Paddle Ball: Racquetball’s immediate predecessor, which is played on the same court and with the same rules as racquetball but with a wooden paddle and a different ball.

Passing Shot: A shot hit near the sidewall and out of reach of your opponent.

Passitis: The profound fear of being beaten by an opponent's passing shot.

Paste: (verb) To hit a player real hard with the ball, given at least minimal bruising.

Premeditated pasting:  To premeditate a hit on a player, usually a sidewall hugger or crowder.


P-Vision: Stands for peripheral vision, where you have your eyes on the ball and using your peripheral vision to locate your opponent’s position.

Pinch Shot: A kill shot that hits the sidewall first then the front wall.

Pinchitis: The fear of being beaten by an opponent's pinch shot. Thus, he/she covers too far forward and may contract passitis. See passitis.

Placement: A target area of a player’s service or return, usually out of the opponent’s reach.

Plum: A big juicy fat major setup of epic proportion!

Point: The unit of scoring. Only the serving side can score points.

Point of Contact: Where the racquet meets the ball during the stroke.

Pompei Cutthroat: A boot camp variety of cutthroat, where a team of two players play one opponent. Each player gets to serve like in singles.

Power Player: A player who relies primarily on hitting the ball hard rather than emphasizing accuracy and/or finesse.

Power Serve: A serve that is hit low and fast to a rear corner of the court. Also called a drive serve.

Pretender: A player who thinks they are good at racquetball.

Pro Player: An open level player who possesses the maximum in consistency, experience, hitting power, and precision hitting skills.

Pumpkin: A setup, also calls a Plum.