A lob serve can add variety to your serve strategy by hitting the front wall high before taking an angle into the back corner of your opponent’s court, making it hard for them to return it.
Mastering basic squash serving techniques, grips, stances and variations will significantly boost your performance on the court.
Keeping the Ball in the Court
Squash requires keeping the ball within the court at all times in order for players to win, with its origins dating back to teenagers in a prison in London and now played on four-walled courts with limited space for two players. Due to its fast pace and quick thinking required on both players’ parts, regular practice of various drills such as volleying back to the T, hitting midcourt drop shots and working on different serves is imperative to success in Squash.
As in other sports, squash relies heavily on its stance for success. Without an effective stance it becomes extremely challenging to move correctly and strike powerful shots with force; for example in karate it is said that all other moves revolve around your stance.
To achieve an ideal stance, stand with feet shoulder-width apart and the balls of both feet facing each other. Relax your hands into ready position, with elbow close to body while the racquet head at shoulder height for the low forward swing.
As you bring your arms back, keep the ball in front of you to create a powerful stroke. On your forward swing, think of your racquet as an extension of your arm; use both arm movements and body movement to generate power – similar to how boxers create their strength through both movements of body and arm movement. This technique also creates power more quickly than sole arm movements can alone.
After hitting your shot, be ready to respond swiftly to any shots from your opponent. Squash courts are relatively confined spaces and both players must always remain aware of their surroundings at all times. If a player believes their opponent is blocking them from getting into position they may request a let and the referee will interpret how much interference occurred and award a point accordingly.
Skilled players can often be found positioned near the T in order to quickly access any part of the court and be in position for receiving returns quickly. Furthermore, this position allows them to play deceptive shots like drops in order to cover more ground with each swing of their opponent.
Turning Your Body to the Front Wall
Most players depend on powerful serves for success. To create one, it begins by adopting an ideal stance; feet should be parallel with side walls and shoulder-width apart with relaxed body positions allowing quick entry and strike while also permitting rapid recovery time from contact with ball.
Position is also key when it comes to tossing the ball – too far behind can result in inconsistent and weak serves; when throwing in front, more power and accuracy will be achieved through your serve.
Additionally, when throwing the ball it should be raised and extended upward. Professional players often employ this tactic to add greater velocity to their serves. Furthermore, keeping one elbow slightly bent ensures that racket face remains open when hitting ball.
Finally, when hitting the ball with your racket, its swing should be pressed forward for maximum effectiveness. While some players may prefer using wrist snaps upon ball impact to strike it harder and control more of the game, this can result in miss-hits and loss of control during games. It is crucial that players learn how to hit using all arms, with coaching from experts as part of improving long term playing ability.
To efficiently perform a squash preparation, it is vital that high quality slides with evenly dispersed nuclei are utilized. They should then be evaluated under 20X magnification so the best regions can easily be located during higher magnification analyses.
Turning Your Body to the Side Wall
Three-wall players often rely on deep serves to the opposite side wall as an effective way to take out opponents quickly. Not only can this serve stop an opponent from getting back into a rhythm returning from one side of the court, but when executed perfectly it can even surprise top level opponents and take them by surprise!
To hit a deep Z serve, position yourself with your feet under your hips and palms on the wall at shoulder height. Use either asterisks on the front wall or crack lines as guides when aligning yourself – your goal should be hitting the ball into the far side corner when serving from center position 2. If you prefer straight down-the-line serves instead, aim for the point on the front wall that lies directly in front of the midline of your body (e.g. if serving from center position 2 this would be directly in front of midline of front wall asterisk).
Another method for hitting a Z serve is hitting it into the back corner of an opposing player’s backhand. To do so, use the same aiming technique as when hitting drive serves: locate a point on the front wall which lies halfway between your body and right side wall (ie if serving from center positioning (position 2) this point will be on front wall at approximately five feet from right side wall.
When hitting a lob serve, aim for hitting the front wall six to 12 feet high to make an offensive return more difficult for your opponent. If aiming to serve it into the left back corner, hit it along a vertical line halfway between yourself and left side wall.
Turning Your Body to the Back Wall
An experienced squash player understands that controlling the center of the court (sometimes referred to as “The T”) is key to winning any match. You must be able to quickly return to it after every shot and force your opponent into playing weak or rushed returns – the key here being serving fast lob serves that can hit backwall with enough speed that they are difficult for opponents to volley back – one way of doing this would be serving a moderately high lob serve!
When hitting a lob serve, your goal should be for it to land in the back corner and settle against the back wall so your opponent has no other choice but to play short volleys or boasts. Although this shot can be challenging to master initially, with time needed to learn the correct stance and power enough to hit past opponents; with practice comes ease – and one day your opponents might just feel pressure from hitting consistent lob serves from you from day one!
Establishing the ideal stance is vital for any squash player as it allows them to maximize power transfer to their shot. Ideally, your non-serving foot should be slightly in front of the other one for balance and stability purposes; you should then plant this foot as soon as you start to serve so it can capture momentum from the toss and transfer it directly into your swing swing.
As part of a great serve, it is also crucial that your body is turned the correct way before making contact with the ball. Traditional instruction teaches tossing it with shoulders aligned with feet and baseline; however, this can cause you to lose your balance after contact point; to improve this aspect, try throwing with shoulders facing away from net.