Frequently on Reddit (and a few other forums or discussion groups) a new player will post stating their newfound love of the game and asking advice for how to improve and what to buy, etc. I tend to answer these questions in more depth than many that reply with a flippant answer about “Go To YouTube” or “Buy the racquet from my company because I’m a sponsored player”. Here’s one of the more recent of these questions posted by a new university student, and my answer. Let me know how you would modify or improve on that answer.

The Reddit post in question:
how_to_start_learning

I just moved to the US and my uni gym has a lot of Racquetball courts and I find it a very interesting sport and I would love to learn how to play.

I want to know what I can do to start practicing the game solo first before I can ask to play with someone, my uni gym has a lot of courts and a few of them are always vacant, so any tip helps.

Painter’s tape, one roll.

A brand-new cheap racquet. You may be able to find these at a Walmart or big-box sports store in your area. If not, buy one from Gearbox direct. The GB-50 is a great option. https://gearboxsports.com/collections/all-racquets/products/gb-50

Balls, brand new. Walmart or big-box sports stores for sure, get 2-3 cans/boxes so that you have 6-9 ball so that you can rotate them out when they seem to be doing unusual things for you. Again, if you can’t find them locally, go direct. https://gearboxsports.com/collections/balls/products/racquetball-3-ball-pack-electric-blue

Eye protection. The vast majority of the time that the ball will hit your face, is right after you hit it, especially when you are just starting out. 🙂 You won’t need the most expensive of these, but you do want the ASTM-F803 standard to be met. Anything marketed by Head / Gearbox / E-Force / Wilson / ProKennex will be sufficient to keep you safe. The key to get a great pair of eyewear is to ensure that the model you are using does not touch your eyebrows or your forehead. When they do touch, they will fog up as you sweat. So test as many models as you can find to get the best fit.

Now with the painter’s tape, you want to make a pair of 3-4 inch marks on the front wall.
One at the height of your can of balls (~6 inches).
The next at the height of the top of your racquet (i.e. 22 inches).
Put the tape pieces about a foot in from the side wall (or a bit less as you get better).
As you practice hitting the ball, forehands and backhands, work to keep the ball hitting the front wall between those two marks.
[Any higher and the ball will come off the back wall for an easy shot for your opponent. Any lower and you are likely to hit it into the ground in the heat of a game. Adrenaline is fun like that.]

Canada’s Racquetball Practice Program has some great videos that show you what you can do to continue to improve with that tape.
https://www.youtube.com/user/albertaracquetball1/videos

Aaron Embry of San Diego put out a series of videos with a now defunct retailer that are still a great way to learn about the game and to improve.
https://www.youtube.com/user/PacificSports1/videos

Rocky Carson and Jim Winterton have each put out a series of videos with RacquetWorld (the best remaining online retailer for racquetball). They are worth a watch and a work through.
https://store.racquetworld.com/pats-racquetball-tip-of-the-month.html

The key with the videos is to find a presenter that makes sense to you and to commit to practicing what they are showing.

If you stick with it and want to move beyond the basic videos still available (dozens of racquetball video series have disappeared in the last 5 years as the YouTube channels have changed focus or been sold to new people, etc.) then you will want to look into the DVD and book options.

Start here for those links:
https://jt-rb.com/learning/

Come back here often and ask specific questions!
Welcome to the game!