Squash is a racquet sport played by two players (or four players for doubles) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball.  Once the ball is served, players take turns hitting the ball against the front wall, above the tin and below the outline.

The ball may strike the side or back walls at any time, as long as it hits below the outline and above the tin.  The ball may only bounce once on the floor, and players may move anywhere around the court.

SCORING

A match is the best of 3 or 5 games.  Each game is played to 11 points. The player who scores 11 points first wins the game except that if the score reaches 10-all, the game continues until one player leads by two points.  Either player may score points (PAR – point–a–rally). The server, on winning a rally, scores a point and retains the service; the receiver, on winning a rally, scores a point and becomes the server.

INTERFERENCE

When it is his or her turn to play the ball, a player is entitled to freedom from interference by the opponent.  To avoid interference, the opponent must try to provide the player with unobstructed direct access to the ball, a fair view of the ball, space to complete a swing at the ball and freedom to play the ball directly to any part of the front wall.  If a player finds their opponent interfering with the play, they can accept the interference and play on, or stop play.

It is preferable to stop play and call out ‘Let’ if there is a possibility of colliding with the opponent, or of hitting him or her with racket or ball.  In this situation, the point is then either replayed as a ‘Let’ if the opponent was making every effort to avoid the interference, or if the interference is substantial and the player could not have played the ball then a ‘Stroke’ is awarded where the player wins the point.  The basis for a ‘Let’, ‘Stroke’ or ‘No Let’ can be complicated, particularly for new squash players, and it is highly recommended that the Rules of Squash are read to fully understand the distinction between each.

STRATEGY

Players typically return to the center of the court (the ‘T’) after making a shot.  A key strategy in squash is known as ‘dominating the T’, the intersection of the red lines near the center of the court.  Skilled players will return a shot, and then move back toward the ‘T’ before playing the next shot.  From this position, the player can quickly access any part of the court to retrieve the opponent’s next shot with a minimum of movement.

Compared to racquetball (another sport also played in a four-walled court), in squash, the better players become, the longer the rallies are and the more mentally and physically strategic and challenging the game becomes.