Squash doubles rules, from serving order to interference

Squash doubles rules keep most of the singles rulebook and add three things: a partner, a fixed serving order inside each side, and interference judged with four bodies on court. Two codes exist — North American hardball doubles on a 25-by-45-foot court, and international softball doubles on a shorter, widened doubles court.

Two codes share the name

"Doubles" covers two different games, and written doubles squash rules exist for both. Hardball doubles is the North American version: a purpose-built 25-by-45-foot court, its own faster ball, games to 15. Softball doubles is the international game under World Squash Federation rules — standard yellow-dot ball, rally point to 11, the format played at the Commonwealth Games.

Neither is written for a singles court. Settle which code you're playing before the spin: the rally is near-identical, the court and ball are not.

The squash doubles court

	Singles court	WSF doubles court	Hardball doubles court
Width	21 ft / 6.4 m	25 ft / 7.62 m	25 ft
Length	32 ft / 9.75 m	32 ft / 9.75 m	45 ft
Front-wall out line	15 ft / 4.57 m	15 ft / 4.57 m	20 ft
Tin height	19 in / 480 mm	19 in / 480 mm	17 in
Ball	yellow dot	yellow dot	dedicated doubles ball
Scoring	rally point to 11	rally point to 11	to 15

The WSF doubles court is a singles court widened by four feet; the length doesn't change. At WSF world and regional events and the Commonwealth Games it opens further, to 8.42 m (27.6 ft), with the tin dropped to 330 mm (13 in). The hardball court adds thirteen feet of length on top, so a drive that would die in a singles back corner still has room to run. Full squash court dimensions are worth a look if you've only played one type.

Serving order in doubles

Which partner serves

The side winning the spin of a racket chooses to serve or receive. Both codes then fix the order of servers within each side, and neither lets you change it mid-game.

Softball doubles, rally point to 11. Games run to 11 with no two-point margin — 10-all is decided by the next rally. Both teams declare their serving order before the match; it can't change. The first server holds serve until their side loses a rally, then the serve crosses to the opponents' first server, and after that to the second server of each side in turn — all four get one service turn per cycle.

Hardball doubles, games to 15. Current US Squash rules score every rally too, but service keeps the two-hands structure. When the server loses a rally, serve passes to their partner — first hand out. When that hand goes, the side is out and the serve crosses over. At the start of every game — not just the match — the side serving first gets a single hand. Hardball also gives two serves, tennis-style: a first-serve fault is retaken, and only a second fault loses the point. Softball doubles allows one serve, and a fault loses the rally.

Boxes and who returns

The server picks a box, then alternates for as long as the side keeps the serve, as in singles. The receiving side splits the court: one player takes every serve into the right box, the other the left, held for the rest of the game. Partners can swap between games — under WSF rules, tell the referee and the opponents.

Only the player whose box is being served into may return that serve. After that the restriction is gone: either partner may hit any ball, in any order. Squash has no alternate-shot rule like badminton or pickleball. Everything else in the squash serve rules carries over.

Both codes now score every rally, so the score is rarely the argument — the serving order is. Squash Scoreboard, a squash scoreboard app for iPhone and Apple Watch that tracks match scores, shows a serve indicator next to the score, which settles it without replaying the last five rallies from memory.

Squash singles vs doubles: what actually changes

Out lines, the ball struck before it bounces twice, not-ups — all judged as in singles. Five things genuinely change:

• Fixed receiving halves. You own one side of the court for the serve, all game.
• Your partner is your problem. No let is allowed when the partners themselves caused the interference.
• Hitting your partner ends the rally against your side. If your shot strikes your partner on the way to the front wall, the opponents win it. Hardball rules make an exception if an opponent had swung at or shaped to play it.
• Two minutes between games, where singles gives 90 seconds.
• Eye protection. The WSF requires certified eyewear for all doubles play, warm-up included, and tells officials to refuse a match without it; US Squash requires it for hardball.

How squash doubles rules handle interference

The framework is the singles one: a let where a player was genuinely interfered with and could have made a good return, a stroke where the interference cost a probable winner or the opponents didn't make every reasonable effort to clear. Doubles triggers it far more often — an opponent who clears properly can leave their partner exactly where you wanted to swing.

• Interference from your own partner is never a let. A pair is one unit; there's no relief from yourself.
• If both partners of the striking side ask and the referee would rule them differently, the more generous ruling stands. So ask.
• If your swing would strike an opponent, hold and ask. That check comes up twice as often here, and a racket to the face is the injury doubles produces.
• Deliberate blocking is a conduct offence, not just a rally decision: the referee can impose a warning, a stroke, a game or the match against the offending side.

If the let vs stroke distinction isn't second nature yet, learn it in singles — a crowded court is a poor classroom.

Three players and one court

Clubs fall back on three-player squash when courts are scarce. No governing body codifies it, so set the rules first. The common version puts one player against a pair: the two split the court left and right while the solo player covers everything. Play to 11 or 15, then rotate so everyone takes a turn alone. In cutthroat, everyone plays for themselves: the server takes on the other two, and the serve rotates on a lost rally.

FAQ

Can you play squash doubles on a normal singles court?

Nothing stops you, and most club doubles happens exactly that way — expect a let every few rallies. Both official codes assume a wider court, though: WSF doubles a 25-foot-wide court of standard 32-foot length, hardball doubles a purpose-built 25-by-45-foot one.

Who serves first in squash doubles?

The side winning the spin of the racket chooses to serve or receive, and that side's nominated first server starts, picking the right or left box. Under hardball rules the first serving side of each game gets one hand only before the serve goes over.

Can either partner return the serve?

No. Each member of the receiving side owns one half of the court for the whole game, and only the player served into may play that serve. After the return, either partner can hit any ball.

Is squash doubles played to 11 or 15?

WSF softball doubles plays rally point to 11, settled outright at 10-all, normally best of five games. Hardball doubles plays games to 15, the match going to the first side to win three. The WSF also publishes a rally-point-to-15 alternative, so check the format before the match, not during it.