Squash Company

Squash coaching with passion

Where is your weight when you hit the ball?



The key to hitting any shot from anywhere on the court. 

The more you learn about squash, the more it seems that it really is all about footwork and positioning.

A lot of people don’t load weight properly due to their footwork when they strike the ball and this can lead to all sorts of problems, some of which are more subtle than others.

If your footwork and weight distribution is right, squash is easy. Hitting the ball is easy. It’s all easy if you know how. Hitting the ball is all about where your weight is. If the ball is behind you, it’s hard to hit because you can only get a limited amount of weight behind it – most likely the weight of your wrist and maybe forearm. If the ball is in front of you, you can transfer a lot of weight through the ball. You can get practically your entire body transferring weight and energy to the ball.

Where’s your centre of gravity? 

For best results when you strike the ball, your weight needs to be centred in your legs – typically between the front and back leg – with more weight going towards the front leg so that as you place your foot to hit the ball you are putting your weight through the shot and therefore transferring energy into the ball. By doing this you are harnessing all of your weight and the power of gravity. The most common way of centring weight is to lunge or squat slightly.

This is why it is so difficult to get shots out of the back corners initially, as it’s not easy to get enough weight behind the ball to play a shot. As we discuss in another article, sometimes you might have to put your weight on the back leg in certain situations to give you a fighting chance of returning the ball. There will be many occasions where you can’t get your full body weight behind the ball but you have to adapt as best you can to find ways of transferring as much weight and energy as possible through the ball.

volley good-min-2

Weight and positioning: If it doesn’t hurt you now, it will hurt your next shots

Loading your weight incorrectly may not necessarily ruin the shot you are playing (although it often does stop it from being as good as it could be!), as many players can still control the ball well in spite of bad weight distribution, but it will impact on your next shot positionally. If your weight is in the wrong place, it will affect your ability to recover the T-Position, which will likely limit the quality of your next shot. You’ll have to do a lot of work to change the direction of your weight in order to get to the next shot. This will of course leave you playing catch up and put you under pressure, which is not the ideal environment you want for playing your shot.

So if you don’t get your weight right, you may find yourself trapped somewhere on the court and leaving a big gap for your opponent to hit the ball into.

Clearing the ball & weight in the upper body

As mentioned above, some people can still control the ball well despite not loading their weight onto their legs properly and stretching in. Often they are very upright when they hit the ball and this means that they aren’t transferring as much weight as is possible, which means that not only is the shot not reaching its full potential but also that they’re not going to be able clear the ball and return to the T-Position easily, as they can’t push back explosively off their front leg. This means it’s a struggle to cover the opponent’s next shot properly, which means their next shot will be weaker. The opponent can then attack the weaker shot and apply pressure, which can lead to even more running if the player can manage to stay in the rally.

Keep an eye on where your weight is when you play the ball. Are you channelling it efficiently through the ball? You’d be amazed what you can do and where you can do it from when you master your weight.




Facing the front wall when you move



How should you position your body as you move? 

Whenever you move in squash, you should strive to keep your body facing the front wall where possible, particularly in the back corners. In doing this, you keep your options open as from this position you can easily change direction if you need to, as sometimes you will over anticipate or simply guess your opponent’s shot wrong. If you start to turn too much to face a particular part of the court, you begin to commit and this can be spotted and acted upon by a clever opponent. It can also leave you struggling to return a shot played in an unexpected direction, as that split-second it takes to stop and change direction is often too long.

Moving backwards

It is very tempting and easy to turn and run towards the back corners when moving in squash but if you do this, you will find yourself getting closer and closer to the side wall and worse – chasing the ball. Once the ball gets behind you, you need to do your best to stay composed and try to get around the ball again or use your ‘wrong’ leg as a way of shifting weight behind the ball again. If you turn and run, you will find yourself having to stretch and try and flick a weak shot back from a very awkward position.

DSC_0270-min

Do your best to stay as close as you can to the middle of the court and move backwards first, before turning in to face the side wall only as you begin to stretch in to play your shot.

The idea is never to over commit to anything when it comes to movement. Always be ready and in position to change direction at any moment.

This is something that’s quite small and easy to incorporate into your game which could save you lots of points and mileage! Take a look at your game and see where your body faces as you move into the shot.




Staying as close as possible to the T-line



If you never leave the T-Position how will your opponent get you off it?

When playing squash, if you’re not careful it’s very easy to get dragged around and made to run all over the court like a headless chicken. Once you start sprinting around, it’s very hard to stop as you’ll typically be rushing your shots or playing weaker shots as a result of all the running you’re doing, which only makes things worse and leads to more running if not the end of the rally.

Minimising the amount of time you’re off the T

The idea is to reduce the time you spend away from the T-Position as much as possible. The more time you spend on the T-Position with and without the ball, the better your chance of winning.

Consequently, whenever you’re moving around the court or playing a shot, you should seek to stay as close as you can to the T-Line. When I say the ’T-Line’, what I mean is the vertical line that starts with the T-Position and carries onto the back of the court. The T-Line also includes an imaginary line that would go from the T-Position all the way to the front wall if the previously mentioned vertical line carried on going. If you stay near the line, it will always be a shorter journey back to the T-Position.

DSC_0016-min

There are numerous benefits to being able to play your shots from the ’T-Line’ or as close to it as possible. Of course you will have to leave the line and at times you will have to abandon it completely but if you strive to stay as close to it as possible at all times, you’ll find your game will improve positionally, tactically, physically and technically.

If you hold the T-Line or stay close to it, you will be very difficult to dislodge from the T-Position as you will spend more and more time there, as you will either be on it or very close by and so able to recover to the middle quickly. This will leave fewer gaps for your opponent to hit the ball into. This is really important, as the less time to you are away from the T-Position, the harder it will be take make you run. You need to minimise the time you spend away from the T-area to be successful.

The psychological T

The mental aspect of being in the vicinity of the ’T-Line’ should not be underestimated either. Seeing your opponent hold the central areas of the court no matter what you throw at them is incredibly disconcerting and can lead players to getting frustrated, which in turn leads to errors and poor judgement. Secondly, you will also save energy over the course of the game as you will be moving that bit less with every shot, which could make a big difference in the later stages of the game.

Thirdly, from a technical point of view, you will also always have sufficient space to play your shots and swing properly and won’t get caught out getting to close and therefore hindering the quality of your shot.

DSC_0460

Keep an eye on how much you leave the ’T-Line’ when playing your shots and ask yourself if you could be closer to the centre. The most common time people leave the ’T-Line’ more than necessary is whilst exchanging length shots with their opponent. The best mover of all time in my opinion was Jansher Khan. Just watch the way he moves and how economic he is. 

See if you can’t trim a few steps off your shots and reap all of the aforementioned benefits and more.



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.

DSC_0480

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.

DSC_0481-min

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.