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So a little background. I'm going back to college and one of the classes I'm required to take is a fitness class (a required class no matter what degree you are going for). So the good news is that they have a racquetball court where I can do my "get the heart rate in the target zone" thing 3 times a week. The bad news is that I really can't find someone whose schedule matches mine. So I've been forced to play pretty much solo.
So my brain, being such as it is, starts developing ideas on how to make a competition out of even solo play. So I thought that I would put what I have so far and see if this is a feasible idea and/or get some help in refining the rules. Note, the rules below assume that you have a basic understanding of the rules of Racquetball.
So we start with a standard racquetball court, one that is also drawn up for Wallyball (I think that's the proper name for the volleyball game held inside a racquetball court). Those lines now help lay out three zones. From the front most serving line to the front wall is Zone 1. From the dashed wallyball line to the back wall is Zone 3 and the area between them is Zone 2. The 1 and 3 may be reversed depending upon the rules refinement and you'll see what their significance is in a little bit. However, for now we will assume 1 to 3, front to back.
A single round will last a given time frame. I haven't fully determined what would be a good limit. I'm ranging anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes, but probably some multiple of 5.
Player starts his round with a standard serve but from Zone 3. After than any normally legal racquetball play is allowed. Player continues until a foul occurs (hits floor twice, etc). Player starts again, however, (and scoring is coming up below) there is a time penalty, in the form of a no scoring period before he can start scoring. I'm thinking either 5 or 10 seconds, no more than 15, depending on how long the round is.
Scoring has multiple parts and this is the part that makes it difficult to play and score yourself alone. First off a player receives 1 point for every second they keep the ball in legal play. The time starts from when the ball hits the racquet (unless during the penalty period) and ends when the ball touches the floor a second time in a volley or some other event that would normally cause a new serve to occur. Two possible variations are whether or not to include the 1/10th of seconds, and let them accumulate over the course of the round. Such will make a difference in the final score. Additional points are received from each time the ball strikes a surface other than the front wall or the floor; 1 point per strike. The player or his racquet does not count as a surface for you smartasses.
A possible variation is to allow the front wall and/or the floor. Finally the zones are multipliers. Any score received in zone 2 is doubled and any in zone 3 is tripled. The two variations I've come up with here is what determines when the multiplier is applied. Variation one is based upon where the players is. Variations two is a straight physical zone and can only apply to the surface strikes. I guess that the player's position can determine what multiplier is applied to the time score and the physical zones for the surface strikes.
Most of these rules are designed to discourage the player from simply bopping the ball back and forth at a short distance with the front wall, thus inducing more potentially random movements into the ball.
So thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
So my brain, being such as it is, starts developing ideas on how to make a competition out of even solo play. So I thought that I would put what I have so far and see if this is a feasible idea and/or get some help in refining the rules. Note, the rules below assume that you have a basic understanding of the rules of Racquetball.
So we start with a standard racquetball court, one that is also drawn up for Wallyball (I think that's the proper name for the volleyball game held inside a racquetball court). Those lines now help lay out three zones. From the front most serving line to the front wall is Zone 1. From the dashed wallyball line to the back wall is Zone 3 and the area between them is Zone 2. The 1 and 3 may be reversed depending upon the rules refinement and you'll see what their significance is in a little bit. However, for now we will assume 1 to 3, front to back.
A single round will last a given time frame. I haven't fully determined what would be a good limit. I'm ranging anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes, but probably some multiple of 5.
Player starts his round with a standard serve but from Zone 3. After than any normally legal racquetball play is allowed. Player continues until a foul occurs (hits floor twice, etc). Player starts again, however, (and scoring is coming up below) there is a time penalty, in the form of a no scoring period before he can start scoring. I'm thinking either 5 or 10 seconds, no more than 15, depending on how long the round is.
Scoring has multiple parts and this is the part that makes it difficult to play and score yourself alone. First off a player receives 1 point for every second they keep the ball in legal play. The time starts from when the ball hits the racquet (unless during the penalty period) and ends when the ball touches the floor a second time in a volley or some other event that would normally cause a new serve to occur. Two possible variations are whether or not to include the 1/10th of seconds, and let them accumulate over the course of the round. Such will make a difference in the final score. Additional points are received from each time the ball strikes a surface other than the front wall or the floor; 1 point per strike. The player or his racquet does not count as a surface for you smartasses.
A possible variation is to allow the front wall and/or the floor. Finally the zones are multipliers. Any score received in zone 2 is doubled and any in zone 3 is tripled. The two variations I've come up with here is what determines when the multiplier is applied. Variation one is based upon where the players is. Variations two is a straight physical zone and can only apply to the surface strikes. I guess that the player's position can determine what multiplier is applied to the time score and the physical zones for the surface strikes.Most of these rules are designed to discourage the player from simply bopping the ball back and forth at a short distance with the front wall, thus inducing more potentially random movements into the ball.
So thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
