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Playing at a slow tempo

Last week we discussed playing squash at a high tempo in order to keep an opponent off balance and under pressure, and when and how doing so can be effective. This week we’ll discuss playing at a slower tempo and how this can be effective in matches.

Playing at a slower tempo is often associated with older players, but disregarding it robs you of a very valuable tool and dimension.

When can it be effective to slow the tempo down?

When the court is cold, playing a slower tempo can be absolutely devastating. You’ll need to take a very high T-Position though as the ball won’t rebound off the front wall as much. It can also be effective on a warm court where the ball is bounce high, as playing a slower length shot may enable you to prevent your shots coming off of the back wall too much. 

You can see more tips for playing on a colder court here, and tips for playing on a warmer court here. 

As with playing a high tempo against a player who wants to play slow, playing a slow tempo against someone who loves a fast-paced game can be lethal. Changing the pace is a great way of disrupting your opponent. If you try to play their game, or don’t impose your game enough, you are likely to struggle. If you can’t take your opponent on at a high tempo, try slowing things down a little. 

How can you slow the tempo down?

Taking longer between rallies can be a bit risky, and you don’t want to take so long that it is considered cheating or immoral. Just taking a few extra seconds than normal can help to compose you and also just to slow down your opponent a bit, which can be really useful if they are having a strong sequence of points. 

Hitting slower and higher length can be really useful for all players. If you’re tired or if your opponent is on top, doing this can give you a better chance of getting your opponent to the back and getting yourself back to the T-Position. 

An accurate lob serve can be the staple of a slower tempo game or spell, as if you get the ball dropping in the back corner, you can force an incredibly weak shot and have the chance to play a winning shot straight away, which will lead to more shorter rallies and a generally slower pace.  

Delaying your shots is not only a great way to wrong foot your opponent, it can also really disrupt their rhythm and movement by causing them to slow down all the way to a stand still and then sprint again for your shot. Delaying shots off the back wall is similar in that regard and will keep the pace a bit lower if you need it. 

See if you can recognise when you are tiring or your opponent is on top and have a go at playing a slower tempo for a few rallies and see if it can help get you back into the game. Of course, if your opponent is dominating you with the slow tempo, you might want to look at our post on playing at a higher tempo! 

Add more strings to your bow!

Playing at a high tempo

Tempo is an invaluable weapon for keeping an opponent off balance, particularly if you are able to change it unexpectedly during the course of a game.

Playing at a high tempo doesn’t necessarily mean hitting the ball hard, although it might involve that. Playing at a high tempo means giving your opponent less time between their shots by hitting the ball earlier, typically done by using the volley or half-volley more or hitting the ball higher up the court, i.e. closer to the front wall. Playing your shots early again and again over the course of several rallies adds up and it will make your opponent work a lot harder than they otherwise would, which can lead them to tiring quicker and making errors.

When is it effective to play at a high tempo?

  • When playing someone who isn’t as fit
  • When playing someone who is is more skilful than you are 
  • At the start of games 
  • When the other player is trying to slow the game down
  • When the other player is older
  • Almost always!

I would argue that there’s very few times where it’s a bad idea to play a high tempo. There’s a school of thought that says you should throw your all into every rally, regardless of whether you won’t be able to keep it up for four or five games. This is because it might be enough to wear your opponent out doing it for two games and it also will help you to get fitter and stronger and get to the stage where you can do it for five games if required. However, you may want to avoid playing at a high tempo if:

  • Your opponent is also playing at a high tempo – you may not want to get drawn into their game (or perhaps a high tempo suits them) 
  • You are very tired 
  • You are unable to hit the ball accurately enough at a high tempo to win any given match

I believe it’s always effective to start a match at a high tempo. Lots of players start slowly, so if you can come out of the blocks flying, you might build an early lead and quite possibly even take the first game. This will also test your opponent mentally, as even if they get going in the second game, they’ll now be 1-0 down and will have to stave off fears that you can sustain that tempo for the entire match, or that you are even that much better than them. The same goes for the start of games. If you can get off to a good start, you can test your opponent’s mental strength. 

It’s also of course a great physical test. If your opponent is older than you or of questionable fitness, you can try to burn them out by playing at a high tempo. This is particularly effective against players who are more skilful than you, but lacking in fitness. 

It’s also good if your opponent is trying to slow the game down. Refuse to be drawn into your opponent’s game! 

How do you play at a higher tempo?

  • Recover all the way to the T-Position between shots – where the two lines meet – with your racket ready! 
  • Volley and half-volley as much as possible – especially when hitting a short shot
  • Volley all serves 
  • Hit dying length 
  • Move quickly in a straight line towards the back of the service box to intercept lengths before the back wall 

Naturally, if you want to play at a high tempo you need to volley. Don’t let serves bounce, and use the volley to stay on the T-Position for as long as possible.

One classic mistake that players make when playing at a higher tempo is overhitting. If you take the ball early, you’ll take time away from your opponent. However, if you’ve hit the ball so hard – or played it so that it bounces very close to the back wall – that it rebounds off of the back wall a lot, you’ll give that time back to your opponent. So, make sure all length shots you hit are dying in or around the back corners. If you are going to hit the ball very hard, make sure you hit it low on the front wall, but do your best to keep an open racket face so that you are still getting the ball to bounce behind the service boxes and actually get to the back of the court. If you get this right, your opponent will have to return most of your shots before the back wall, which is demanding physically and technically and will effectively force them to play at a high tempo.

Also, it’s really good for you to look to intercept their length before the back wall. The best way to do this is to move in a straight line from the T-Position towards the back corner and aim to take the ball around the service box. This can take a bit of practice, and even if you have to hit the ball a bit higher on the front wall, you are stopping your opponent getting settled on the T-Position. 

See how many people you can unsettle and keep off balance with a high tempo! Look out for our next post on how you can use a slow tempo to great effect.

Delaying your shot off the back wall

One way to make yourself more dangerous from the back of the court and to vary your play is to hit the ball lower on the bounce as it’s rebounding off of the back wall. This is a great way to build some natural disguise into your play, as from this position you can easily play a straight drive, boast or cross-court drive from this position.

Building disguise into your game

It’s almost a form of brinkmanship, but if you allow the ball to get a bit lower on the bounce and a bit closer to the floor, you can really draw your opponent in expecting the straight shot. This means you’re in a great position to move between different shots like boasts, cross-courts and straight lengths from the back, which can help you to develop disguise in your game very easily. Even if your opponent stays glued to the T-Position, you’re still making it hard for them to anticipate your shot. This means they will have less reaction time once you’ve hit the ball and will therefore have to move faster to retrieve your shot. Not only does it create physical pressure, disrupting a player’s ability to anticipate also applies mental pressure which will be amplified if they are prone to frustration or losing belief in themselves.

On a technical level, it also forces you to really follow through the ball as you hit it, which means you often really hit an attacking, hard, low length if you do play straight. Peter Marshall was (and is) the king of this! These attacking drives can really apply immense pressure if you stop them coming off of the back wall too much as well, because they are hard to volley or intercept and give an opponent little reaction time, which means they are hard to return before they bounce twice.



You might have to open your racket face a bit more for your shots as the ball will be very low on the bounce and you might risk hitting the tin with the boast. If you’re aiming for a length shot, you may also need to aim a bit higher on the front wall, although it’s definitely a more effective attacking shot if you can keep the ball low.

This is quite an easy thing to practice and have a go at because of the amount of length shots people typically play. You can practice this very easily in a warm-up, as well as training or matches, so there really is no excuse not to have a go at this and see if it can add a bit more disguise into your game, and therefore put a bit more mental and physical pressure onto your opponents.



How to win at squash: Technical, mental and physical victories

How do you win squash matches? If only there was a clear-cut answer you could bottle up. Most victories though do fall into one of three types; technical, mental or physical.

Victories often consist of mixes of two or all three of these things, and often a superiority in one area will lead to a superiority in another, but it is good to have a rough idea of which major area of the game you can earn an advantage over your opponent in.

Beating your opponent technically

A technical victory is where one player’s shots are so superior to the other’s that the receiving player just can’t get in themselves in a position hit shots that will do any damage. Technical victory are most common when there is a huge gulf in class between the two players.

Having been a coach and practiced relentlessly for years, it’s not often I feel out of my depth technically. Sometimes people will tire me out, and I’ll lose shot quality because of that, but it’s rare for me to feel like I just can’t deal with someone’s shots even when I’m fresh. When it happens though, you can just feel helpless.

There was a player who everyone said had the greatest length shots they’d ever seen, and even knowing his reputation it didn’t prepare me for the actual match. I’d never felt so helpless. The ball just didn’t come out of the back corner, or off the back wall. The second bounce was always on the back wall, and so my only option was to intercept the ball before the back wall. This was easier said than done though as his length was also low and very tight, and so quite often my shot wasn’t as accurate as his, leaving him room to use his disguise and attacking shots to increase the pressure on me and win rallies. It was also really hard work trying to intercept his shots before the back wall the majority of the time.



He beat me technically. I wasn’t even particularly tired. I’d had far harder games physically, but I just couldn’t return his shots with the quality necessary to compete with him, and so he beat me fairly comfortably despite me having age, fitness and determination on my side. I could compete in the mental and physical battle, but I just wasn’t able to compete on the same plane as him technically.

If you have great ball control, you might look to beat people through the accuracy of your play and keeping your shot selection very precise.

If you are playing someone who has great control, you might need to try to overwhelm them physically or mentally.

Beating your opponent mentally

Mental victories in squash can sometimes come out of nowhere. It can be hard to gage where the other player is at sometimes – although sometimes they’re making so much noise it is obvious – and you can almost forget that they might be struggling mentally and physically through your own internal struggles.

In a close match, a mental victory might come from avoiding mistakes and rash decisions in the latter stages of games. This comes down to making composed shot choices shots during the important points, and if you’re playing against someone who is agitated and frustrated or tiring, keeping the rally going with simple shots might be the best tactic for a mental victory.

Conversely, if you’re playing someone who is fit and gets the ball back a lot, and isn’t particularly mentally flustered, being a bit braver and going for more attacking shots might be the difference if you are able to win rallies and they are not. This is not just a matter of skill. A lot of players will shy away from playing an attacking shot out of fear even though they are perfectly capable of playing it.

One common form of mental victory comes when one player imposes his style on another. This is most common when an older player is able to dominate a younger, fitter one with high, accurate serves and soft drops and drop volleys.

Beating your opponent physically

A physical victory is one of the most common squash victories at club level. Sometimes it’s blatant with one player clearly falling away in the fourth or fifth game. Other times it’s much more subtle with one player just not able to attack the ball as early as they were in the first game, not playing at the same tempo or able to get their feet in the right place to find the quality of shot needed.

If one player is slightly weaker than the other either technically, starting to lose the physical edge can spell the end, as when you’re playing a skilful player you need to keep your shot accuracy high and this is difficult when you’re tired. Even where players are of similar fitness, one is often wearied by the match more than the other and so finds themselves struggling to compete technically, mentally and physically by the end.

If you’re playing someone who is fit, you might need to concentrate on the accuracy of your shots, your shot selection and your use of disguise, deception and hold.

If you are physically fit, be sure to use this in an attacking sense and not just to retrieve shots. Use fitness and speed to attack the ball high up the court on the volley and to intercept the ball before the back wall.



Who can handle the oxygen debt best?

When you play someone who is at a similar or higher standard of ability and fitness to you, you will often spend much of the match in oxygen debt.

What is oxygen debt?

Oxygen debt occurs when your body isn’t able to get sufficient oxygen around the body quickly enough. The main symptom of oxygen debt is heavy and quick breathing, and unfortunately in squash you don’t get much time to let your breathing calm down. Soon after a tough rally is finished, the next one begins. 

How will it affect the match?

You’ll never quite become comfortable physically in a tough match, which means a lot of the game becomes about who can cope with their oxygen debt the best. This is especially important the better a player you become and at a high club or county level. At this level, the match can often become a question of who can maintain their skillset, shape, technique and shot selection best under the pressure. Naturally, a big part of playing at a high level is learning how to handle and adapt to being in oxygen debt.

Recognising when you need to change your game

It sounds obvious that everyone should know when they are tired, but quite often players will go into oxygen debt on auto-pilot, and start playing sloppily without really knowing it. They’ll instinctively be tempted to start going for ultra-attacking shots and try to cut rallies off early, which can be effective if you are still able to move your feet sufficiently to get into a good position. Quite often though, positional play becomes really sloppy when you are tired and so forcing an attacking shot isn’t a good idea. More subtle signs of oxygen debt include your length often starts bouncing shorter, which will create other problems if you are unable to get the T-Position back and giving your opponent a chance to attack. 

Signs you have become affected by oxygen debt include:

Some of these are very obvious, but you must act the moment you notice one of these things, or any other symptom of tiredness, affecting your game. 

How to adapt – using the height of the court 

  • Mentally re-focus, and remind yourself what you want to achieve: 

The first thing is to stay calm, which can take a bit of doing, and avoid trying to win rallies immediately. After that, it’s important you focus on your length shots, as accurate length which gets your opponent behind you will help you to handle a lot of the problems that oxygen debt brings. 

Start by aiming a bit higher on the front wall with your length – hit slower drives and go for more lob shots – as this will help you still get your length shots to the back of the court, but also give you a bit more time to recover to the T-Position. This deals with two of the major problems of oxygen debt. If you are managing to get the ball to the back of the court with high slow shots, and therefore get your opponent behind you, you will also typically get more opportunities to attack and intercept their shots, which means you don’t need to force attacks and take big risks in the pursuit of winning rallies.

When you are tired, you can and should try to win rallies when the opportunity arises. Trying to play lots of winners can be a very good strategy when it works, but it is high risk when you’re tired and not moving your feet well. The key to getting the right balance with winning shots is to attack earlier in the rally where possible, but not to force opportunities. Try to ensure that you are going for the majority of these winning shots once you have moved your opponent behind you – ideally with your high, slow lob – as you would in the majority of the match. The aim is to try and take the first or second opportunity you get, perhaps a loose length shot from your opponent that you can volley, rather than being more patient and waiting to see if you can create a better opportunity. You need to stop trying to keep moving your opponent and instead focus on being clinical as soon as a chance presents itself. This doesn’t mean forcing a winning shot, as it might take dozens of shots for you to get an opportunity, but don’t pass that opportunity up when it does come, be it the fourth or fiftieth shot of the rally. 

Start by recognising you are in oxygen debt, stay calm, aim to get the ball to the back of the court in any which way, and then go from there. Let us know how it goes below!