Squash (WSF) — Official Rules

A singles squash court is a rectangular box 9.750 m long and 6.400 m wide, giving a floor diagonal of 11.665 m. The minimum clear height above the floor is 5.640 m. The court has four playing walls: a front wall, two side walls and a back wall. The marked-out playing surfaces on the walls are the front-wall out line (4.570 m high at the front wall), the service line on the front wall (1.780 m high), the tin (a board across the foot of the front wall, 0.480 m high), and the board (top of the tin). On the floor the short line runs parallel to the front wall 4.260 m from it, the half-court line divides the back half into two equal quarter courts, and a service box sits in each back corner. All lines are 50 mm wide and form part of the boundary they define.

The ball is a hollow rubber sphere with a diameter of 39.5 mm to 41.5 mm and a weight of 23.0 g to 25.0 g. Standard competition uses the double-yellow-dot (extra-slow) ball. Either player may request a fresh ball between games or when the ball breaks. The racket frame, including any reinforcement, shall not exceed 686 mm in length, a head no wider than 215 mm, a maximum strung area of 500 cm, and an overall weight of 255 g or less; the frame must be of a colour and material approved under the World Squash specifications.

Squash uses Point-A-Rally (PAR) scoring: the winner of each rally scores one point and serves the next rally, regardless of who served. There is no hand-out/hand-in transfer of serve without a point. Each game is played to 11 points, but if the score reaches 10-all the game continues until one player leads by two clear points (e.g. 12-10, 13-11). In professional and standard WSF play there is no upper point cap.

A match is normally the best of five games, but may be the best of three games as specified by the competition. To win a best-of-five match a player must win three games (ending 3-0, 3-1 or 3-2); a best-of-three match is won with two games. The winner of a game serves first in the next game.

A match ends when one player wins the required number of games. A match may also end early by retirement (a player is unable or unwilling to continue), walkover (a player fails to be ready to play within the permitted time), or disqualification by Conduct Match (Rule 14). In each case the opponent is awarded the match.

At the start of each game the first server may choose which box to serve from; thereafter, while continuing to win rallies, the server alternates boxes for each successive serve. At the moment the racket strikes the ball the server must have at least one foot in contact with the floor inside the service box, with no part of that foot touching the service box line. A correct service is one in which the server first strikes the ball directly onto the front wall above the service line and below the out line, and the ball then rebounds, without first touching the floor, into the opposite back quarter of the court (unless the receiver volleys it).

It is a fault if the server: serves with no foot inside the service box (a foot fault); strikes the ball onto or below the service line or onto or above the out line; serves the ball so it would land in the wrong quarter or out; or fails to strike the ball after releasing it to serve. Because PAR scoring applies, any service fault loses the rally and a point to the receiver, who then becomes the server. (There is no longer a separate "first fault" allowance in singles PAR.)

After a correct service, players hit the ball alternately onto the front wall. A return is good if, before the ball has bounced twice on the floor, the striker strikes it onto the front wall above the tin (the board) and below the out line, without the ball having touched the floor on the way and without it being out. The ball may travel via any combination of the side walls and back wall before or after hitting the front wall, provided it ultimately reaches the front wall above the board on the same shot. The ball remains in play until it bounces twice, goes out, hits the tin, or a fault, let or stroke is decided.

A player wins the rally (and a point) if the opponent fails to make a good return - for example the opponent hits the ball into the tin or below the board, hits it out (on or above the out line, on the ceiling, or out of court), allows the ball to bounce twice on the floor, or is struck by the ball before it reaches the front wall when not entitled to a let or stroke. The winner of the rally serves the next rally.

After completing a reasonable follow-through the player who has just struck the ball must make every effort to give the opponent: a fair view of the ball; freedom to hit the ball with a reasonable swing; freedom to play the ball directly to the front wall or to either side wall near the front wall; and room to move freely to the ball. Interference occurs when any of these is denied. The opponent's right to a let or stroke depends on whether they could have made a good return and were making every effort to reach and play the ball.

A let is an undecided rally that is replayed; the server serves again from the same box and the score is unchanged. A let is allowed when, on a player's request, there was interference and the player was making every effort to reach the ball and could have made a good return, but the opponent had also made every effort to avoid the interference. A let is also given for genuine fear of injury where a player holds back, for a ball that breaks during play, or for outside distractions and other situations the rules specify cannot be decided in a player's favour.

A stroke is awarded to the player whose rally it is (the rally and a point go to that player). A stroke is given to the interfered player when: the opponent did not make every effort to avoid the interference; the player would have hit a winning return; the player was prevented from playing the ball directly to the front wall by interference; or the opponent is struck by a ball that was travelling directly to the front wall and would have been a good return. A stroke is also awarded for dangerous play that interferes (e.g. an excessive or dangerous swing by the opponent).

A no let means the request is refused and the rally result stands (the player who stopped loses the rally). No let is given when there was no interference, when the player could not have made a good return, when the player did not make every effort to reach the ball, or when the player stopped unnecessarily (for example after the ball had already passed playable reach). When a striker stops without genuine cause having had a clear opportunity to play, the result is a no let against them.

Introduced in the 2025 edition as a new Conditions of Play provision. If a player dives to retrieve and play the ball and the return is good, that diving player has altered the conditions of the court and loses the right to stop the rally and request a let. The opposing striker must then either stop immediately, before playing the next shot, to request a let, or continue and play the ball. Once the ball is played, the rally must continue, because both players are deemed to have accepted the altered conditions. If the diving player makes a winning return, a No Let may still be awarded even if the striker stops and requests a let citing safety. The Referee retains the right to stop play at any time if conditions are unsafe.

At the start of a match the players go on court together to warm up the ball for a maximum of 4 minutes. After 2 minutes the players must change sides, unless they have already done so. Players must be given equal opportunities to strike the ball; a player who keeps control of the ball for an unreasonable time is warming up unfairly and the Referee applies the Conduct rule (Rule 14). A maximum of 1 minute is allowed between the end of the warm-up and the start of play.

Play is continuous so far as is practical. The interval between games is 2 minutes (120 seconds) - one of the headline 2025 changes that aligned time intervals across the sport (previously some formats used 90 seconds). During the interval players may leave the court only with the Referee's permission and must be ready to resume at the end of the interval; a player not ready may be penalised under the Conduct rule. There are no separate team timeouts in singles squash.

When a player is injured, the Referee determines the cause, and the recovery time runs from when the Referee announces the injury category (a 2025 clarification). The allowed recovery time depends on cause: self-inflicted injury - up to 3 minutes; contributed injury (the player contributed but the opponent also caused it) - up to 15 minutes; opponent-caused accidental injury - up to 15 minutes (a stroke is also awarded). If the player cannot resume within the allowed time, the player must retire from the match (or, for a self-inflicted injury, may concede the affected game and take the game interval).

Bleeding must be stopped and the wound covered before play resumes. A self-inflicted blood injury allows up to 5 minutes to stop the bleeding and cover the wound; for an opponent-caused or accidental blood injury the Referee allows a reasonable time at their discretion. New in 2025: a pre-existing blood injury rule to prevent unnecessary delays - it is the player's responsibility to cover any existing wound before going on court, and if bleeding resumes from an uncovered or inadequately covered pre-existing wound, the player must immediately concede the game in progress and use that game's interval for treatment.

A player must not behave in any way that is unfair or against the spirit of the game. Offences include dangerous play and dangerous racket swing, verbal or physical abuse and dissent, audible or visible obscenity, abuse of racket, ball or court, time-wasting and deliberate delay, coaching at the wrong time, excessive or unfair warm-up, and - expanded in 2025 - attempting to influence the Referee. The Referee may act on any conduct that warrants a penalty.

Conduct penalties escalate through four levels: a Conduct Warning (a formal caution, no points); a Conduct Stroke (the rally and a point are awarded to the opponent); a Conduct Game (a game is awarded to the opponent); and a Conduct Match (the match is awarded to the opponent, ending it). The Referee chooses the level proportionate to the offence and may start at any level for a serious offence - for example a dangerous or deliberate act may justify a Conduct Match without prior warnings.

A match is normally controlled by a Referee (and, in some events, two additional referees forming a three-referee panel for appeals), supported by a Marker who calls the score and announces the play. The Referee decides all questions of fact during play, awards lets, strokes and no lets on request, and administers the Conduct rule. In the three-referee system, a player's request that the central Referee answers may be reviewed by majority decision of the panel.

Where Video Review is in operation, reviews are allocated per match (not per game). In a best-of-five match each player receives 2 video reviews per match, and if the match reaches a fifth game each player receives one additional review (Appendix 3.1.2). In a best-of-three match each player receives 1 video review per match, plus one additional review if a third game is reached (Appendix 3.1.3). Unused reviews are not carried over into a deciding game; the deciding-game allowance is granted as the additional review above. A player may request a review of a Referee's decision on points the rules permit; if the review upholds the player's case the decision is amended accordingly.