No, I am not talking about the vegetable. Squash, a racket sport that has quickly popularized itself in the States, is a sport unlike any other. As a squash player, I have noticed over the years that there are some situations that only we encounter. Some of these situations are great and make squash such a fun and social sport to play. However, other situations make us cringe and scream. Of course, the positives of playing squash outweigh the negatives, otherwise the sport would not have experienced such a rapid growth, especially in the past few years.
1. Ghosting
Having the most efficient and explosive movement helps players gain advantage over their opponents. Unfortunately, moving swiftly around the court requires tough, intense ghosting sessions. Ghosting is a squash player’s least favorite word. But you know that if you want to improve, you have to ghost.
2. Sacrificing weekends for squash tournaments
Squash tournaments always occur on the weekends, usually a time meant for relaxing. However, for squash players, coaches, and the parents, the weekends equate to a time of high stress. After hours of training each day, taking weekly lessons, playing numerous practice matches and practicing solo drills, you want nothing more to show people that you have improved and are ready to win. Downside, goodbye weekends.
3. Getting up for 8:00 a.m. matches at 6:00 a.m.
At tournaments, the feeling after finding out you have a 8:00 a.m. match makes you want to cry. Why me? You have already given up your weekend which means you have given up time to sleep in, and hang out with friends. You may think that 8:00 a.m. does not sound that early. But, playing a match at 8:00 a.m. does not mean you can arrive at the tournament venue at 8:00 a.m. You must get up three hours before your match, eat two hours before competition, and make sure you are toasty warm and ready to run around the court by 8:00 a.m. Sounds bad now, right?
4. Long road trips
I don’t know about you, but sitting in a car, traveling to and from squash tournaments does not sound nice. There is not much you can do in the car. Alternating between checking each of your social media accounts every few minutes and listening to the same music library on repeat becomes boring. However, the car ride back from a squash tournament, especially after just finishing a match, ranks much worse than the car ride to the tournament. Why? Because during your match you drank several bottles of water and now you have to pee every 10 minutes.
5. Scheduling your meals and snacks around squash matches
You constantly have to use Yelp to find decent restaurants close to the tournament venue or hotel. Sadly, finding the restaurant is only half the battle. Planning the time you will actually order the food or arrive at the restaurant is the hardest part because matches can run early or get delayed. Eating during tournaments is a hassle. You cannot eat too early otherwise you will be hungry right before your match but you cannot eat too late or else you will be too full. Most people eat a carbohydrate-rich meal two to three hours in advance. I always ate too far in advance and always came off the court in between games to tell my coach I was hungry. One of our many player-coach memories.
6. Getting hit with the racquet or ball
If you have not been hit with a squash racquet or squash ball, then you cannot say that you have experienced true pain. Who knew that such a small, rubber ball could cause that much damage. You have suffered bumps, bruises and have even shed blood from those battle wounds while playing squash.
7. Having “squash butt”
A very physically demanding sport, squash requires players to lunge to every shot and use their legs to stay low to the ground to make sure they can explode off the T to the next shot. Having to lunge and basically squat for a long duration of time is very taxing on the legs. As a result, you get “squash butt.” If you play squash, you have definitely experienced the horrible soreness that makes sitting down and getting up, walking up and down stairs, and just walking in general real struggles.
8. Having to warm-up again when your match is delayed
The 10-minute-warm-up routine before a squash match is not a favorite. The only task worse than warming up for a match the first time is warming up again because your match is delayed. A proper warm-up is crucial before a match because the squash ball ricochets quickly off the walls. You need to be ready to immediately change movement directions without the fear of possible injury.
9. Refereeing a 5-game match
No one ever wants to referee a five-game match. You all secretly wish that you can referee a short, three-game match so you can leave the venue and go spend time with friends, eat or rest up before your next match.
10. Explaining the sport
Because squash is still not very well known to many people, especially in the United States, you constantly have to explain to others what squash is. People often compare squash to tennis or racquetball, but squash is such a drastically different sport that it is hard to describe to others.
11. Balancing academics and squash
Having to train many hours each day and travel long distances for tournaments, balancing academics with squash proves to be difficult. You stay up many nights to finish homework, papers, and study for tests.
12. Not being an Olympic sport
You and all squash players believe that squash deserves to be an Olympic sport. Squash requires physical and mental toughness, and hours of training. Despite all the compelling reasons that advocate for squash as an Olympic sport, squash has lost the Olympic bid twice. Squash still remains relatively unknown, stemming from its exclusion from the Olympics.
Despite all the struggles that squash players go through, they power through because squash is a sport that has so many good qualities that make all the struggles seem miniscule. We, as squash players, all hope that squash can become an Olympic sport, so the popularity of the sport can grow and accomplished squash professionals can finally win an Olympic medal.
