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Squash & Racquetball/Questions Answered by Expert Rob Chabot
| Subject | Date Asked |
| racquetball swing | 11/16/2011 |
| Q: is there a rule/etiquette on an excessively long follow through? I was standing even & slightly ... A: Not really - a REALLY full follow through on the backhand (or forehand, for that matter) is actually ... | |
| Carpal Tunnel Problems | 11/29/2010 |
| Q: My dad has carpal tunnel and actually had surgery a few years ago. He continues to have a weak grip ... A: I'm not aware of any grips that are made specifically for people with weaker grips. All grips that ... | |
| Doubles Safety Call | 11/2/2010 |
| Q: A group of us play doubles in racquetball and this question has come up many times. Can a player ... A: I go back to my original response. If the offensive player in the back left corner can hit a shot ... | |
| Doubles Safety Call | 10/26/2010 |
| Q: A group of us play doubles in racquetball and this question has come up many times. Can a player ... A: This is not a "shooter's choice." If the offensive player can hit a cross court shot to the opposite ... | |
| Doubles Safety Call | 10/19/2010 |
| Q: A group of us play doubles in racquetball and this question has come up many times. Can a player ... A: I've been wracking my brain on this one mainly because I canNOT visualize shot being blocked that is ... | |
| out of bounds / holding racquet | 8/9/2010 |
| Q: First questions deals with the ball leaving the court through the opening above the back wall. I ... A: Rule 2.1 (USRA official rball rules) state: (a) Dimensions. The dimensions shall be 20 feet wide, ... | |
| Double-hits | 3/12/2010 |
| Q: Recently, I've found that I've been double-hitting the ball a lot. It was not solely responsible ... A: Without seeing you play in person or watching video of you playing, I'm going to have to guess on ... | |
| avoidable? hinder | 3/3/2010 |
| Q: Playing with my son, who is significantly better than I am, he gets frustrated if I stay in center ... A: It depends. If by staying in center court your son cannot hit a *straight* to the front wall (e.g. ... | |
| Replacing racquetball for play | 2/13/2010 |
| Q: I play racquetball with a group of senior citizens and the intensity of play does not begin to reach ... A: If someone else is willing to provide the new balls for play each time, I don't see the harm. Me? I ... | |
| "crotch" shot | 1/15/2010 |
| Q: Rob, Thanks for offering your expertise. I've played racquetball for quite a while now and am ... A: Without actually seeing the scenario you describe above, this is a judgment call on my part. I've ... | |
| help | 9/2/2009 |
| Q: If you hit the ball and it goes between your legs do you lose the point or is it a replay hinder? ... A: 1) You cannot use two hands to hold a racquetball racquet. 2) If you call a hinder, play stops ... | |
| help | 9/2/2009 |
| Q: If you hit the ball and it goes between your legs do you lose the point or is it a replay hinder? ... A: 1) If you hit the ball and the ball then goes between your legs, it's up to the receiving player to ... | |
| Racquetball Doubles | 8/18/2009 |
| Q: While playing doubles my partner hits the ball legally striking front wall and one of the opposing ... A: The ball is *live* until its second bounce. It's *not* a point for the serving team. If you're ... | |
| Racquetball Doubles | 8/18/2009 |
| Q: While playing doubles my partner hits the ball legally striking front wall and one of the opposing ... A: In racquetball, the ball is "live" until its second bounce or something else causes the rally to end ... | |
| Avoidable hinder | 5/11/2009 |
| Q: Rob, the situation is this: right-handed players in a friendly singles match, player A hits a ... A: Going by the letter of the rulebook, the scenarios below appear to be the relevant passages. (I am ... | |
| Avoidable hinder | 5/7/2009 |
| Q: Rob, the situation is this: right-handed players in a friendly singles match, player A hits a ... A: My quick (and uninformed) answer is guided by your first sentence: " ... right-handed players in a ... | |
| rules interpretation | 12/1/2008 |
| Q: Rob, If an offensive player adopts a stance and backswing to strike the ball and subsequently ... A: I have a certain response in mind ... but before answering this question, I wanted to verify my ... | |
| rules interpretation | 11/14/2008 |
| Q: Rob, I've always interpreted the rules of play so that as the offensive player I am entitled to not ... A: You describe two scenarios: Scenario 1 You want to cut off the ball passing down the left side of ... | |
| racquetball speed | 10/8/2008 |
| Q: If A players can hit the ball 180 mph, how fast can an intermediate player hit the ball? A: I doubt "A" players - or at least most of them - can hit the ball 180 mph. If you're referring to ... | |
| wrist pain | 9/22/2008 |
| Q: I recently began playing racquetball in college. I have no previous experience with racket sports ... A: Sounds like carpal tunnel (or something near it) - see http://snipurl.com/3sqix. However, I am *not* ... | |
| no bounce? | 9/9/2008 |
| Q: if my opponent hits the ball and i hit it BEFORE it bounces off of the floor, does this mean that it ... A: If you choose to hit a ball that's been hit to you BEFORE it hits the floor, it must hit the front ... | |
| Rule interpretation | 4/9/2008 |
| Q: I regularly play someone who is raising questions about the (d) Moving into the Ball. Moves in the ... A: There are three rules in play here according to the scenario you describe - one is a replay and the ... | |
| Racquetball speed | 4/2/2008 |
| Q: How fast can the pro's hit a racquetball? I have heard S. Royster (US Open TV coverage) say the ball ... A: Interesting question. Before answering your question, I did some light searching on the web, ... | |
| Racquetball - Doubles touching racqets | 2/6/2008 |
| Q: During a recent doubles match, the opponents both attempted to return a shot and touched racquets. ... A: A "double hit" only occurs if one of the doubles player (player1) hits the ball and then, AFTER the ... | |
| Racquetball - Doubles touching racqets | 2/5/2008 |
| Q: During a recent doubles match, the opponents both attempted to return a shot and touched racquets. ... A: This is a legal return. This has happened about four or five times over the past 20 years when I've ... | |
| Racquetball | 1/26/2008 |
| Q: Re: Rule 2.1- Is the ball in play when it hits the area above the glass portion of the rear wall ... A: This question is very similar to the one I answered not that long ago. I'll reprint my reply here ... | |
| hitting the back wall | 1/11/2008 |
| Q: When the ball hits the back wall above twelve feet is it a dead ball A: I've never heard of that before. I've played in a variety of courts in the past 20+ years. Courts ... | |
| ambidextrousness | 12/9/2007 |
| Q: I'm a newer racquetball player with the "blessing" (or curse, in my opinion) of being ambidextrous. ... A: I've never been asked this question - this is a new one for me. I've reviewed the rules of the USRA ... | |
| Squash - One foot over the front line. | 6/5/2007 |
| Q: I know your allowed one or two feet inside the serving square box, however my colleague always has ... A: Although my area of expertise is racquetball - I happen to know the answer to this Q! Your opponent ... | |
| Switching hands | 4/24/2007 |
| Q: I play in a friendly league and 1 of the players does not have a string attached to his racquet. ... A: Ian, Good question - your friend's ambidexterity, although admirable, is a moot point because the ... | |
| Racquetball hitting the walls. | 4/21/2007 |
| Q: My brother says that on a return the ball can only hit one wall before it must strike the back wall. ... A: I'll need you to rephrase the question by giving me an example. Reason - I am not sure I understand ... | |
| racquetball return volley | 1/30/2007 |
| Q: Rob - if my opponent hits the ball hard into the front wall and it rebounds high on the back wall ... A: Before it hits the floor a second time. In order to be able to hit an offensive shot (as opposed to ... | |
| rules? | 1/11/2007 |
| Q: I was just playing raquetball after work. We ran into a new situation we did not know how to call. ... A: Andy, Not sure if I understand the scenario - I may need more clarifcation from you if one of my ... | |
| racquetball | 12/15/2006 |
| Q: I want to buy my wife a new racquet I dont know what to get. she is about 5 feet 10' 235lbs. has ... A: Chris, Racquets are really a personal decision, kind of like buying a car. I prefer small cars that ... | |
| broken strings for a new racket | 11/16/2006 |
| Q: I bought a Wilson H 110 squash racket 9 days ago. The racket strings broke when I was playing for ... A: Although I haven't played suqash in five years (the place I work is building new state of art courts ... | |
| racquet stringing | 9/30/2006 |
| Q: Rob, I have an ektelon 2700 red that continues to break strings. I have had it srung 3x in ... A: When strings break frequently, my experience tells me one of two things are going on: 1) The ... | |
| 2 Questions | 6/30/2005 |
| Q: question 1 During play when the ball hits the back wall and then goes all the way to the front ... A: Sorry for the delay - was out of town for two weeks (little access to email) and my allexperts.com ... | |
| Racquetball Rules | 3/10/2005 |
| Q: My question regards avoidable and unavoidavle hindrances. When a player is runnign away from the ... A: Kyle, Good question. There are several scenarios where a ball hits someone: 1) Player A hits ... | |
| rules of squash and racquetball | 1/8/2005 |
| Q: Hola Rob; I am a physical and health education student teacher and need to put together an info ... A: Lisa, The basics for each sport are probably as complex or simple as you want them to be - ... | |
| Racquet Selection | 12/17/2004 |
| Q: I never thought to hit a ceiling shot and just bring the point back to "nuetral." It is time for ... A: Seth, Racquet selection is totally a personal thing. For me, I prefer not to overswing so I can ... | |
| The "Run up" shot | 12/14/2004 |
| Q: I don't know the proper terms for this, but I am getting killed on one particular play against my ... A: Seth - interesting question. I am trying to visualize your scenario and will attempt to answer ... | |
| Racquetball Ettiquette | 2/24/2004 |
| Q: Scenario: Playing doubles my partner is shooting and the opponent on my side of the court and I are ... A: Bill, I just played doubles tonight and my memory is still fresh on this issue. :-) YOu don't have ... | |
| Racquetball Racquets | 3/26/2003 |
| Q: I used to play back in the late 80's and early 90's and owned an Ektelon Toron, which I actually ... A: Wow! You're pretty much describing myself except that my "gap" in playing was late 80s through ... | |
| Let | 3/15/2002 |
| Q: Playing 3 man racquetball - Player A against players B & C - all players are on the left side of the ... A: Arnold, I always use the term 'avoidable' or 'non-avoidable hinder' instead of "let" so if I refer ... | |
| racquet selection | 6/30/2001 |
| Q: I'm an A/B player who has traditionally played with Head racquets (most recently the Ti 175+ XL). ... A: This is coincidence - for years, I've played with heavier (e.g. Ektelon) racquets and just recently ... | |
Rob Chabot
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
Racquetball. Know all the rules, etiquette, etc. Am familiar with equipment and am active on the applicable newsgroups when I have time. I can be of service to players up to the "advanced" level. Have been playing since the mid 1980s. NOTE: I cannot answer questions on "what kind of racquet should I get?" This is like asking "what kind of dog or car should I get?" There are so many factors I do not know where to begin - how long have you been playing, do you prefer a top heavy or frame heavy racquet, how often do you plan on playing, etc. I recommend you find a pro shop that allows you to "demo" (borrow) racquets. You can usually borrow racquets for one to three days. A borrowing fee may be involved - and if you end up buying the racquet from that shop, it will usually credit you the loaner fees you have already paid against the purchase price of the racquet.
Experience
Won the Ohio State University Intramurals tournament ("A" Division) six out of six times entered.
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