Why? What? How? (Squash - General)

Member Name: thequy

Product:	Squash - General
Date:	28/06/01 (940 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots & lots & lots & lots, See text

Disadvantages: No pain no gain?, Can sometimes be true

aka The Beginner's Guide to Squash


~ WHY DO ANYTHING? ~
Because life's there for doing things.


~ WHY SPORT? ~
Because your body is a temple, you only get the one and if you don't use it, you lose it (the fit side of you that is). Sport improves your stamina, muscle strength, speed, reflexes, coordination and balance, leaving you better equipped to handle the onslaught of time - I kid you not. Getting hot and sweaty flushes your system out and revitalises mind as well as body. When you're fit, you feel better about yourself. If you're not fit then setting down that road, step by ponderous step, makes you feel better about yourself. I'll stop there because I'm starting to wave my arms about which makes typing quite hard.

The going may seem tough at the time but even then and especially after, sport gives you a buzz. Not the same type of buzz as going out or soulful music or a good meal (in my case, when I can't be bothered to cook) but one just as satisfying in its own unique way. Talking of buzzes:

"It's not the winning, it's the taking part that counts."

I don't quite agree - both are equally important to me. I make no apologies for being competitive yet if I lose, there's still the satisfaction of a good workout. In short, a win-win situation making sport one of the few things you can easily get addicted to which is actually good for you. Yes, even dooyoo can damage your career (one day they'll twig that you can't possibly be writing that many work e-mails).


~ WHY A RACKET SPORT? ~
You only need to coordinate 2 diaries to set up a match and, more importantly, why risk hurting your hand/foot hitting something when you can use a perfectly legal weapon? That 'no pain, no gain' malarkey should be restricted to being a metaphor.


~ WHY SQUASH? ~
It's more intense than badminton - end
of debate. Tennis loses out because British weather has a lot to answer for whilst indoor courts are rare and expensive. Squash is on no matter what the weather and I pay £250 a year for membership of my ex-university's leisure centre (£130 for students) which gives me unlimited access to the gym and squash courts. I spend a bit more than that on cigarettes :-(

Yes folks, I am a social smoker with absolutely no intention of quitting. My excuse is that I don't drink and am too devoid of character to socialise without something in my hands (I tried soft drinks but they refused to light).

Squash is also preferred to tennis because the rallies go on for longer i.e. more of a workout and more satisfying if you do win them. In tennis, if you get the angle right and hammer it hard enough, the other player can only watch and wave while it rockets past them (send me a postcard?). In squash, hitting the ball too hard is a cardinal error because it then comes off the back wall - softly by now - setting up an easy return for the other person. Ditto for the serve. It's very rare to see an ace when two good squash players meet, whereas it is a major feature of tennis, especially in the Men's. This is why I prefer watching the Women's tennis - fewer aces, longer rallies. Kournikova and co have got nothing to do with it. Honest.

I'm not saying squash is better or worse, just more suited to my needs. In fact I'd go so far as to say tennis requires more skill. I've been watching the Wimbledon highlights where the best of the best are gathered (with the regrettable omission of the exceptionally talented Ms K) and if I made that many unforced errors in a match, my coach would have me doing one armed press-ups repeating the mantra "I am pants". On top of that, those all too short rallies would be interspersed with annoyingly lengthy pauses if they didn't have all those ball boys/girls. I want
to enjoy long rallies with short breaks now, not wait until my six numbers come up and I can afford to have a dozen lackeys scampering about the court for me.

And these are top tennis players we're seeing strut their unforced-error-stuff. Ever watched a tennis match between two not-quite-as-good players? Squash allows even the non-serious to enjoy themselves at length. The rallies might not be spellbinding but at least the number of exchanges can reach double figures.

Talking of long rallies, one of the things that keep me persevering is watching two really good players play cat-and-mouse with one another on the court. I enjoy watching top athletes. It's mesmerising, seeing the difference between pro's and part-timers - not just in what they can do but how they move when they do it e.g. Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo (football) or Naseem Hamed (boxing). Apologies to the anti-boxing fraternity for glorifying a violent sport but doing a bit of Thai boxing makes me appreciate Nas' speed and balance. The ringside antics were pretty silly (having checked my home address is not available on dooyoo) but I've read he's calmed down a bit in that respect (just in case it's available elsewhere). Anyway, he seems a devoted husband/father and a thoroughly nice chap when he?s not beating seven bells out of you (just IN CASE alright?).

I've never seen pro squash players never mind the world elite in action but the top players at the leisure centre are enough. The ball is all over the place, at vastly different speeds yet they move with a graceful precision, never seeming to really chase it - just be in the right place for the ball to come to them. That's where I want to be, and even if I don't get there, I'm already having a cracker of a time trying.


~ DISADVANTAGES (aka GETTING HURT) ~
I'd be selling you short if nothing was said about injuries. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Yessiree, bu
t if you never took risks, you'd never cross the road. You can learn to cross the road in a safer manner and similarly, injuries become rarer as you become more comfortable with what you're doing. Besides, it's no riskier than any other sport that involves two people chasing the same rubber ball at speed in a confined space.

The most obvious things that come to mind are:
a) unwelcome familiarity with the other person's racket,
b) using your face to halt the ball's progress.

In fact, both are extremely rare. The official literature, any player worth their salt, and common sense will instruct you from day 1 that if there's the slightest chance you might catch the other person, cancel your swing. This quickly becomes second nature and if it doesn't then you'll soon know about it. The rules (see further on) protect your scoreline from such generosity.

As for the ball, whilst you're a beginner finding your feet on the court, it's highly unlikely you'll hit it hard enough to damage anyone or so quickly that you can't dodge it. By the time you can smack it with a satisfying crack, you're as nimble as a Russian gymnast - promise. Seriously though, if you get to the stage where both of you can hit the ball with pace, then consider wearing goggles as recommended by the official blurb.

I played a guy once who said he once took a ball directly in his eye and couldn't see out of it for two days. He was convinced he was blinded but happily it cleared up and he now wears goggles. I don't, although I should and probably will start at some point. Sheer apathy has stopped me so far but an impending operation means I'll have to wear goggles for a while so if I get used to them I?ll probably carry on.


The two most common injuries for me are shin splints and pulled muscles. However, I am usually to blame and really, both can easily be avoided. Shin s
plints are a throbbing ache in your shins caused by too much impact on your legs that creates hairline fractures in the bone (so I've been told by someone who's got a medical encyclopaedia so it must be true). They're not serious and will heal themselves if you take a break. Different people have different tolerance levels - I play twice a week and have coaching on Sat morning, which is no problem. Every so often though, due to ad hoc matches with people from work I'll play up to four days on the trot and the splints sometimes make themselves felt on the last day, especially if warm-ups included running. A day or two of no running or squash and I'm fine (doctors and seasoned veterans will no doubt inform me I'm irreparably damaging my shins). It is thus with immense regret that every year I am obliged to turn down invitations to run the London Marathon.

NB: Sat morning was a deliberate decision as this restricts my behaviour on Friday night - another benefit I get out of squash. Unlike Games at school, it's easily cancelled should one-off nights or other weekend commitments come up.

As for pulling a muscle, see the section on STRETCHING below.

Anyway, that's it for Why. Ever concerned for the welfare of my readers, this one contains a mental health warning. If you have no intention of taking this up or already know the difference between having yellow or red spots on your balls (important even for the girls) then what follows may not be that interesting and you might as well nip out for a fag break. Otherwise, read on for more on the wonderful world of squash complete with tips for beginners. Whatever you do, have fun...


~ GETTING STARTED ~
Hire rackets are usually cak and you may as well invest in a decent-ish one fairly early. Commits you to it if nothing else, and always having the same racket can be a welcome bonus when it's you that's cak. I recommend spending ab
out £30-60 on your first racket. Any less than £30 and you're in Bargain Basement territory where they've cut every corner possible to reduce costs. There's no point spending much more because a super duper racket made from some space age alloy will POSSIBLY (OY, DOOYOO, WHEN WILL IT BE POSSIBLE TO USE ITALICS OR UNDERLINE? CAPS ARE SOOO UNSUBTLE. CHEERS. QUY) make a difference to a pro's game but for us, it's up to an extra £100 for flash paintwork that'll be ruined within 6 weeks.

Ignore the endless "Was £100, now reduced to £6.99". More often than not, the £100 is the price they maintain for the minimum period in order to legally declare a sale at £6.99. Have a couple of games first with a hire racket (to have something to compare against) then shop around and choose one whose weight and balance feels comfortable to you. Don't hesitate to ask them to remove the security tags etc on a couple of rackets so that you can swing them freely.


There are 4 types of balls, marked by the spot on them:

Blue
Red
Yellow
Double Yellow (as in two yellow spots. Would've been easier to have a fourth colour but they probably wanted to introduce some cliquey lingo into the game).

The blue ball bounces the most i.e. hangs in the air for the longest and is meant for absolute beginners. The double yellow is at the opposite extreme and is the official ball for tournaments. I suggest you start on blue for maybe your first month or two and then as soon as you're comfortable with the basic swing, change straight to a yellow, if not a double yellow. The differences in bounce can totally throw you when you change colour and you want to get used to the competition ball as soon as possible.

A double yellow sets me back £2.70 at the leisure centre. I don't need to compare that to a box of fags do I??


I don't know how much the cheaper private leisure cen
tres are but if you can get to a university leisure centre, try it - bound to be cheap(er) and at the end of the day, a squash court is a squash court. If you pay £50 a month for e.g. David Lloyd,
your hard earned ££ also gets you a ?free? towel and chrome locker keys that snap around your wrist. Bargain. Strictly speaking, that?s not all you get for your money but in the same way that Microsoft bundles software, these gyms bundle their services and if you only want to play squash and maybe work out a bit, you're paying for a lot of stuff you will rarely use. But that's another rant for another time.

As mentioned, I pay £250 a year at a student gym so if I play twice a week for, say, 40 weeks of the year, that's £3.13 per session. Except each time, we usually play a double session so I'm actually paying £1.57 for one 40 minute session. And that's not counting the gym facilities so sport is not only better for my health, it?s better than practically everything else I do when it comes to my wallet as well. Now THAT's a bargain.


~ THE RULES (condensed, evaporated, powdered - the works) ~
Serve must be won before scoring then it?s first to 9. Naturally, the Americans do it their own way and play to 15 (but you can also score on the other person's serve). If you're at 8-all, the person receiving the serve chooses whether you play 'first to 9' or 'first to 10' (I've yet to hear anyone choose 9). Matches are usually played best of 5 games.

When you win service, you can choose which side to serve from first, then you alternate sides. One foot must be within the marked square on the side you are serving from. There is a horizontal line about halfway up the front wall and serves must go above that line.

All shots must hit the front wall before hitting the ground. You're allowed one bounce on the ground when receiving a shot. There is no limit to how many
walls the ball can bounce off.

As soon as a player has hit the ball, they must "make every attempt" to get out of the way for their opponent's reply (if you have a personal lawyer, it's useful to have them come along). If they obstruct a straight-forward shot for their opponent then it?s called a 'stroke' i.e. the point goes to the other player. If it would have been a difficult shot for the other player e.g. in the back corner and they didn't have a clear shot at the front wall, then it?s a 'let' i.e. the point is replayed.


~ HOW ~
As with any strenuous activity (including bed gymnastics... sorry, I blame Sexy Kay and her continuous flow of double entendres. Whatever, back to the squash) a game should follow a routine along the lines of:

Warm Up
Stretch
The Main Event
Warm Down


WARM UP
At least 10 minutes of cardiovascular exercises (posh talk for stuff wot makes u get out of breath), preferably 20 - in any case enough to break into a light sweat. Rowers, joggers, and steppers are standard fare. One machine which I always use if possible (being a student gym there's only 1) is the cross-trainer. This has your feet on two platforms that move in an oval motion (lengthways horizontally). The pads are linked to two bars that you grip with each hand and these go back and forth. You can 'walk/run' forwards or backwards and between the pads and the bars, the cross-trainer gives you an excellent upper and lower body workout. In terms of exercising your heart, it's not as intensive as running but for warm-up purposes this doesn't matter so much and besides, there's practically no impact on the shins.


STRETCH
Stretching should never ever EVER be missed out. Even after years of "that's the last time I do that" I sometimes get complacent after a long spell free of injury. Then (e.g.) traffic means I'm
a bit late for a match and I rush on without stretching. By the time I realise the consequences of recklessness, it hurts just to change from accelerator to brake (I don't know if it's the adrenaline or what but I often don't feel it until driving in to work the next morning).

Stretching is so important that I won't tell you what to do. There's way too much scope for misunderstanding between me trying to put it into words and you trying to work out what I meant. Any fitness instructor at your leisure centre will show you how to stretch effectively. Just remember to ease into every stretch - no sharp movements.


THE GAME
Having done a lot of running before taking up squash, fitness is not a problem. I'm also quicker than most people I play. This gives me the authority to tell you that speed and stamina count for very little against someone with superior skill and tactical awareness. A better player will make me run circles around them until I drop and they score.

Nothing can take the place of a good coach but here are tips that made a marked improvement to my game. Please note that very, very good players will blatantly ignore some of these pearls of wisdom but that's because they play by their own rules. To put it another way, learn the basic techniques so that you can be good enough to do it differently.


Front of court
1 . . . . 2


3 . . . . 4
Back of court


1) Let's start with an obvious one. The first rule of positioning is to get back to the centre of the court as quickly as possible after your shot.

2) Turn side-on to hit your shot so if you're right handed and hitting a forehand, your body should be facing the 2-4 wall. If you'e hitting a backhand, you should be facing 1-3. That may seem obvious but if you're not already doing it, you will be amazed at the difference it makes.

3) As you move toward
s the ball, have your racket ready up in the air. This lets you use the weight of the racket and your arm to add force to the shot - and saves vital time vs raising the racket when you get there.

4) Lean into your shot, instead of hitting it whilst upright. I?m going to describe it so you know what to look out for but before attempting it watch some experienced players and make sure you've seen them do it several times - ideally ask them (nicely, unless your name is Naseem Hamed in which case you can just tell them) to show you. Like I said, nothing can replace a good coach but I couldn't afford one for the first two years I played (started lessons in Jan 01) and in addition, a lot of people aren?t bothered enough about it to spend money on getting better. They can still enjoy it though.


If you're right handed and hitting a forehand, take a large step towards the ball with your left leg, shifting your weight onto it, and leaning over. Put your left arm out for balance as your right leg straightens behind you. All this time, your right arm should already be up in the air (see previous point). Rotate your upper body into the shot. This gives you more power and steadiness than using forearm or wrist alone (obviously, reverse everything for the backhand).

This has several advantages over staying upright:
* You're more balanced with a lower centre of gravity,

* It allows you to stay more in the centre of the court, leaning and reaching for distant balls rather than running all the way to them. The time and energy this saves is invaluable.

* From this position, you will eventually learn to hit several different shots. Because they all stem from this same body position, your opponent will find it harder to guess what shot you're going to play until it's too late.

* Having hit your shot, your left leg is already bent and the simple act of straightening it pushes you back
in the direction you came from. This should have been the centre of the court in the first place but even if it isn't, you've started the momentum of moving your whole body. Again, this is a great time-saver.

5) Think of corners 3 and 4 as your Best Friends. If in doubt i.e. where the other person is or what shot to play, send it into one of the back corners - usually 3 because most people are right handed and this forces a backhand shot. At the very least, you restrict their choice of shot. With a bit of skill/luck they'll not retrieve it at all.

6) Practice that volley. The opportunity to volley comes up much more often than in tennis and by returning the ball before it hits a wall, you're depriving your opponent of time. Time to think, time to react, time to get back to the centre of the court.


WARM DOWN
Ideally you should also stretch down (the same routine as when you started is fine) to ease your body back into relative inactivity. I've never been told that not stretching down can cause problems but I definitely feel better for doing it. In the long term, stretching up and down keeps you more supple than only stretching at the beginning.


GO HOME AND FEEL EXTREMELY SMUG ABOUT THE GOOD YOU'VE JUST DONE YOURSELF.
I often pick up a kebab on the way but this is optional.

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