of the back wall. It is a very effective pass if your opponent is in good center court position because she might be able to cut off the CC pass. The WA pass is too close to the side wall and has a good chance of getting past her. It is also a good choice for doubles because there are two players covering the center of the court.
You have to practice this shot from various
positions in the back court so that you learn
the correct
target. If you hit the front wall too
close to the side wall, the ball will hit the side wall too soon and
bounce directly to your opponent in center
court
resulting in a setup. Click here for
some examples of the wide angle pass.
The pass is hit with the standard forehand and backhand stroke. The key is to keep the stroke level (flat) and to let the ball drop somewhere between the waist and the ankle. Trying to hit the ball down from a point above the waist can lead to skips.
A kill shot is defined as a shot that bounces twice before the short line 20 feet from the front court. A rollout is a ball that bounces twice before the foot fault line 15 feet from the front wall. A "flat rollout" simply rolls out from the front wall with no bounce at all. The purpose of the kill shot is to end the rally. The target is six inches or lower on the front wall. (These shots are very difficult to hit with regularity. Try standing in good center court position behind the dotted line and see how many shots you can drop and hit so that they bounce twice before the short line. One out of four would be a good result. Now try it from deep court. Good luck.)
Use good stroke mechanics and contact the ball at a point between your knee and ankle. Hit level, don’t hit down. Bend your knees, lower your butt, and keep your head down. Attempt a kill shot only if you have a nice setup. I never try to hit a kill shot. My kills are usually the result of accidentally hitting a pass too low.
There are two kinds of kill shots: one wall and two wall kills. The one wall kills, also known as “straight in kills” are simply DTL, CC, or WA passes that are hit so low that they bounce twice before passing the short line.
The two wall kills contact the side wall first, and then hit the front wall.
The pinch shot strikes the near side wall at a
point two feet or lower within 4 feet or so of the front wall. The ball
hits low on the front wall, rebounds sideways and bounces twice before
hitting the opposite side wall. It typically bounces twice in front of
the short line for a kill. The further back on the side wall the harder
or higher the ball has to be hit so that it doesn’t skip before hitting
the front wall. If you hit the pinch too high, it will hit the front
wall too high, bounce once, hit the opposite side wall and set up for
your opponent. This is the dreaded left-up pinch. It is a plum setup
for your opponent. Click here for
examples of the pinch shot.
The reverse pinch is the mirror image of the pinch. It hits the opposite side wall two feet or lower and within 1-2 feet of the front wall. It then hits low on the front wall and bounces twice before hitting the near side wall.
The most common reverse pinch is hit from in front
of the dotted line into the opposite side wall usually within a foot of
the front wall and within a foot or so of the floor. It hits the front
wall immediately and frequently comes straight back at the shooter. To
avoid a hinder, the ball has to bounce twice before coming too close to
the shooter. For that reason it is usually hit very low on the side
wall. Click here for examples of
the reverse pinch.
Both the pinch and reverse pinch can be hit in
such a way
that the ball strikes very low on the front wall first and then cracks
out from
the side wall. This shot is probably best hit by accident. Click here for some examples of pros
hitting the inside out pinch.
The splat is hit when the ball is within a foot of
the side
wall. In fact, it is best hit when the ball is within six inches of the
side
wall. It is hit with the tip of the racquet so that the ball strikes
the side
wall almost immediately (at approximately a 15-35 degree angle to the
side
wall). It “catches” the side wall, slows down, and angles toward the
middle of
the front wall. After hitting low on the front wall, it dribbles off
sideways towards
the opposite side wall, bouncing twice before reaching the next wall
and before
crossing the short line. (If you hit the splat perfectly, the ball hits
the
front wall and then bounces twice within a few feet.)
If you hit it with a lot of power, the ball
makes the distinctive “splat” sound that gives the shot its name.
The splat does not have to be hit with excessive
power, just
hard enough to get to the front wall. However, if you are attempting to
hit a
splat from well behind the dotted line, you’d better hit with power,
otherwise
it is going to skip. Click here
for some examples of the splat shot.
When the ball is over your head deep in the back
court, the
usual recommendation is to hit a ceiling ball. However, it is possible
to
remain aggressive even in this case by hitting either an overhead drive
or
overhead pinch. The overhead drive
is a passing shot that is hit like a serve in tennis. Hit the ball
slightly in front
of your body with a wrist snap to bring the ball down. This is most
likely to
happen on a ceiling ball that is dropping a foot or more short of the
back
wall. Your target is a point two feet or higher on the front wall.
Don’t try to
kill the ball because you tend aim too low and are very likely to skip
the
ball. Use a DTL or CC pass to bring the ball into one of the back
corners and
put pressure on your opponent. You should avoid the DTL if you are
close to the side wall, because the ball will come straight back and
could result in a penalty hinder. Click here for some examples of the
overhead.
This shot is best hit as an occasional
change of
pace instead of a ceiling ball. Remember, if you can hit an overhead
drive, you
might have enough room to let the ball drop into your hitting zone and
hit a
nice pass instead. The overhead can be hit with the backhand, but most
players
are weaker on that side and the resulting shot is often ineffective.
It is possible to hit an overhead pinch or overhead reverse pinch instead of a CC or DTL drive, but you have to aim very low to avoid leaving the ball up in mid court. This is a very low percentage shot..
Some players can be handcuffed by hitting the ball directly at them. One such shot is the front wall jam shot which is hit quite hard, three or four feet up on the front wall, directly in front of your opponent. The ball flies directly at your opponent, forcing her to adjust quickly and frequently results in a weak return or a clear winner if it hits her. A Z jam is a Z ball hit quite hard, 8-10 feet high on the front wall, so that it hits the front wall, the side wall, and the opposite side wall without hitting the floor. It rebounds from the third wall directly at your opponent who will have to react quickly. Finally, the wide angle jam is just the standard WA pass, but hit high (4-6 feet up) on the front wall so that it rebounds off the side wall into your opponent about waist high, presumably forcing a weak return or an outright winner.
Occasionally, you will attempt to hit a pinch
shot, but the ball will rebound back along the side wall rather than
bouncing diagonally toward the opposite side wall. This shot is a
miracle of physics and is only hit by accident.
If you are in good center court position, your opponent is in deep court, and the ball comes to you, you might want to hit a soft shot low into one of the front corners so that the ball dies before crossing the short line. This is a kill shot, but instead of hitting with power, you are hitting softly and with control. The ball can also be hit directly to the front wall, but a two wall shot is more likely to keep the ball down. It is a great change of pace shot that can keep your opponent off balance. If you have been pounding DTL and CC passes keeping her in the back court, a drop shot means she can’t trust you to keep pounding the ball. As always, but especially when hitting the drop shot, keep eye on ball. Watch the racquet contact the ball.
You can also use the drop shot in the front court.
Occasionally, the ball will fly off the back wall and not bounce until
it is
close to the front wall. In this case you can run to the front court,
wait
until the ball drops below your knee, and simply push the ball
low into
the front wall or one of the corners. However, you can also simply hit
it with
authority. If you hit it low enough it will roll out from the front
wall.
Remember, your opponent is likely to be charging from deep court, so I
recommend the DTL shot over the pinch most of the time. The drop shot
is the obvious choice when the ball is about to take its second bounce
in the front court. Run with the
racquet
stuck out at a 35 degree angle in front of you and try to slip it under
the
ball at the last second. Your momentum from running plus the upward
angle is frequently enough to get the ball to die on the front wall.
Add a little wrist snap if you can.
It is not a good idea to try drop shots from deep
court. It is a low percentage shot that if not hit perfectly will skip
or stay up as a setup for your opponent. (Although the look on
your opponent’s face when you float a killer drop shot from 35 feet
makes it almost worth the risk.) See the section on The Touch Game for more on drop shots.