Racquetball Hinders

[@larky368]

Some of those hinders were actually avoidables. Whenever there is a reasonable chance of hitting a winner or if the opponent is totally out of position and he hinders the shot it is a penalty. It doesn't have to be intentional but if the opponent makes no attempt to move out of the way it could also be an avoidable. You can't call them if you are not set or if you are taking an overhand shot because these cannot be interpreted as high-percentage shots.

[@bamlopez1492]

How about if I end up on the left side close to the front wall & your opponent hits an offensive shot but the ball clips your racquet before it hits the front wall? There was plenty of room for a kill shot on the right side. They said if the ball hit my body then it's replay hinder, but if it hit my racquet, it's a point penalty hinder?

[@rbaddict2947]

No. The situation you described sounds more like a replay hinder. If your opponent has an offensive opportunity, the only window you (the defender) have to give is a straight-in shot and a cross court shot (a shot where the ball hits the front wall usually somewhere near middle, and travels to the opposite back corner). You don't have to give the entire front wall, you don't even have to give them a pinch shot. If you (the defender) are not blocking the straight-in shot or cross-court shot, and the ball hits you (or your racquet) this is most likely a replay. As long as you don't intentionally stop the ball with your racquet it's usually a replay. So to recap, if your opponent's shot accidently hits your racquet thats usually just a replay hinder. Just be sure not to stand directly in front of him at all times.

[@seanwalter4018]

Does "the opportunity to hit an offensive shot" mean the opportunity to hit AN offensive shot, it your PREFERRED offensive shot? If you can get your offensive shot in, even though it may not be the best, can you still call a hinder?

[@rbaddict2947]

Basically, in order to call a penalty hinder, your opponent needs to be body blocking your straight-in shot or cross court shot. A straight-in shot is a straight line drawn from where the ball when you are about to make contact directly to the front wall, it has nothing to do with the angle your body is pointing towards, or the angle of where the ball is traveling as you make contact. So let's say for example your preferred offensive shot was a reverse pinch to the opposite front corner, well this isn't a penalty hinder because the defender doesn't have to give you the entire front wall. If they did, they basically would be in the way very often. According to Penalty hinder rule 3.15 (a) Failure to Move "A player does not move sufficiently to allow an opponent a shot straight to the front wall as well as a cross-court shot which is a shot directly to the front wall at such an angle that would cause the ball to rebound directly to the rear corner farthest from the player hitting the ball. In addition, when a player moves in such a direction that it prevents an opponent from taking either of these shots." As you can see, there's gonna be many situations where you may have a preferred offensive shot but it might not be available to take. Now if you hold up in this situation because you were afraid of hitting your opponent and you didn't have time to pick a different shot (and it's not a scenario where the opponent is blocking your straight-in or cross court shot), then you prob can call a saferty hold up. Most of the time, games are self-refed, players understand it's better to be safe than always try to force a shot in. These safety hinders are just replays. A penalty hinder on the other hand is a loss of rally. In my opinion, you really should only call penalty hinders if you have a very good opportunity (this is the offensive shot that Rocky refers to). But there's plenty of other times where it's a questionable opportunity, these times it's better just to replay the rally.

[@jms493]

Nice Video!

[@ottodietrich3570]

This video is a nice, but sadly very flawed, attempt to explain a very important aspect of our game. Rocky should have read the actual rules before putting this together.

[@hedy4321]

Otto Dietrich - nice to see you posting. You are very much appreciated as a rules guru.

[@MrJoelgides]

Otto Dietrich I've sadly found now consistent report of hinder rules. Lots if overlap between penalty hinder vs non penalty hinder

[@td5272]

Agreed. "Offensive shot" is nowhere in the actual rules. Otto, are you aware of any other videos that attempt to take on this topic in a way that's more accurate for players? It's a big topic and there's so much confusion.