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Hitting the nine corners (or 10? Or more?)



Making use of all available space.

Traditionally, most people think of there being four corners on the court into which we attempt to play the majority of our shots; the two front corners and the two back corners. This can be a very efficient tactic and can even be very exciting when the drops and drop volleys are played to a high level. However, some opponents are fantastic when moving in a straight line but not so good when forced into other areas of the court or when there are lots of cross-court shots. You need to be able to think outside of just these four corners in order to be a well rounded player.

This is a concept Nick Matthew touches upon in his book ‘Sweating Blood’ and it is something which is really important to bear in mind when you are building the rally.

In the anecdote, the idea is presented to Nick Matthew of hitting the ball into ‘eight corners’. Are there eight? Are there more than eight? So where are these eight ‘corners’? These eight are not all ‘corners’ in the traditional sense. There are of course four areas into which you can play effective winners – the four corners we’ve previously mentioned.

In addition to these four traditional corners, when trying to achieve good length, we could play more lob shots, as well as hammering the ball at a low height on the front wall. We could even aim for a middling height at a medium pace. We should also throw in more extremely low shots, such as kill or stun shots. It’s better to have a few different shots that achieve the same goal, such as hitting to length, as this keeps our opponent on the back foot. These varying shots will all hit slightly different areas of the court – the kills and stuns will bounce shorter than a traditional length shot but further back than a drop – which will keep our opponent moving under more pressure as they struggle to keep up with the range of shots played.

Using slightly different shots to force opponents into different areas of the court used will force them away from smooth movement to and from the main four corners, which will almost leave them slightly disorientated.”

You could also play such a wide range of boasts to make better use of the middle areas of the court. The boast could be traditional and hit three walls, coming back off the side wall, or it could be so narrow that it hits the front wall very close to the corner. As I discussed in the post ‘Two-wall or three wall boasts?’, it may also hit the front wall in the middle and therefore bounce twice before the side wall, putting the opponent under pressure.

You can also take a few liberties and play a few shots down the middle in classic Geoff Hunt style! Be careful when you do this though, you’ll need to really sell the deception to avoid giving away strokes.

There are probably several more areas that you can think of and you should try to use as many of them as possible. The court is a rather big place and the walls have humungous surface areas. Ask yourself if you’re really making use of all of the space that is available to you.



Squash Company junior players have something to boast about

The Squash Company’s flagship club Lewes Junior Squash Club, is on the rise. With a county record equaling six teams planned for next season, three juniors representing the County at the national finals and a further four in the County Squad, the club is entering an exciting era.

This month, The Squash Company supplied the finalists for the Dunnings Junior Squash Open Boys U17 Category, with Lewes Junior Champion Cam Baker taking on Will Rowe of Corals Squash Club, who trains weekly at Lewes Squash Club under The Squash Company’s Head Coach Nic Davies. Will marshalled Cam superbly with his drop and volley combinations to take a 2-0 lead before Cam recovered with a spectacular run of shots, boasts and angle shots to take the third 11-4. Will reestablished his control in the fourth though and displayed great assurance and concentration to close out the fourth to win 3-1 and take the title.

Meanwhile, another Squash Company protegee Emily Kimber was invited to participate in the Tecnifibre English Junior Open in the Girls U15 category. Only the very best players in each age group are allowed to participate, so being part of the event itself a great feat. Although she fell to a 3-0 defeat in the first round to a highly seeded player, it was a great experience and achievement for Emily, particularly as she still has another year to go in the age range.

We’re very proud of all of you for your hard work and achievements!

Topspin Drops



A very brief post just to highlight the number of professional squash players now frequently playing topspin drops from the front of the court.

back corner shots squash

It is most commonly used when the ball is glued to the side wall, making it very difficult to return under any circumstances.

In this situation, hitting the racket’s sweet spot becomes near impossible so the use of topspin can give a greater element of control and also give the ball the impetus to make the front wall.”

When played successfully, it also comes back deadly tight to the side wall. Try it out!



Using your body to hide shots in Squash



We’ve all played squash against one of those big guys. They stand on the T-Position and are almost impossible to dislodge. Any attempt and you seem to bounce off them towards the back corners.

You could cope with that though. That would be bearable if it wasn’t for the fact they obscure your vision of the ball with their body so that you can’t actually see the ball as they are about to play their shot. It might be a little morally grey but is there a better disguise? Imagine your opponent not actually being able to see the ball or your hand in your shots first moments.

This would leave them well off the pace and lagging behind. If there is no way of seeing the ball, it’s almost impossible to anticipate what will happen next.

How to use your body for deception

Try playing a ball from the front whilst ‘front on’ – facing the front wall with your body rather than the side wall as is traditional for most squash shots. This will make you bigger and obscure your opponents vision slightly. It can be challenging to maintain ball control from this position but it opens up a plethora of options. It requires dexterity as you will usually have to play the ball quite close to your body, so you may need to use a your wrist from this position.

“It might be a little morally grey but is there a better disguise? Imagine your opponent not actually being able to see the ball or your hand in your shots first moments.”

Quite often the ball will be flying past your opponent before they are even able to move. Immoral? Just a touch perhaps, but boy is it effective! Give it a try and see what you think!



What is Squash?

What is Squash?

“Is that the sport you play by yourself?”

“Is that basically tennis but indoors?”

“Is that the game where you hit the ball against the wall?”

What game is squash?

Played in an indoor court, the aim of squash is to make a small rubber ball bounce twice on the floor before the opponent is able to return it. So, yes squash is played by two people. Though you can play doubles, as a three, or even with dozens of people on court at the same time in three-quarter games.

Squash is a brutal sport. You have to be extremely quick to get to the ball but you also have to have great endurance and recovery to keep getting that ball back time and time again, especially when it can travel as fast as 270kmh!

Whilst being a physical adonis, you also have to be as shrewd as a chess player, weighing up your shot options, the positioning of your opponent and more all in a fraction of a second.

The ball can hit the front wall directly or it can hit the side wall or the back wall before hitting the front wall but it must always hit the front wall before the floor. That way you can hit the ball across the walls in all sorts of combinations to bamboozle your opponent.

To me, squash is that rally between Mohamed El Shorbagy and Ramy Ashour in the final of the 2012 World Championship in Qatar. If you haven’t watched it, do so here.




The History of Squash

Squash’s Creation Myth

There’s a myth that squash was started in a prison. I really like to think this is true, as it is far more scandalous and exciting than the other version of events that says squash was invented at a private school. It also feels somewhat poetic to think it was invented in a prison. Surrounded by walls, it seems only natural a sport such as squash would develop there. I really want to believe it’s true, even if all evidence now seems to point in the other direction.

The World Champion who didn’t play a match

The first British Open was held in 1930, although if you have a little glance through the history books you will find Charles Read ‘won’ the 1929 British Open. There was a slightly different format for this first event though, with Read appointed champion by a committee and thus becoming the only player to win without even playing. A talent we all would dearly love to have.

Read’s premiership didn’t last any longer than the first year though, as he was unceremoniously dumped off the throne by the another Englishman Don Butcher in straight games in 1930. Initially, the final was a two-legged affair, meaning Butcher beat Read twice to claim the title. This two-legged final format lasted until 1947.

This wasn’t the open tournament we would expect to see today. In order for players to challenge the incumbent champion they were required to pass stringent pre-requirements such as providing prize money of £100 and proving they were good players, not just opportunists wanting to write their name into squash folklore.

Keeping up with the Khan’s

From Butcher’s triumph, the Egyptains dominated either side of the World War, before Pakistani players clinched thirteen consecutive British Opens in the new knockout format. This was the first Great Khan Dynasty, with all thirteen titles won by four players from one family; the Khans. If any family deserved a reality TV show, it was the Khans. If it had been commissioned, Keeping up with Khan’s would have followed Hashim through six consecutive titles before cousin Roshan pinched one back, prior to Hashim claiming one last victory in 1958, before making way for his younger brother Azam and his four consecutive championships. Finally, Hashim’s nephew Mo won the 1963 title against future champion A.A. AbouTaleb, uncle of our very own Hany Abou-Taleb. The Pakistani family were so dominant that they claimed 22 of the 26 final slots in the British Open during their reign between 1951-1963.

The first professional squash player

Perhaps the biggest turning point in squash’s history came in the career of the legendary Jonah Barrington, the first ever professional squash player. Barrington revolutionised the amateur sport with his incredible dedication to fitness and training, raising the bar for everyone. He certainly didn’t have the most attractive style of play; the younger Barrington would’ve certainly shaken his head at half of the blasphemous articles and pages on here about attacking and winning rallies.

Barrington went onto win six British Open Titles, which at the time was regarded as being the equivalent of a World Title in squash, which didn’t exist in its own right until 1979. Barrington himself duelled frequently with the more skillful Geoff Hunt and a Pakistani contingent but overcame his opponents to claim his six titles in the space of seven years, falling only once to Hunt who he bested in two other finals. Hunt would later go on to be the first ever World Squash Champion when he won the first even World Open in 1979 defeating Mohibullah Khan. Hunt then claimed the next three, all of which were against another Pakistani, Qamar Zaman.




Keeping up with the Khan’s The Sequel: The Clash of Khans

After a series of near misses, Pakistan once more dominated squash. And once again the cast was largely made up of Khans. Jahangir, son of Roshan, and the unrelated Jansher warred on court throughout the 1980’s, with Jansher spreading his record eight world titles into the 1990’s. The Australian contingent of Geoff Hunt, Chris Dittmar, Ross Norman, Rodney Martin and Dean Williams provided squash competition but none could compete with the two Pakistani’s, with the great Hunt reaching the twilight of his career as Jansher and Jahangir emerged.

Jansher became the first player to hold both the World Junior Open and the World Open titles at the same time when he won the 1987 editions of both events. With his outstanding puppeteering style, which saw him move his opponent around at will, he was able to end Jahangir’s unbelievable World Record unbeaten run of 555 matches over five years, a record which still stands to this day. Jahangir was also the youngest ever World Open Champion at 17. Jahangir’s penchant for a winning streak also drove him to win TEN consecutive British Open’s between 1982-1991.

Jansher and Jahangir’s rivalry was so hotly contested that in the 1988 World Open Final, the first rally lasted in excess of six minutes. Six minutes for one rally! You can probably guess that the rally also ended in a let ball, meaning the rally had to be replayed.

The modern era and the Egyptian Renaissance

As Jansher’s knees failed, he gave way to the next contingent of World Champions, spearheaded by Peter Nicol and the maverick and hugely popular Canadian Jonathan Power. The two players were hindered by the farcical failure to host the World Open in 2000 or 2001, before David Palmer of Australia claimed the title in 2002.

This was to be the beginning of a second wave of Egyptian talent though, with Amr Shabana winning the first of his four World Titles in 2003 and the first of seven Egyptian titles in the next 13 years. Ramy Ashour added the other three titles to Egypt’s haul and Karim Darwish and the man who will certainly one day become World Champion, Mohamed El Shorbagy, were both runners-up. Omar Mosaad of Egypt came second in the 2015 edition of the tournament which saw Gregory Gaultier finally win the title in his fifth appearance in the final.

The modern era also saw the first ever English World Champion (excluding Peter Nicol who was Scottish despite switching allegiances), as Nick Matthew won three titles in four years between 2010-2013, including one against his long-time rival and fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop.




By Nic Davies
Updated 19/07/2015