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WATCH THE BALL
All professionals say "watch the ball". But, did you know that there is a certain way of watching the ball. During a rally your opponent will be either in front, behind, or parallel to you. There is only one way to watch in each of these circumstances.

When your opponent is in front of you, it is easy to see where and when your opponent is going to hit the ball. The secret is to stay as close to your opponent as possible, without crowding, as he or she is striking the ball.

This adds mental pressure to your opponent because by doing this your opponent knows you're ready, especially for a drop. If your opponent is in front, remember the drop is the most likely shot to be executed. And this means trouble. So get close to your opponent when he or she is in front of you.

When your opponent is next to you or behind you, try not to look directly at the ball. Use your peripheral vision. The reason to do this is that it may be physically impossible to follow a fast crosscourt and turn your head at the same time. Use your eyeballs instead of your head and neck. A good reference point is the serve line that runs across the floor of the court. Follow the ball with your eye to this line and then lock your eye at the serve line area and let your peripheral vision track the ball to your opponent's racquet.

The only exception is if you've hit a high length shot that comes off high on the

back wall. In this instance you need to watch your opponent closely. Just make sure you're watching from the front while on the "T".

GRIP FOR POWER:
Holding the racquet correctly is very important in squash. But, did you know that the speed of your wrist and power can be enhanced with a slight adjustment to your grip.

The standard grip says to hold the racquet at an angle as if shaking someone's hand. It also says to hold the middle of the grip. Combining both keeps your swing steady.

But, sometimes a fast wrist is needed for a quick kill or a quick reflex shot; and sometimes a players needs that extra power to drive the ball deep into the corners. If you've ever fallen into this sort of a situation, which I'm sure all of you have, then a little grip adjustment could give you an edge.

If you hold the grip up high or choke up, you'll notice a faster wrist immediately. Practice hitting the ball with adjusting your grip. Hit a few shots in the middle grip position, then hold the grip higher. You'll notice a faster and lighter racquet head. This is ideal for a quick volley and digging out those hard to get deep back wall shots. The higher grip shortens your swing radius helping to make your wrist roll through a shot more comfortably.

The more comfortable your wrist, the faster you'll snap it. Use the high grip for all tight shots from the back corners to delicate drops. For drops a quick wrist isn't needed, but the higher grip helps your racquet handling to hit the winner.

Keep practicing alone and now hit the ball while holding the end of the grip.

You'll notice a shift in weight to the head of the racquet. This will increase power. I always slide my hand down to the end of the racquet for that crushing power sometimes needed. But, since the racquet feels heavier, I use it when I have time to take a full swing at the ball.

If you practice adjusting your grip, it'll become subconscious during match play. The best titanium or graphite racquets will never improve your wrist or power game unless you know how to do it yourself.

 SQUASH STAMINA
Squash is a sport requiring stamina. Every squash player realizes this fact as soon as rallies get a bit longer.

Many top players train outside the court. Some of them run. Others swim. But, did you know that the top players realize one thing before starting to train outside the squash court. They realize that there are two types of stamina in squash.

Cardiovascular fitness is described above. But, striking the ball with consistency is by far much more crucial. And the pros know this. What I mean is that your arm needs the strength and endurance to hit the ball continuously for an hour with good control. If this is unattainable as of yet, don't waste your time training outside the court until your arm can endure an hour of hard hitting. The pros know that without ball control, you're dead on the tour no matter how fit you are!

Have you noticed how much work your arm does as compared to your legs? If your arm goes, your legs can help you retrieve a bit longer before losing.

If your legs go, your arm can still hit winners because you don't need to run for every single shot. But you do need to hit every single shot with your arm.

So practice hitting the ball as hard as possible without injuring yourself and see how long you can do it. Keep in mind that you're not just blindly hitting the ball hard. Try to control a twenty shot rail drill and then crosscourt to the other side for another twenty shot rail drill. Keep the ball moving at a high rate. Hit boasts, cross courts and rails and go for the nick. Watch the ball! Have you ever really watched the ball for an hour without interruption. It's not easy until you try it. Feel the lactic acid build up in your arm.

Before you know it, you'll sense an improvement in your endurance and in your ability to concentrate on watching the ball. Time yourself! Lengthen every practice session by five minutes until you're able to hit relatively hard for a solid hour without let up. After you've achieved this, do what the pros do: Start training outside the court.

START TO WIN:
THE SERVE
The point starts with a serve; it continues into a rally for position; and then either you or your opponent finishes the point with a winner or a mistake. Let's discuss how you should start a point.

The point starts with a serve. This makes the serve important, but many squash players focus on the wrong aspect of the serve. I have seen players try to get their serves tighter and tighter. But, you should know that developing an ace serve is a waste of time. A good serve should be hit close to the walls to restrict your opponent's swing. That is all. Nowhere will you find that you need to develop a service ace. You should concentrate more on your opponent's return. You need to differentiate a rail return from a crosscourt or a drop. What I'm getting at, is that, squash serves don't count as much as reading your opponent's return of serve and the way you prepare for the return.

The best way to prepare for a service return is to get in the crouch position. Get ready to pounce on the ball and make sure your opponent sees this.

It'll add mental pressure to his or her return. Mental pressure works best when your opponent sees you hovering on the "T" in the crouch position right after a tight serve. Try it!

1. THE GAME
The game of Singles Squash is played between two players, each using a racket, with a ball and in a court, all three of which meet WSF specifications (see Appendix 5).

THE SCORING (Rule 2)

A match is the best of five games. Each game is to nine points, unless the score reaches eight-all. At eight-all the receiver (non-server) has to choose to play either to nine points (known as "Set One") or to ten points (known as "Set Two"). (There is no requirement that a player needs to be two points ahead to win a game).

Points are scored only by the server. When the server wins a rally he or she scores a point; when the receiver wins a rally he or she becomes the server.

THE WARM-UP (Rule 3)

Before the start of a match, the two players are allowed up to 5 minutes (2½ minutes on each side) to "warm-up" themselves and the ball on the match court.

When a ball has been changed during a match, or if the match has been resumed after some delay, the players warm-up the ball to playing condition.

The ball may be warmed up by either player during any interval in the match.

THE SERVICE (Rule 4)

Play commences with a service. The player to serve first is decided by the spin of a racket. Thereafter, the server continues serving until losing a rally, when the opponent becomes the server and the server becomes "hand out".

The player who wins the preceding game serves first in the next game.

At the beginning of each game and when the service changes from one player to the other, the server can serve from either service box. After winning a rally the server then continues serving from the alternate box.

To serve a player stands with at least part of one foot on the floor within the service box. For a service to be good, it is served directly onto the front wall above the service line and below the out line so that on its return, unless volleyed, it reaches the floor within the back quarter of the court opposite to the server's box.

GOOD RETURN (Rule 6)

A return is good if the ball, before it has bounced twice on the floor, is returned correctly by the striker onto the front wall above the tin and below the out line, without first touching the floor. The ball may hit the side walls and/or the back wall before reaching the front wall.

A return is not good if it is "NOT UP" (ball struck after bouncing more than once on the floor, or not struck correctly, or a double hit); "DOWN" (the ball after being struck, hits the floor before the front wall or hits the tin) or "OUT" (the ball hits a wall on or above the out line).

RALLIES (Rule 8)

After a good service has been delivered the players hit the ball in turn until one fails to make a good return.

A rally consists of a service and a number of good returns. A player wins a rally if the opponent fails to make a good service or return of the ball or if, before the player has attempted to hit the ball, it touches the opponent (including racket or clothing) when the opponent is the non-striker.

NOTE: AT ANY TIME DURING A RALLY A PLAYER SHOULD NOT STRIKE THE BALL IF THERE IS A DANGER OF HITTING THE OPPONENT WITH THE BALL OR RACKET. IN SUCH CASES PLAY STOPS AND THE RALLY IS EITHER PLAYED AGAIN ("A LET") OR THE OPPONENT IS PENALISED.

HITTING AN OPPONENT WITH THE BALL (Rule 9)

If a player strikes the ball, which, before reaching the front wall, hits the opponent, or the opponent’s racket or clothing, play stops.

If the return would have been good and the ball would have struck the front wall without first touching any other wall, the striker wins the rally, provided the striker did not "turn".

If the ball either had struck, or would have struck, any other wall and the return would have been good, a let is played.

If the return would not have been good, the striker loses the rally.

TURNING (Rule 9)

If the striker has either followed the ball round, or allowed it to pass around him or her - in either case striking the ball to the right of the body after the ball had passed to the left (or vice-versa) - then the striker has "TURNED".

If the opponent is struck by the ball after the striker has turned, the rally is awarded to the opponent.

If the striker, while turning, stops play for fear of striking the opponent, then a let is played. This is the recommended course of action in situations where a player wants to turn but is unsure of the opponent’s position.

FURTHER ATTEMPTS (Rule 10)

A player, after attempting to strike the ball and missing, may make a further attempt to return the ball.

If a further attempt would have resulted in a good return, but the ball hits the opponent, a let is played.

If the return would not have been good, the striker loses the rally.

INTERFERENCE (Rule 12)

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.

A player, finding the opponent interfering with the play, can accept the interference and play on, or stop play. It is preferable to stop play if there is a possibility of colliding with the opponent, or of hitting him or her with racket or ball.

When play has stopped as a result of interference the general guidelines are:

The player is entitled to a let if he or she could have returned the ball and the opponent has made every effort to avoid the interference.

The player is not entitled to a let (i.e. loses the rally) if he or she could not have returned the ball, or accepts the interference and plays on, or the interference was so minimal that the player’s access to and strike at the ball was not affected.

The player is entitled to a stroke (i.e. wins the rally) if the opponent did not make every effort to avoid the interference, or if the player would have hit a winning return, or if the player would have struck the opponent with the ball going directly to the front wall.

LETS (Rule 13)

A let is an undecided rally. The rally does not count and the server serves again from the same box.

In addition to lets allowed as indicated in the paragraphs above, lets can be allowed in other circumstances. For example, a let may be allowed if the ball in play touches any article lying on the floor, or if the striker refrains from hitting the ball owing to a reasonable fear of injuring the opponent.

A let must be allowed if the receiver is not ready and does not attempt to return the service, or if the ball breaks during play.

CONTINUITY OF PLAY (Rule 7)

Play is expected to be continuous in each game once a player has started serving. There should be no delay between the end of one rally and the start of the next one.

In between all games an interval of 90 seconds is permitted.

Players are permitted to change items of clothing or equipment if necessary.

BLEEDING, INJURY AND ILLNESS (Rule 16)

If an injury occurs which involves bleeding, the bleeding must be stopped before the player can continue. A player is allowed a reasonable time to attend to a bleeding wound.

If the bleeding was caused solely by the opponent’s action, the injured player wins the match.

If the bleeding recurs no further delay is allowed, except that the player can concede a game, using the 90 second period between games to attend to the wound and stop the bleeding. If unable to stop it, the player must concede the match.

For an injury not involving bleeding, it must be decided whether the injury was either caused by the opponent or self inflicted or contributed to by both players.

If caused by the opponent, the injured player wins the match if any recovery time is needed.

If self-inflicted, the injured player is allowed 3 minutes to recover and must then play on, or concede a game using the 90 second rest period between games to recover.

If contributed by both players, the injured player is allowed an hour to recover.

A player who is ill must play on or can take a rest period by conceding a game and using the 90 second interval to recover. Cramps, feeling sick and breathlessness (including asthma) are considered illnesses. If a player vomits on court, the opponent wins the match.

DUTIES OF PLAYERS (Rule 15)

Rule 15 provides guidelines for players. For example 15.6 states that deliberate distraction is not allowed. Players should read this rule in full.

Some of the 8 sub-sections deal with situations related to matches under the control of officials (Referee/Marker). The use of officials is not covered in this abbreviated version.

CONDUCT ON COURT (Rule 17)

Offensive, disruptive or intimidating behaviour in squash is not acceptable.

Included in this category are: audible and visible obscenities, verbal and physical abuse, dissent, abuse of racket, court or ball, unnecessary physical contact, excessive racket swing, unfair warm-up, time-wasting, late back on court, deliberate or dangerous play or action and coaching (except between games).