When I got to the squash courts area at the University of Calgary and met up with my friends I was given a run down of the rules. My friend RJ and I went into a court so he could teach me the game and I could get used to the rules. To my surprise the game is quite simple, in a way that there is not many rules and the game is an easy one to learn how to play. What's not easy is getting used to the pace of the game. From watching other people play the game doesn't look to physically demanding, the court is small and the ball moves slowly, or seems to. Once I started playing the game it became obvious that I was wrong and that Squash is a game that demands a high level of finesse and agility to play.
Addition - DEC 13 - Just wanted to clarify what I meant by the rules being simple here. I meant it in the way that the rules are easy to understand/comprehend. I'm a visual learner and don't learn well through text. I took a learning style quiz in a previous English class which confirmed this for me. Sometime I find it hard to read a set of rules or instructions and then apply them and comprehend them. I much prefer someone to demonstrate the system to me, or speak the instructions to me. I don't think its because I have some sort of reading problem, although it could be related to my attention problem that I think I have. Anyway, I'm sure that if I read the rules to squash prior to playing I would have been able to follow them. This is what I meant by simple. Also I guess this is a lesson that looks can be deceiving. A person can never be sure about something until they try it. People like to assume too much and judge things simply by the looks. I do this occasionally, I don't like assuming, but I guess even if I don't like to I sometimes assume without even knowing it. I guess this tells me that I have to be more aware of my thoughts.
The rules of the game are as such. On the serve, whilst standing in a boxed service area on one side of the court, the ball must be hit against the front wall above the line at such a force that the ball can bounce off the front wall and land in your opponent's back side court. If the ball fails to hit the boxed area of the wall or land in your opponents area the point and next serve goes to them. Your opponent, the receiver of the serve, must hit the ball back at the front wall before the ball bounces twice on the ground. If a successful serve and return is made then the rally is on. After this happens the ball can be hit anywhere in the court as long as the ball is hit, on the receiving end, before the ball bounces twice on the ground, and the ball hits the front wall, on the return end, before bouncing, after being hit. The ball cannot hit a small lower section of the front wall, nor bounce on either wall above the out of bounds lines. The rally ends once any of the rules is violated, a person is struck with the ball, or a 'let' occurs (when a person purposefully gets in the way and blocks their opponent from getting to the ball). A let is settled by a re-serve.
A point can be scored on any rally, no matter who serves. Service is determined by who got the last point. The first serve of a match is usually determined by the flip of a coin or who won the last match. A match goes up to 11 points and the match must be won be 2 points or more, such that a game cannot be won with a score of 11-10.
One of the aspects of the game that I like the most is that there's never a dull moment in the game, its always exciting. The player is always moving around the court while the rally is happening, going after the ball to hit it or moving back into the centre of the court to get ready for the opponent to hit the ball. The pace of the game requires swift and critical thinking about where and when to hit the ball such that you make the next shot unplayable to your opponent, which results in a point for you. You must also be able to position yourself in the correct location that your opponent will hit the ball such that you don't lose the point.
The game is a great way to get in shape and exercise. I played for about 4 hours, or 5 games of squash, on Saturday and was feeling stiff in my muscles for 2 days after I played. This really made me realize that I may need to get into better shape, but it could just be because I'm not in shape for such a highly physically demanding sport yet. As a personal goal I would like to play more of this sport and get into better shape to play the game such that I don't feel sore after. I do think that it was quite good of me to be able to play for four hours as I didn't think I would be able to do that even. I suppose I'm in better physical shape than I thought.
The rules of the game are as such. On the serve, whilst standing in a boxed service area on one side of the court, the ball must be hit against the front wall above the line at such a force that the ball can bounce off the front wall and land in your opponent's back side court. If the ball fails to hit the boxed area of the wall or land in your opponents area the point and next serve goes to them. Your opponent, the receiver of the serve, must hit the ball back at the front wall before the ball bounces twice on the ground. If a successful serve and return is made then the rally is on. After this happens the ball can be hit anywhere in the court as long as the ball is hit, on the receiving end, before the ball bounces twice on the ground, and the ball hits the front wall, on the return end, before bouncing, after being hit. The ball cannot hit a small lower section of the front wall, nor bounce on either wall above the out of bounds lines. The rally ends once any of the rules is violated, a person is struck with the ball, or a 'let' occurs (when a person purposefully gets in the way and blocks their opponent from getting to the ball). A let is settled by a re-serve.
A point can be scored on any rally, no matter who serves. Service is determined by who got the last point. The first serve of a match is usually determined by the flip of a coin or who won the last match. A match goes up to 11 points and the match must be won be 2 points or more, such that a game cannot be won with a score of 11-10.
One of the aspects of the game that I like the most is that there's never a dull moment in the game, its always exciting. The player is always moving around the court while the rally is happening, going after the ball to hit it or moving back into the centre of the court to get ready for the opponent to hit the ball. The pace of the game requires swift and critical thinking about where and when to hit the ball such that you make the next shot unplayable to your opponent, which results in a point for you. You must also be able to position yourself in the correct location that your opponent will hit the ball such that you don't lose the point.
The game is a great way to get in shape and exercise. I played for about 4 hours, or 5 games of squash, on Saturday and was feeling stiff in my muscles for 2 days after I played. This really made me realize that I may need to get into better shape, but it could just be because I'm not in shape for such a highly physically demanding sport yet. As a personal goal I would like to play more of this sport and get into better shape to play the game such that I don't feel sore after. I do think that it was quite good of me to be able to play for four hours as I didn't think I would be able to do that even. I suppose I'm in better physical shape than I thought.
Addition Dec 13 - I read the start of this paragraph and started to question, what is 'in shape'? What does it mean? To most it means to be physically strong and able. Perhaps for some people it means to look good. I think the term is a relative one. To use the term 'in shape' on must assign it to an activity. One cannot just be 'in shape' just because, they have to be in shape for something... For example, 2 different people can be 'in shape' but have 2 very different body types, levels of physicality, body mass index, whatever... One person may be a bowler while the other is an Olympic speed skater. Both sports require different levels of physical endurance, with speed skating requiring a higher level of athleticism, however I think both people can be 'in shape' if they can perform at their sport without becoming exhausted, if they can be competitive, and if they don't feeling pain for days afterwards due to fatigue. I think I used the term 'in shape' here incorrectly and against how I feel about the term.
Another thing I noticed about myself while playing Squash is that I didn't get so competitive while playing it, as I usually do. I think it was because I may have taken the games I played as a learning experience and sort of known beforehand that my competition is better than me, as I had not played before. Despite not playing before I was told numerous times by different people that they could not believe it was my first time playing the game. I looked as if I had played several times before. I noticed it myself as I was moved up from beginners division to Intermediate after my first game. I was also giving experienced players a challenge. This made me feel good about myself.
One thing I need to work on is returning serves as I usually waited too long to hit the ball back such that the ball goes into the corner and is hard to return in that location. I noticed other players would face into the corner when receiving a serve such that they are ready to hit the ball. I found myself getting frustrated at times because I wouldn't be able to hit the ball back a few times in a row after a serve. I also felt very amateur when I wasn't able to return the serve, which is something I shouldn't feel. I should realize that I'm an amateur at the game and no one starts something new very well. I should also realize that my opponent knows this and is not judging me, which is how I feel sometimes. My opponents is probably just happy to be getting points and be winning because of my mistakes.
Although I didn't not advance far into the tournament, and didn't win too many games (but they were close!) I felt happy with the way I played and am glad to know a new sport! I hope to be able to do better in the next tournament through practice.
Another thing I noticed about myself while playing Squash is that I didn't get so competitive while playing it, as I usually do. I think it was because I may have taken the games I played as a learning experience and sort of known beforehand that my competition is better than me, as I had not played before. Despite not playing before I was told numerous times by different people that they could not believe it was my first time playing the game. I looked as if I had played several times before. I noticed it myself as I was moved up from beginners division to Intermediate after my first game. I was also giving experienced players a challenge. This made me feel good about myself.
One thing I need to work on is returning serves as I usually waited too long to hit the ball back such that the ball goes into the corner and is hard to return in that location. I noticed other players would face into the corner when receiving a serve such that they are ready to hit the ball. I found myself getting frustrated at times because I wouldn't be able to hit the ball back a few times in a row after a serve. I also felt very amateur when I wasn't able to return the serve, which is something I shouldn't feel. I should realize that I'm an amateur at the game and no one starts something new very well. I should also realize that my opponent knows this and is not judging me, which is how I feel sometimes. My opponents is probably just happy to be getting points and be winning because of my mistakes.
Although I didn't not advance far into the tournament, and didn't win too many games (but they were close!) I felt happy with the way I played and am glad to know a new sport! I hope to be able to do better in the next tournament through practice.
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