The above picture is taken from behind the backwall of the the Calcutta Racket Club’s Wills Court #2, 1 of 2 glass-backed courts at the esteemed club led by Club Pro and resident Head Coach, Dalip Tripathi.

THE FLOOR - FOR THE SERVE ONLY

All lines painted on the floor are for the serve only.  As you see, there are two lines - one vertical, one horizontal - and the horizontal line as two attached boxes.  The lines are called “service lines” and those boxes are called the “Service Boxes” and player 1 (server), must have at least one foot in that box to initiate the rally with his/her serve.

THE WALLS - BOUNDARIES FOR PLAY

The squash court has 4 walls.  From the perspective above, you are looking through the back wall (glass) towards the front wall (decal and 3 horizontal lines and two side walls.

The front wall has 3 lines:

    The lower line is called the “Tin”  because it is commonly made of the metal which bears that name.  It runs across the front wall at a height of 19”/48cm (17”/43cm for Men’s professional tour).  When a player (striker) hits the ball and it touches the tin - anywhere on the red  line or below - you will hear the sound of the ball hitting the tin.  When this happens, the ball is ‘out’, play stops and possession changes (the receiver becomes the server).

    The middle line is called the “Service Line” (also called line #1) is a solid red line painted across the wall at a height of .  This line is for the serve only.  For a serve to be legal, it must hit above this line.  If, while serving, the ball touches the line or below, it is considered ‘out’, play stops, and possession changes.

    The upper line is called the “Boundary” (also called line #4) and is a solid red line painted across the wall at a height of .  The line is actually one continuous boundary connected at all four walls and if the ball touches the line or above it, it is considered out, play stops, and possession changes.  If it is a glass backed court, the ball is considered out if touches the top plane of the glass or goes out of court. 

The Side Walls have one line:

    As mentioned earlier, this line is part of one continuous upper boundary and connects the front wall upper boundary to the back wall upper boundary.  If the ball touches the line or above it, it is considered out, play stops, and possession changes.

The Back Wall has one line:

    Again, this line is part of one continuous upper boundary and connects the two side wall boundaries.  If the ball touches the line or above it, it is considered out, play stops, and possession changes.  If it is a glass backed court, the ball is considered out if touches the top plane of the glass or goes out of court.

THE SERVE - 1,2,3,4 AND WE BEGIN PLAY

    Now you know that the lines on the floor are only for the serve, and that there is also a service line on the front wall, so how does it all go together?  In a word picture, it would go like this:

With at least one foot in the service box, you must hit the ball

ABOVE #1,

BEYOND #2,

WITHIN #3

& UNDER #4. 

Its that easy!  If you’ve done that, then play continues and only ends if the ball strikes any upper boundary line & beyond, the tin, or the ball bounces twice.  Look at the picture below and follow the green, a service from the right box.