Apart from the court the game take into full gear with a racquetball racquet and eyeguards. The racquet should not be longer than 22 inches. Eyeguards are a must during competitions and even in recreational events as a single hit can bring about permanent vision impairment. Gloves are optional for the sport but most of the competitive players make use of them particularly on the racquet hand so as to produce a better grip. A cross court hit means hitting the ball against the side wall farthest from where you are. The ball will fly between your opponent and the side wall. To be considered a good defensive shot, slam the ball fast enough as you can muster. Make it go with such speed that your opponent s slow reaction time will cause the ball to bounce twice before hitting the back wall. The 5-foot area surrounded by the receiving line and the back edges of the short line which is only available during service is termed as the safety zone. Now let s move on to error tags. Stepping over the service lines during service is not allowed and is termed as foot fault. If the ball bounces in front of or on the second solid line of the service area the player commits a short serve. The Z-serve tops the list of jam serves wherein a hit targets the front wall close to a side wall. This method allows the ball to bounce off the side wall in swift motion then onto the floor before ending up around 30 to 35 feet off the opposite side wall. The service spin is very critical in building up its unpredictability and difficulty to return. Ankle sprains can sideline you for at least a week and disrupt your activities. Achilles tendon injuries are rare but they need proper medical care. Blisters and calluses occur most often if you have the wrong footwear or if they are a new pair and had not been broken in yet. Don t throw the old pair until you have the new ones fit your feet just right. In such cases hinders or penalty hinders can be called. Hinder is defined as the repetition of the present rally. On the other hand, a penalty hinder is marked by a player s effort to not execute an avoidable obstruction which leads to the stoppage of a rally. The racquetball way can be influenced by the say of the referee.