I’m thinking of trying something new…like the look of Squash and there is a local club who can coach/provide opponents etc.

I’m completely new to it, don’t play any sports…is Squash something I can get into or would I be better off starting with another racquet type discipline that would perhaps be easier to pick up?

Squash is awesome.

It will hurt though. It’s probably the easiest racquet sport to pick up, but very hard to master.

I love Squash as I am too heavy to play badminton 😆

You will cry if you try badminton.

It will hurt though. It’s probably the easiest racquet sport to pick up, but very hard to master.

Hear, hear!

As above: Squash is easy to pick up but difficult to master. I use to play it a lot and part of the leagues at my local club.

Don’t start off trying to play a game, just get use to the equipment and the rules first, by having a casual knock-up with someone who knows the game.

Oh, and start trying to improve your flexibility, especially lunges. Shuttle runs are a good warm-up.

Depends what you want to get out of it.

I fancied having a go, but didn’t have squash bats or know the rules …last time I tried was 30 years ago…and I was pretty rubbish .
But, I didn’t approach it as a competitive sport, I looked at it as a fun way to spend the best part of an hour with the added secondary benefit of getting some intensive exercise in the process.

Roll forward 30 years & I’ve just started the same process again with the better half. As the weeks progress, we’re picking up the rules and getting better. I’m still awesomely crap and even now, I’ve no idea of the correct way to play and don’t own my own kit, but it’s a real enjoyable way to get some exercise and have some fun.

Chris

I find it is a great anger management tool. there’s nothing like sprinting around a small room like a loon battering the crap out of something for an hour.

I used to play to a reasonable standard when I was younger, I played in a couple of leagues and a few knock abouts each week, but I havn’t played at all for 6 or 7 years now.
I still have the racquets and a selection of balls, just missing a pair of trainers.

In fact I think I might talk the wife in to a game at the weekend.

People still play squash???. 😉 Very 1980s.

Miss it despite the sarcasm – I use to play every week with an SAS guy. Scary to be with him in an enclosed place. But singles badminton is a faster, harder and better game IMO. A vastly underrated racquet sport.

Do the different colour dot balls still exist? I always thought there was too much of a rush to play yellow dots when easxier balls made the rallies longer and the exercise better!!! But male egos got in the way!!!!

Double yellow in summer, single yellow in winter when it’s cold on court.

White for training, blue is basically racquetball 😉

Yeah, anything other than yellow was too easy, lol.

Oh, and you never forget your first racket across the neck 😯

My son plays racquets and reckons squash is too easy!!! Not sure about that, but at least it is not as lethal as racquets!!!
Crazy game of dodge the bullet!!!!

Are there really double yellows these days?

My son plays racquets and reckons squash is too easy!!!

He’s obviously not playing people better than him at squash then 😉

Racquets could be fun, but every time I’ve tried to play it I’ve been laughing to hard at the sheer joyous silliness of it to actually hit the ball!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSmBZm0Pnro[/video]

Squash is awesome.

Huge plus 1. Playing against someone of equal or better standard is superb, it’s a three dimensional game quite unlike any other, just got back into it a few weeks ago as well. Brilliant.

Do the different colour dot balls still exist? I always thought there was too much of a rush to play yellow dots when easxier balls made the rallies longer and the exercise better!!! But male egos got in the way!!!!

Wrong way round. Double yellow is the slowest ball and leads to the fastest game, bounces less so you have to move more. Red on the other hand is like a bouncy ball and you just stroll around – you should always aim to play the slowest ball matched to you and your opponents standard. Of course if you’re a bit rubbish and use double yellow your rallies will last about two shots… No offence intended.

We’re starting off on yellow but I would advise a learner to start with red. Try and get it nice and warm before you arrive on court as well.

Thanks guys, sounds promising 🙂

Suppose it would be best do do a few coaching sessions to get the basics and then think about playing with someone?

I’d say the other way round. Start playing casually with someone who knows the game and when you have the hang of hitting the ball and the general principles, then get coaching. I say this because coaching will cost, and you don’t want to waste your money being taught something that is actually quite easy to pick up yourself.

You will also make better use of the coaching this way.

I played squash for about 10 years to a reasonably good standard. It’s incredibly fun and a fantastic workout. Unfortunately my knees have given up after all the lunging and I had to stop playing.

To get the most of your time on the court warm up before you start playing, especially in winter when done courts can get quite cold.
Roll the ball under your foot to get it warm quickly. If you don’t have good technique warming up a cold ball in as cold court is a nightmare!

Technique and footwork is everything in squash. Watch some training videos to learn how to position yourself at the T and how to move around your opponent efficiently.

Unlike tennis you have to strike the ball with the racquet face “open”, palm facing up and you swing your whole arm and upper body to generate power and speed. Your swing ends with your racket over the other shoulder.

Footwork: Opposing foot is planted when you strike the ball. So for right handed forehand shot you’d have your left foot planted ahead of the right one and you’d be swinging to strike the ball when it’s inline with your foot.

With experience,from the T you should be able to get to each corner of the court in 3 strides/lunges. The Pros make it look effortless, but they’re constantly reading their opponents body language and working out where to be for the next shot.

Oh, good non marking shoes and a dust free court make a massive difference too!

I love squash, haven’t played for years though, due to lack of interest from anyone I know!

If you want to win a point, play a shot across the front of your opponent to the wall on their side. As long as it makes the front wall it’ll drop in the opposite corner, and is a guaranteed winner.

Funniest thing in squash is playing someone better than you. They’ll stand in the middle of the court and make you run all over the place. You’ll be knackered, slamming into walls all over the place, and they won’t be breaking a sweat 🙂

I play regularly at New Mills and Glossop – I’m not very good but anyone local fancy a game? We always use double yellow balls but mainly cos that’s all we have. I tried racket ball once but it seemed too easy after squash

I just started playing again 2 months ago after an 8 year gap. I’m playing twice a week against different people with differing styles. Absolutely love the game and the fitness benefits it brings. God knows why I stopped playing all those years ago.
Get yourself some good shoes, HiTec Squash are cheap and just as good others costing a lot more. Quite a few places let you borrow rackets so try a few before buying your own as different weights, balances and head shapes suit different people. Enjoy yourself.

Take note of the advice above about getting to the T fast and then getting back to it after the shot.

If you don’t get back to it then it will likely be more than 2 or 3 paces to the next shot, and then you will be further from the T on the next shot, etc.

And a mate of mine, who had excellent, repetitive style, reckoned to ‘answer the phone’ as preparation for each stroke, on both sides. i.e. racket handle/hand up near your relevant ear at the top of the backswing.

Yea – great game squash!! I play 3-4 times a week and ideally you need to play someone of a similar standard to make it competative. Because your running & stopping, turning & moving from side to side a lot it’s a bit like shuttle runs and excellent for your fitness. Unlike tennis you can play it all year round & it’s just sad that it’s not in the olympics.

Seeing as this has generated quite a bit of interest…anyone in Sussex?!

Which part of Sussex Spooky? I’m near Haslemere on the Surrey / Sussex boarder.

Worth considering racquetball too. Bouncier ball makes for longer rallies and more ‘fun’ IMHO.

Ahh, bit far but thanks 🙂 I’m near Lewes, East Sussex

Don’t Do It! Well not if you want to use your knees past 30.

Great exercise,I loved playing but some of the older guys I used to see playing at my old gym are in bits now.

Worth considering racquetball too. Bouncier ball makes for longer rallies and more ‘fun’ IMHO.

That’s for people too old & fat to play squash any more.

I started playing again a few years ago. As a junior I played for England in various age catagories, then gave it up.

I’m playing for fun mainly now, but it’s great winter interval training. I play for my county again, which is fun, and still competitive.

It’s a hard game to play, and to learn. Don’t kid yourself into using a slower, smaller ball – you need to learn to structure rallies and how to play the game. You won’t get that if you jump straight in to a double yellow, as you can’t & won’t be able to hit the ball consistently hard enough to keep it warm, and your rallies will be 2 or 3 shots long at best.

A couple of lessons is no bad thing, to teach you the basics of moving around the court & how to swing properly. There can be nothing more scary than a couple of newbies on court, taking wild swings & not having a clue where, or how to stand, or where their opponent is.

Agree worth getting some lessons once you decide you like it. Definitely a number of techniques that will make you a far better player and quite quickly. It is a hard game to master tho, and you’ll be staggered how completely knackered you are after 10 mins even if you’re bike fit (and esp if you’re playing someone better than you).

I played a lot into my thirties and even tho it was a bit 80s, loved the vibe of the local club/bar, met loads of decent people and really enjoyed the ‘club night’ on a Sunday – 3 hours of just playing who was there and then pile into the bar!

Knees tho… hmm… ended up deciding to just concentrate on cycling as I’d last longer. I play racquetball with my kids now. But it’s true, I’m old. If not fat 😉 You never lose the angles/positiioning thing even after not standing on a court for the best part of ten years.

I used to play a lot through university but haven’t played for over 20 years now, I suspect it would kill me now.

It gets a lot easier the better you get, the game in essence slows down and becomes far more tactical, rather than crazily running around the court.

I used to play doubles in training for the university team, the idea being it forced you keep the ball tight, otherwise you would just trip over each other. Has anyone else tried that. Not sure we ever really mastered it.

Great game squash. I’ve been playing 1-2 times a week for the last 10 years. Get some coaching before yuo get into bad habits. The initial technique of hitting the ball and getting the racquet up early will be fairly quick to learn. Its the movement around the court/covering the court in as few a steps as possible that takes a long time to learn.
You watch the good players and it’ll look easy, like they are not running around at all. The fact is they manage to get back to the T and then only take 2 steps to get anywhere in the court – they dont run at the ball like beginners (and me!) do. Moving up and down the centre and then across allows you to cover ground with little effort. Amazing to see someone you thought was good, get thrashed by a fat bloke with 20years experience 😀

I want to play some of you lot!
Three of us play, one we play with is ex county, who’s now a good league player, etc etc and I’ve come so close to beating him but not yet managed. Amazing how I can have him beat he’ll be running forward to get a little dink I’ve dropped two inch above the tin and he’ll play the most ridiculous up and over shot that will drop dead in the back corner to give him time! I’ve watched him play the other lad and picked up so many tips….

That’s for people too old & fat to play squash any more.

Many would disagree, it’s a choice not a compromise due to age/lack of fitness, but it’s certainly more leisurely than squash, but still great exercise.

And I thoroughly agree with the above. As 2 ex county tennis players me and mate some 5/6 years ago decided to have a game of racquetball! I thought I was gonna die as the rallies were so long!

Played an hour of squash this afternoon against two mates, all of us of similar standard. Going to feel it tomorrow but it was brilliant.

Interesting this Racquetball thing, never played it so I can’t comment but I am curious…

And I thoroughly agree with the above. As 2 ex county tennis players me and mate some 5/6 years ago decided to have a game of racquetball! I thought I was gonna die as the rallies were so long!

So if two fairly even players are on court it sounds like it’s very difficult to ‘win’ a point, more a case of last man standing? I kind if get that but doesn’t it remove the techincal ‘fun’ of out playing your opponent and delivering a killing shot? Not knocking it just curious how it works.

When we play once a week at the mo there’s two blokes who I watch before the court switch. They play racquetball are probably mid to late 40’s and go at it full on. No matter which racquet sport you play if you go for it, it will be rewarding/tiring.

Superb game. Played for my county briefly as a lad. Remember going to watch the British open and getting Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan’s autographs. Very 80s….

I returned briefly in my 20s as a law student and regularly got beaten by a friend. And then his dad used to wipe the court with the pair of us.

Incredible game.

My brother has been a squash coach for 30 years now

Its given him an enviable lifestyle and wrecked his body

😀