First published in Squash Player 25.1
By Rob Ellis
As a videographer on the PSA Squash Tour, I’ve spent countless hours watching the world’s best squash players in action. My job takes me courtside to film jaw-dropping rallies, andgives me plenty of time to analyse the seemingly impossible shots the pros execute with ease.
Off-camera, I’m also a fairly competent amateur player, holding my own in local leagues, with a SquashLevels rating just under 3,000.
So, when the opportunity arose to step onto the court with Ali Farag – the current World #1 – I jumped at it. How often does an amateur get the chance to test their skills against the world’s best squash player?
Armed with a healthy dose of overconfidence, I set out to see if all those hours on the squash court and behind the camera had prepared me for this ultimate challenge.
Rob at his day job
A little context
Watching professionals battle it out, it’s easy to overlook the extreme fitness, speed, and precision required at their level. In fact, the brilliance of two evenly matched players often cancels itself out, making the sport appear deceptively simple.
This is one of the main challenges of filming squash: how do you convey just how fast and intense it really is? For many first-time viewers, squash can seem almost pedestrian. The solution? Put an amateur squash player on court with the world’s best and hit record.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to look far to find a willing amateur player.
Clear instructions
When professionals face amateurs, they often keep rallies alive, making the match enjoyable (and vaguely competitive) for their opponent. But not this time.
Ali had strict instructions: no mercy. Play to win. Make it quick. Be ruthless. Win 11-0, 11-0, 11-0. The goal wasn’t just to beat me, but to demonstrate the colossal gap between professional and amateur squash.
What followed was a series of lessons I won’t soon forget.
Lesson 1: Ali is always three shots ahead
From the first rally, it became clear that Ali was taking his instructions seriously. The World #1 was completely in the zone, and I felt it.
Every shot I played felt like I was playing target practice against the strings of Ali’s racket. He somehow knew what shot I was about to play, before I’d even decided.
No matter where I played the ball, how high or low I hit it, whether I hit it hard, took the pace off, whether I played it deep or short, straight or cross court, he was there.
It wasn’t just his anticipation; it was his ability to make me feel utterly predictable.
Lesson 2: Fitness is a different world
Playing squash five days a week, I’d say I’m in a fairly reasonable shape (though one YouTube comment describing me as ‘plump’ may suggest otherwise), however, all this went out of the window once the door closed and the first rally kicked in.
Each rally felt like running on a treadmill that kept getting faster. Ali pushed the ball to the extreme corners of the court, and turned the screw further with each shot he played. His control was surgical; he knew exactly where to place the ball to make me work the hardest – and he did it effortlessly.
Meanwhile, barely a bead of sweat had broken from the World #1. His movement was so smooth and effortless that I started to wonder if there was any shot I could play that would push him even slightly.
Lesson 3: Professional shots are ruthless
Ali’s drives were harder and faster than anything I could ever hope to return or reproduce. Each shot was hit to perfection – the accuracy and weight of his shot made hitting a good return impossible, and forcing a weak return only allowed him to inflict further torture.
The speed at which he played each shot was also like nothing I’d ever experienced. The time it took him to read, move towards and return each of my shots felt like mere fractions of a second, and the pressure that accumulated after each volley seemed to only ever increase as the match went on.
And then there’s the deception. His ability to control the ball is hard to put into words. One second, he was delicately placing the ball into the front corner; the next, he was playing a drive that rocketed past me before I’d even processed his swing. His body would say straight-drive, but the ball would say boast. By the time I realised what had happened, I was staring at the nick, wondering how many tries it would take me to pick up a shot like that.
Lesson 4: The glass court is an unforgiving beast
The glass squash court plays extremely different to a ‘traditional’ squash court. And while the pros make playing on it look easy, I can recount first-hand – this couldn’t be any further from the truth.
Firstly, hitting the ball to the same area of the court requires you to the ball 10-20% harder. This in itself is enough to force amateur players to ‘hack’ at the ball, leading to both a decline in accuracy and much faster fatigue.
Then, there’s the lifelessness. I found myself consistently out of position due to the fact the ball dies so much deeper in the back of the court. Even though the dimensions match a normal squash court, the glass court felt comparatively enormous. Having to take an extra half-step to get to the ball sapped any and all energy from my already-exhausted legs.
And finally, the bright lights of the glass court take some serious getting used-to. After staring up to track one of Ali’s lobs, the intense overhead lighting burned ghostly shapes into my vision, making it nearly impossible to track the ball as it descended. If I was already struggling to see the ball before his lobs, this only made things worse!
Lesson 5: Playing the best Is a humbling experience
If there’s one takeaway from my time on court with Ali, it’s a newfound respect for professional squash players – and elite athletes in general.
Watching from the sidelines, it’s easy to be critical. It’s easy to think, “I could do that,” or “Why didn’t they play a better shot?” Stepping onto the court with Ali Farag, I realised just how laughable those thoughts are. The gulf in skill is staggering, and it was an honour to experience this firsthand.
The next time I find myself courtside filming the world’s best players going toe-to-toe, I’ll be watching with a new-found appreciation for the unbelievable amount of skill, fitness, effort and ability that we’re lucky to witness week in, week out on the PSA Squash Tour.
And if you’re wondering about the scoreline…It was 11-1, 11-0, 11-0. The one point I took from Ali will be the highlight of my squash career, and nobody can take that from me.
