USA Racquetball announces rule changes taking effect in September
USA Racquetball said rule changes will take effect in September, putting tournament directors, referees and top players on notice before the fall run of events. The sport’s rulebook already reflects seven changes the USAR Board of Directors passed in July 2023, including one-minute timeouts, a limit of two timeouts per game and a two-minute break between games two and three.
Those details matter on court because they narrow the window for momentum shifts. A one-minute timeout leaves little room for a long tactical reset, and a two-minute break between games two and three forces players to recover, rehydrate and adjust strategy almost immediately. In practical terms, that pushes match management toward quicker decisions at the service line and less room to stall a run once a referee starts the clock.
The federation’s procedures section shows that the September rollout sits inside a formal approval structure, not an open-ended rewrite. Changes to rules and regulations in Sections 1 through 5 and 7 through 9 must follow published rule-change procedures, while Sections 6, 10, 11 and 12 follow their own governing-body approval process. That split matters for event administration because referees and tournament desk staff need to know which parts of the handbook can change through the standard process and which parts require a separate signoff.
USA Racquetball has also signaled its timeline before. In an October 22, 2025 post seeking member input, the organization said approved changes would become effective September 1, 2026. The board also meets the last Monday of each month, which gives clubs, officials and event staff a regular cadence for tracking how any September update moves from proposal to adoption.
The broader pattern is one of advance notice and operational cleanup. USA Racquetball moved the 27th US OPEN Championships from fall 2023 to May 2024 in a December 28, 2022 announcement, another example of the federation adjusting the calendar well ahead of competition. The same approach now gives players a short but clear runway to relearn the updated timing, the timeout count and the rulebook paths that will shape calls once September arrives.