Rugby fives

Rugby fives court dimensions

A standard Rugby fives court is four-walled, with the floor being rectangular in shape. It is 28 feet long by 18 feet wide and the upper limit of the in-court area is 15 feet for the front wall, sloping down the side walls to 4 feet 10 inches at the back wall. Previously, the height of the back wall was higher at 6 feet but was reduced for architectural reasons as it removes the need for a balcony in new facilities thus reducing building costs and improving communication between coaches and players. In addition, a wooden board running across the front wall with an upper height of 2 feet 6 inches marks the lower limit of the in-court area.

The ball is designed to bounce well on the concrete floor. The walls may be stone or brick but covered in a smooth layer of hard-wearing plaster or alternatively they may be of the same construction as modern squash courts being hollow engineered wood filled with sand.

Rugby fives courts tend to be somewhat idiosyncratic and the dimensions stated above are not always adhered to exactly, particularly those built before 1934 when standard dimensions were established.

A ball is available to allow Rugby fives to be played on a squash court. It is a little bouncier and zippier than the usual ball to account for the larger dimensions (4 feet longer and 3 feet wider), the cushioned wooden floor and lower board height, or rather 'tin' as it is termed.

Usually a 50-50 chance scenario is adopted at the start of a match in order to determine who should serve first (e.g. one player puts the ball behind their back and their opponent guesses which hand it's in); however, sometimes a ‘roll’ is used to determine the team that serves ‘seconds’ or ‘second hand’, a ‘roll’ requires the ball to be bounced off of the front wall, the team who rolls closest to the back wall serves ‘seconds’. In order to initiate a point, the server must first throw the ball so that it hits the front wall above the bar, then clips the side wall. Once the ball has done this, the server can choose to retake his serve or continue by hitting it so that it hits the side wall followed by the front wall. If, on the hit part of the serve, the ball hits the front wall first then the serve is referred to as a 'blackguard' (pronounced 'blaggard'). The receiver has the option to take a blackguard, as long as they say 'yes' before striking the ball. If three consecutive blackguards are served without being taken then the server is deemed to have lost a rally.

In doubles, only the receiver initially designated to return serve may do so, unless the serve is a blackguard. In this instance, either receiver may choose to say 'yes' and return the ball.

As the ball may be hit with either hand, right-handed players will typically use their right hand and the front, right-hand corner of the court to serve. Left-handed players will serve with their left hand, using the front, left-hand corner of the court.

Following the serve, the receiver and server take alternate turns to strike the ball against the front wall. The ball must be struck prior to it bouncing twice and while it may hit any combination of back and side walls on its way to the front wall, it must not hit the floor or an out-of-court area. Failing to validly hit the ball against the front wall loses the rally, which results in the following:

• In singles, the loser of a rally must serve the next point
• In doubles, if the servers lose the rally then the designated server within that team changes. If the receivers lose the rally then
  • if they have lost a previous point since they last served then they must serve the next point
  • if they have not lost a previous point since they last served then the designated receiver within that team changes

Points are scored from receiving the serve in Rugby fives, as well as in Winchester fives. Thus, a point is only scored if the receiver wins the rally.

Games are played either to 11 or 15, normally agreed before the game commences. If the score is tied at 1 less than the originally agreed winning total (i.e. 10-10 or 14-14) then the winning total is increased by 1 (12 and 16, respectively) but no further (unlike in tennis where you have to win by 2 points in a tie-break).

The receiver's score is said first, so if the receiver has 10 points, and the server has 5, the score is 10-5. Zero is said as 'love'.

At the start of a game of doubles, the servers only need to win one rally in order to switch so that they are receiving (for the rest of the game the usual two before switching applies).