Coaching is a natural next step for ex-professional players. But three-time British champion Tesni Murphy is one of several retired squash pros making a familiar career move in an unorthodox direction.
The record 10-time Welsh national champion ended her stellar squash career in March this year, having won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal and become the first woman from her nation to reach the world top 10.
After taking a few months off, the 33-year-old's next move was not straight, but cross-court.
In an Instagram post in late June, Murphy's local padel club, PadelWorld in Kinmel Bay near Rhyl, north Wales, announced her as its new in-house coach.
"I can't even explain the excitement of doing something new," a delighted Murphy told Squash Player.
"For me, having played squash since I was four years old, I wanted something different. It feels like a new challenge which is why I'm really interested in it.
"Having said that, it's new but it's not new, because the experience and knowledge I have from squash complements the padel."
Murphy is not the only squash player to shift her focus from the white walls to the glass and mesh. In addition to the many squash players who play padel recreationally, England's former world no.25 George Parker is now a certified padel coach at clubs in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, while the great Simon Parke, England legend and ex-world no.3, coaches padel as well as squash and racketball in his native Yorkshire.
Murphy will continue to coach several top Welsh female junior squash players alongside her padel club role, so will not be lost to squash entirely — but should squash be concerned about a talent drain?
"Ooh, good question! I think yes, it is a bit of a worry," says Murphy.
"The boom in padel means that a lot more people are looking for lessons. It's new for everyone, so lots of people are wanting to get better.
"I think because squash is generally played by older people, many players have gone past the stage of wanting or needing coaching and are happy to play their mates every week. There's not the demand.
"Those who've played and coached squash have enough knowledge to carry over, but at the same time we're still learning. For me, and most people, it's the freshness of it. That feels really exciting to me."
The irony of Murphy's new role at PadelWorld being announced in the same week that Squash Wales advertised for a new National Performance Coach was not lost on her.
"I did notice that!" she smiles. "But I don't feel I'm ready for a role like that yet. I don't have the experience and knowledge of coaching for a long time. I'm not ruling it out long-term, but the timing isn't right now."
Murphy has already started doing shifts on reception and behind the bar at PadelWorld and leading 'Intro to Padel' beginners' sessions. She is currently working through her LTA Padel Instructor (Level 2) qualification which will enable her to lead structured programmes.
PadelWorld is planning to open a second site at nearby Conwy which will have a professional grade court with runout space and spectator seating. The plan is for Murphy to work across both venues.
Murphy believes that a squash background gives a padel coach a better grounding in some of padel's core techniques and strategies than tennis.
"I definitely think squash is more relatable to padel than tennis," she says. "Apart from the ball and the net, everything else is essentially squash.
"Hitting off the glass is just squash. Of all the people I've played with, squash players take it up quickest. As a coach, I feel quite confident that I've picked it up quick enough to coach others.
"I was playing someone the other day who's a tennis player and his ground strokes were amazing, but as soon as the ball went past him, he gave up. He said, 'I spent 30 years of my life of not letting the ball go past me.' For him, it was very alien.
"Strategically, the game is still about finding space and that's exactly how I would play squash. Tactically, you pick up what does and doesn't work quite quickly as a squash player.
"If you serve and run to the net, you have the position, which is not dissimilar to controlling the T. If you get your depth right and get your volleys to bounce low off the glass, you will always have the net and space to hit winners. Length is so important. It's the same concept."
Murphy, one of the most ebullient and approachable characters on the PSA Tour, will undoubtedly be an asset to padel in North Wales. But those of a rubber ball persuasion will hope she remains present and influential in the squash world too.
