By Ian McKenzie
Imagine a small child — or even yourself — walking onto a squash court for the first time.
You would have a sense of space, and see a very big wall. When you had a hit, it would have been around the front and middle. But after a while, you would become aware that shots into the back corners were difficult to get out of — and if your opponent managed to retrieve one, you could play a little shot into the front corners.
So, in squash, hitting the ball into the back corners is a pretty good thing to do. It is, in effect, the basic rally-building shot called a length.
(I use the term full length for a shot that forces a player to play the ball after it rebounds off the back wall, and dying length for one that is deep in the court but must be played before it reaches the back wall.)
Often, we do not achieve this length, as things conspire to disrupt our plan. We rush. We really like to thump the ball hard in squash. We hit low and down on it. And if our shots are ‘loose’, our opponents may intercept them. Once disrupted, we rush more.
Try this — or imagine it. Smash the ball as hard as you can against the front wall. Where did it land? In the back corner? Really?
Now bounce the ball up and down on your (horizontal) racket face. Here you are hitting straight up in the air, aren’t you? Now angle the racket face at 45 degrees and come under the ball with a 45-degree racket path. Hit the ball into all that empty space — high up on that lovely, big front wall that is hardly used.
How did it go? Into the back corners?
If not, come under it a bit more and hit it on a 60-degree path, even higher on the front wall.
So we can play and experiment with using the height of the front wall — and use this to easily get the ball into the back corners.
Practise this yourself. In your solo practise, vary the height of your shots. In the on-court warm-up (knock-up), remember to put a few shots high as a reminder to use this height in your play. Practise some condition games above the service line. In short, get used to using all of this marvellous front wall.
We’ve looked at the technique for using the front wall, and how to practise it. Now for the tactics:
The basic tactical rule is this:
- If you hit one ball short (of a good length), hit the next one higher. (I would suggest over-hit it.) Then you will never lose your length.
When you are watching a match — or a tournament on TV — and the coaches walk down to give tactical advice, do you know what they are usually saying?
Most of the time they are saying: ‘Get your length. Start each rally with that before you do anything else.’
If any players can afford to be a little looser (and I do not recommend this), it is the finest squash athletes on the planet — brilliant movers who can recover from poor positions. Watch how they take chances and half-opportunities to work the ball, which can mean looser play.
When you watch SquashTV, leave the ball for a moment and watch the extreme, minimalist efficiency of Diego Elias’s court movement and his entry and exit into striking position; Mostafa Asal’s explosive speed and power; and how Ali Farag’s feet seem to swivel on the ends of his legs, allowing him to take off from any position.
You probably can’t do this in your own play — so our game needs to be even tighter than theirs. The balls must be closer to the walls, restricting your opponent, and into the back corners. (Good length again, restricting your opponent.)
It's so-obvious but often-overlooked task of a squash player: use the height of the front wall.
