Squash (Sport)

Squash is a sport played by two players in a four walled court with a small, hollow, rubber ball and a racquet.  A squash court is shaped like a rectangular box with four vertical walls of different heights.   The squash court consists of a front wall, two side walls and a back wall.    A squash racquet weighs about 120 or 130 grams.  

A squash court features an out of bound line, which is the topmost line on the front wall that runs to the side of the walls, a service line, which is in between the bottommost line and the topmost line and finally a bottom line, which is present above the tin.

A squash court consists of a service box on either side of the court.   The service box is usually a place to stand and serve the ball during a match.  If the service hits any sidewall before hitting the front wall or touches the red line, it is considered an illegal serve or fault. The middle line or the central area of the court is known as the ‘T’ in squash.

 When the palm of your hand faces the direction in which you are hitting the ball, it is called a forehand and a back hand is called when the palm does not face the direction in which you are hitting the ball.  A forehand shot is usually hit when the ball is in the right-hand side of the court and a backhand shot is hit when the ball is in the left-hand side of the court. Similarly, volley is a shot played before the ball bounces.    In a match, the person who keeps the points is called a referee or an umpire.

                    

                        

There are few important terms used in squash during a match.  They are: boast, nick, double bounce, let and stroke.  We call it boast when the ball touches the side wall and then goes to the front wall. When the ball meets with the intersection of the side wall and the floor, it is called a nick. Double bounce or knot up is when the ball bounces twice. Let is basically a redo.  It is called a let when your swing is blocked by your opponent in a match. Finally, a stroke is called when one player gives enough space to the other player to hit the ball but the ball was missed by the other player.  In a stroke, the person who swung the racquet and misses the ball doesn’t get a point.

During a Squash match, there is no maximum point. If both the players get 10 points, then the first player to build up a two-point lead wins the match.

                                 

I learn Squash with my brother, Kartik at Smashers 3.0 in Perungudi, Chennai from my coach Mr. Laxman (Jerry) sir. My brother and I learn squash with three other students.  Their names are Dharma, Reema and Advitha.   Here’s the link to the Smasher’s website: https://smashersportsacademy.com

The most famous squash players in India are Dipika Pallikal, Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa, Vikram Malhotra, Abhay Singh and Harinder Pal Sandhu.

There are many reasons why Squash is not an olympic sport. One of the main reasons is due to the let and stroke concept. The let and stroke rule in squash is very debatable decision. My coach told me that this is one of the reasons why squash is not an olympic sport.