How To Return Ceiling Balls In Racquetball?

Racquetball is a game that requires not only physical fitness but also mental sharpness. When it comes to your success in this game, having a firm concentration on the game and studying your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses will play a significant part. Many players employ the ceiling ball method, and to win easily, you must know how to return such ceiling serves skillfully to your benefit. Let’s take a look at how to return ceiling balls effectively in racquetball.

The ideal way to return a ceiling ball narrows down to your positioning. If the server hits hard balls, move away from the wall, so you don’t have to chase for the return. Otherwise, keep close to them to prevent them from dying before you strike them.

Mastering the finest techniques to return a ceiling ball will put you in a position to corner your opponent and take advantage of the situation. Furthermore, understanding how to return the balls correctly will allow you to use the ceiling balls to your advantage to get vital strikes against your opponent.

 Learning to capitalize on poorly executed ceiling balls will provide you an advantage in the game, mainly if your opponent mostly depends on ceiling shots to beat you. When you’re hit with a ceiling ball, it’s critical to consider how you position yourself on the court.

Furthermore, your physical fitness will be crucial because you will most likely be sprinting back and forth to return the ball. Don’t give your opponent complete control of the game and moves. When returning a ceiling ball, avoid giving the opposing player an easy serve that they will quickly return.

This will provide them with a more extraordinary ability to dominate the game.

Hitting kill balls, for example, will make the opponent struggle to return, reducing the likelihood of them needing to strike you with another ceiling ball. This, in turn, will provide you with some breathing room to refine your shots and seize control of the game.

Types of Ceiling Balls and How to Strike Them

Underhand ceiling ball

An underhand ceiling ball can be struck in two ways. The first method involves just snapping your wrist straight up and flicking the ball upwards. When you’re stuck in the middle of the court, use this stroke. Keep the ball in front of you at all times.

The alternative is to play a routine forehand or backhand with the racquet blade open to deliver the ball upward. You can get the ball to the ceiling with a swift flick of the wrist.

Forehand ceiling ball

Move your shoulders away from the front wall and wait for the ball to arrive on the forehand side. Tilt your shoulders toward the front wall and, with your arm partially extended, take a stride forward and lift the ball toward the target, racquet face open and strings aimed towards the ceiling target.

This motion is equivalent to throwing a baseball from the outfield. The racquet rises from low to high and finally falls below the shoulder. Make contact with the ball around halfway down your torso. If you contact the ball too far in front, it will fly into the air and hit the ceiling.

The roof will be too far back if you strike the ball too much behind the midline. To help line up the shot, some players use their off-hand to shoot towards the target on the ceiling. You are more likely to smash the ball harder in action than in practice. 

You should probably practice striking the ball farther back from the front wall or very softly. You don’t want the ball to hit the back wall too high because it will rebound to center court and set up your opponent. The spectacular ceiling ball shatters through the back wall.

Backhand ceiling ball

Turn toward the sidewall, ready your racquet, and shift your weight away from the front wall. Wait until the ball is shoulder height. Step forward toward the front wall, then lift the ball toward the mark. 

The movement is then repeated from low to high, then below the shoulder. Make contact with the ball towards your midsection. You may practice the ceiling ball by just participating in a ceiling ball rally with yourself. Begin with bouncing the ball to roughly head height and smashing a ceiling ball forehand.

Other Types of Serves In Racquetball

Drive serves

The fundamental goal of all drive serves is to smash the ball as hard and low to the ground as possible while avoiding faults by not going beyond the serve line.

Straight drive serves

Stand in the center of the court and hit the ball directly in front of you, allowing it to pass near to you on the way back. It works because you obstruct your opponent’s vision of the ball until it passes past you, giving you little time to position your body in such a way that a flawless return is achievable.

Lob Serves

The main idea behind lob serves is to hit the ball with considerably less force and much higher than you would for a drive serve. The ball should bounce high and settle in one of the corners. A lob serve is less likely to be faulted than a drive serve; yet, poor execution of the lob may allow your opponent to throw a tough return, putting you on the defensive and wasting any advantage you once had.

A high lob serve intended to get the ball to bounce highly close to the fault line and fly into the corner in a high arc.

A half lob serve a serve that falls between a lob and a drive. The aim is to get the ball as close to the corner as possible.

To summarize, returning ceiling balls necessitates getting into the proper locations. This will limit the amount of running back and forth in the playing area. If the server throws a hardball, step away from the wall so you don’t have to chase it down. Otherwise, stay near to them so they don’t die before you hit them.