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The Blind Spot   



Laying traps for your opponent.

There’s a short window in squash when all players lose track of their opponents, no matter how clever or aware they are. It’s that moment when you go to strike the ball and begin swinging. At that point the ball becomes your entire focus and you tend to stop worrying about your opponent and become ‘blind’ to them. If you’re particularly composed you might be able to listen for your opponent’s footsteps but in truth you’re basing your awareness of their positioning on their last known movements.

Window of opportunity

During this small window of time when an opponent is playing a shot, there is an opportunity for cunning players to lay a trap for their opponent by taking advantage of this ‘blind spot’ where the player striking the ball has no real idea of their whereabouts.
This can be particularly easy to do when returning serve, as there is a bit more time to compose yourself to lay the trap than in other situations where there might be lots more running and pressure. You might stand really high up as you wait for the return as if you’re overly eager to play a volley. If your opponent is astute, they will notice this and should then look to catch you out with deeper lob serve. While they’re executing this lob serve, you could then shuffle back into a more normal position perfectly ready to deal with their lob serve, which of course you were hoping for all along.

One opponent of mine caught me out with a body serve down the middle on my forehand and after that I started to purposely drift to the right to offer him a great opening for a body serve to see if I could get him to do it again. As he went to swing, I quickly shuffled back so that I was perfectly ready to deal with what was now a weak serve and put the ball away for an easy win.

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By offering such an obvious gap or opening for the ball to go into, you are in effect coercing your opponent and influencing them to play a particular shot which you can then prepare for. Perhaps you can influence them to play a shot to an area which is a strength of yours.”

I saw a player once who would play a weak boast from the back and then move really high up the court, inviting the drive. He then used his speed and great volleying skill to drop back just as the opponent entered their blind spot and was about to start swinging and countered their drive shot with a long volley to the back, which often proved to be the winning shot. In this case, he was using his opponent’s blind spot to his advantage. The examples of positions you might take up and the shots you could invite are endless. You could lean to one side of the court to invite the cross-court and then pounce on the volley, you could sit deep to invite a short shot from the back and then move in for an easy drop during the blind spot and many more.

You do have to have a reasonable amount of agility in some of these examples but even if you aren’t the fastest, there’s no reason you can’t sway your opponent’s decision making with clever movement, particularly on the serve.

Have a go and see if you can control your opponent’s next shot by offering them what seems to be an easy shot option, only to then move into a strong position as they enter their blind spot and focus solely on their swing and hitting the ball.



The Ready position – Part 3: The Racket Ready Position



Prepared to hit any ball and play it anywhere at any moment.

Welcome to the final edition of The Squash Company’s three-part special blog post on ‘The Ready Position’. ‘The Ready Position’ involves not only your feet and your body but also of course your racket. It is the position you should adopt between every one of your shots to give yourself the best possible chance of retrieving your opponent’s shot. In today’s post, we will be looking at the very important role of the racket in ‘The Ready Position’ and how you should hold your racket whilst awaiting your opponent’s shot.

Are you Racket Ready? The ‘Neutral Position’ for your racket

Squash is littered with missed opportunities. There are countless openings and chances to apply pressure and perhaps even win the rally wasted all the time because people simply aren’t ready to play their opponent’s shot.

Between your shots, your should get your racket up to around chest height at a backhand angle.

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From this position, it is easy to manoeuvre your racket into a forehand or backhand position and your racket is already at a decent height making a reaction shot very feasible. These reaction shots are perhaps where players are commonly caught out the most, with opponents playing weak or loose cross-courts from the front which players aren’t able to intercept cleanly or at all due to their lack of preparation. If these players simply had their racket in the ready position, they would be able to attack the weak cross-court and quite probably win the rally.

The racket is also not far away from being around shoulder height if you need to carry out a full swing, meaning you can save yourself valuable seconds whatever shot you’re going to play, simply by getting your racket up to chest height.

It is a small thing but a very useful habit which can be done almost at all times. Anything that can save you a few seconds is worth doing, especially when you can use those seconds to take time away from your opponent by taking the ball early because you are ready to play the ball that bit quicker.



The Ready position – Part 2: The body



Prepared to turn anywhere and change direction at any moment.

Welcome to part two of The Squash Company’s three-part special blog post on ‘The Ready Position’. ‘The Ready Position’ encompasses your racket, body and feet and is the position you should adopt between every one of your shots to give yourself the best possible chance of retrieving your opponent’s shot. Last time we looked at the role of the feet. In today’s post, we will be looking at the role of the body in ‘The Ready Position’ and how you should position yourself between shots.

Your body positioning between shots is something that is largely left alone but it is something that can provide a small advantage if done well and conversely it can leave you at a disadvantage if done badly.

The ‘Neutral Position’

People know you should recover the T-Position or T-Zone between shots, as it is the central area of the court and from here you can also control the game. It’s important to occupy the T-Position in the right way though.

Whilst on the T-Position, you should ensure that your body is facing the front wall in a neutral position. Obviously, you don’t want to lose track of the ball though, so you must turn your head so you can watch what’s going on behind you over your shoulder.
If your body is facing the front wall, it is very easy for you to go in any direction at any time as you aren’t overcommitted. Lots of people will turn and face the back corner and their opponent or pre-empting a straight drive, will drift away from the T-Position and get caught facing the side wall. When this happens, they are very susceptible to getting caught out by a well placed boast or cross-court shot. No matter how good your anticipation (or your shot), you need to be ready for anything and by keeping your body facing the front, you are keeping open the option to move anywhere.

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It is no good taking the T-Position so that you can cover all areas of the court if you actually physically can’t cover the all areas because of your body positioning! Just make sure that you do turn your head and watch over your shoulder – you need at least one whole eyeball on the ball at all times!

Keep an eye out for part three of this series of blog posts in which we will look at what you should do with your racket between shots.



The Ready Position – Part 1: The Feet



Prepared to go anywhere and do anything at any moment.

Welcome to The Squash Company’s three-part special blog post on ‘The Ready Position’. ‘The Ready Position’ encompasses your racket, body and feet and is the position you should adopt between every one of your shots to give yourself the best possible chance of retrieving your opponent’s shot. In this first post, we will be looking at the role of the feet in ‘The Ready Position’. You can check out Part 2 on the body here, and Part 3 on the racket here.

In squash, footwork can be one of the hardest things to master. We’re going to look at a phase of movement and footwork that lots of people don’t even know exists, while others do it without ever realising. It takes place just before you start to move off to your next shot and is part of the ‘Pre-Flight  Stage.’

The ‘Pre-Flight Stage’

Between your shots, most players know you should aim to get back to the T-Position or T-Zone, as it is the central area of the court and a place from which you can move anywhere and also control the game. Once back on the T-Position though, there’s an important step (literally a step!) before you begin moving to the next shot and this step is very difficult to do well.

This step is the ‘Pre-Flight’ stage and to some it comes naturally, while others have never even considered it or paid it any mind.

It’s that split-second on the T-Position between the movement back from playing your shot and the movement into your next shot. That gap can be virtually non-existent or it can stretch to a couple seconds if the rally is slow paced or your opponent is delaying playing their shot to try and catch you out. What you do with this time is important to the outcome of the rally. Get it wrong and you may well find yourself chasing the ball or at worst, out of the rally in one shot.

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The ‘Split-Step’

You should aim to time your arrival back at the T-Position so that you are landing on the T as your opponent is about to start their swing. On your toes with your feet comfortably apart, you should then look to ‘split’. The split-step or split is simply splitting your legs apart by dropping into your legs, so that they are wider apart. As you land from this split, you look to push off in the direction of your opponent’s shot.

The reason players use the split-step is so that they can move in any direction once they land on the T-Position. If you arrive at the T-Position flat on your feet or try to push off from a standing start, you will find it very difficult to push off or change direction at speed. Whereas, if you arrive on your toes and then split-step, you can move in any direction at that moment. As you split, any movement in any direction has to be possible.

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Prolonged ready position

Sometimes, you’ll spend a longer time than normal on the T-Position despite your best efforts to time your movement to your shot. If this is the case, try your best to keep calm on your toes with your heels firmly off the floor and your feet poised gently apart. Avoid moving too soon or letting your feet go flat, as both of these will make it easier for your opponent to make you run or win the point.

Look out for part two of this series in which we will look at how you should position your body between shots, and Part 3 on what to do with your racket. 



Places to play Squash in London

As the winter nights draw in, it’s the perfect time to rediscover your love for squash or perhaps try it for the first time. London is a vast and vibrant city that can make it tough to find your ideal location and that’s where MyLocalPitch comes in – as London’s leading search and booking portal for grassroots sport.

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The company came into existence to streamline the current, often archaic, process of booking sports venues and the app is the next stage of the mission. It’s available today for download.

Locating sports venues in and around London is our speciality and here are three of the best places to play squash in London whether it’s at lunch, after work or on the weekend.

1) Sobell Leisure Centre

Sobell Leisure Centre is situated in the heart of the London Borough of Islington, just minutes away from Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

There are six courts, coaching, competitive internal leagues and two representative teams in the Middlesex County Leagues.

Nearest station: Finsbury Park

2) Balham Leisure Centre

Balham Leisure Centre, which is based in Wandsworth, has excellent Squash facilities. It is pay as you play.

Parking is pay and display, there are changing rooms, internal leagues and a viewing area.

Courts available for hire for 45 minutes. Rackets and balls can be hired from reception. Peak time cost is £10 and off-peak £7.70. Racket hire £2 and balls for sale at £3.50.

Nearest station: Balham

3) Crystal Palace National Sports Centre

Facilities at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre are top of the range. There are three courts available for booking and the option of hiring a racket and buying squash balls.

There is free parking available, changing rooms, an internal league and viewing area. The league is run every Wednesday night between 6.30pm and 9pm. It’s £3 for members and £5 for non-members.

Nearest station: Crystal Palace Overground