If you get bitten by a squash-playing bug, but don't have any equipment, this is what you do:
- Find some way to get out of work a few hours early.
- Call your friend who is on leave to bring you tshirt and shorts.
- Spurn the $89.90 squash racquet you find at SportsLink.
- Go to a second-hand cash-converter shop and buy two racquets, one for $15 and the other for $6.00.
- Go back to SportsLink and ask the salesperson for a squash ball for beginners. Buy squash ball for $4.40.
- Go to Yio Chu Kang Sports Centre and book a court at a non-peak rate of $3 an hour.
- Play squash for a total cost of $28.40, and try not to look too much like a uncoordinated ballet dancer doing it.
Squash is my new favourite game. :) And I'm so bad at it that an embarrassing percentage of the fun I have playing the game is laughing at how bad I am.
6 comments:
squash is a great workout... very tough on the knees and ankles because of all the starts and stops as you change directions abruptly... good stamina helps...
i used to play and was pretty good at... here are somethings i remember about it...
1) stretching is vital to the game... so warm up properly before starting or you cd seriously tear a muscle...
2) the best spot to stand is at the T, in the centre of the court, as it gives you the best chance to get to any ball... always aim to rush back to that spot after you make your shot... it gives you dominance over the opponent... practice on an empty court by doing shuttle-run dashes from the centre in each direction and back to the spot again... you'll soon get a feel that you don't need to take more than two or three steps in any direction to reach the ball...
3) vary the strength of your shots... not all shots must be hit equally hard... a deceptive drop shot is sometimes more lethal...
4) make full use of the four walls... as long as the ball doesn't hit the ground, you can hit the ball at any wall to help get it to reach the front wall...
5) sometimes it's better to wait for the ball to come to you rather than rush at it because it'll bounce off a wall and change directions... you'll need to learn to read the ball's speed and angle and respond accordingly...
6) as you get better, learn to place the ball at strategic points of the court, eg. just above the plate so that it will fall quickly to the ground and give your opponent less time to reach it... or directly in the front corners - between the front and side walls - aka the nick - as it produces hard to read bounces... or if you have to run to a corner to make a shot, return a straight shot so that it comes directly back to you in that same corner, forcing your opponent out of the T...
7) as there is sufficient traction from the racquet to the ball's surface, you can do amazing things by changing the spin on the ball... topspin (over the top of the ball) for speed, a slice (under the ball) to make it fall sharply after hitting the wall... etc... adds to your repetoire of tricks you can unleash...
and try not to laugh so much... ;-)
Whoa! Cool tips! Thanks! I'll try not to laugh so much ;)
You don't play any more?
can't run as i used to... age caught up... :P
TOT, age is nothing. ;) I'm sure you'll still trash guys half your age. :)
Eric, I always thought that squash was the same as racquetball, but I just found out otherwise. I played a bit of racquetball in school -- no wonder my buddy and I disagreed about the rules!
Anyway, once I master my hard-hitting, I'll try that soft stroke you mention. :) Thanks!
This resurrects my interest in racquetball! I've never played squash but loved playing r-ball, but I never could contain the laughter. Save the soft shot for when you're tired and work on your corner shots. ;-)
Yay! Someone laughs while playing too! (I wonder if laughing is reserved for a certain segment of the female population only.) All my shots look soft, but yes, I will *cough* "save" them for when I'm tired. :)
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