SQUASH

Squash is a racquet sport played by two players (or four players for doubles) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball.

The court size was codified in the 1920s at 9.75 m (32 ft) long and 6.4 m (21 ft) wide. The front wall has a "front wall line" 4.57 m (15 ft) above the floor, connected by a raking "front" line meeting the "out" line on the back wall at 2.13 m (7 ft) above the floor. The front wall also has a "service line" whose top is 1.83 m (6 ft) above the floor with the "tin" (made out of a special material, often metal, designed to make a distinctive sound when hit by a quickly moving ball) 48 cm (18.9 inches) high. The floor is marked with a transverse "half-court" line and further divided into two rear "quarter courts" and two "service boxes", as shown in the diagram above.

BASIC RULES AND GAMESPLAY

The court

The squash court is a playing surface surrounded by four walls. The court surface contains a front line separating the front and back of the court and a half court line, separating the left and right hand sides of the back portion of the court, creating three 'boxes' - the front half, the back left quarter and the back right quarter. Both the back two boxes contain smaller service boxes. All of the floor-markings on a squash court are only relevant during serves.
There are four walls to a squash court. The front wall, on which three parallel lines are marked, has the largest playing surface, whilst the back wall, which typically contains the entrance to the court, has the smallest. The out line runs along the top of the front wall, descending along the side walls to the back wall. There are no other markings on the side or back walls. Shots struck above the out line, on any wall, are out. The bottom line of the front wall marks the top of the 'tin', a half meter-high metal area which if struck means that the ball is out. The middle line of the front wall is the service line and is only relevant during serves.

Service

The players usually spin a racket to decide who commences serving at the start of the match. This player starts the first rally by electing to serve from either the left or right service box. For a legal serve, part of one of the server's feet must be in contact with the floor within the service box while not touching any part of the service box lines (the rest of that foot can reside over the line so long as it is not touching the ground) while striking the ball; after being struck by the racket, the ball must strike the front wall above the service line and below the out line and land in the opposite quarter court. The receiving player can choose to volley a serve after it has hit the front wall. If a server wins a point, the two players switch sides for the following point.

Play

After the serve, the players take turns hitting the ball against the front wall, above the tin and below the out line. The ball may strike the side or back walls at any time, as long as it hits below the out line. It must not hit the floor after hitting the racket and before hitting the front wall. A ball landing on either the out line or the line above 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. Players may move anywhere around the court but accidental or deliberate obstruction of the other player's movements is forbidden. Players typically return to the center of the court after making a shot.