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By Chris Walker
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The author, Chris Walker (right)
I started playing squash back in the day of wooden racquets. If you have ever played with a wooden racquet you will realize that only a full back-swing and follow-through would get the ball anywhere near a back corner.
Over the last 20 years the racquets have gotten lighter and stronger. Now a relatively small ‘flick’ of the wrist turn the tables on your opponent. Most shots can be picked up and retrieved even when a player is at full stretch; it is easier to get back into the rally using an out-stretched arm or a flick of the wrist. Often the lighter racquet can mean a player is able to generate more pressure back on his opponent with an early interception. The game has become faster and more explosive.
The larger racquet head size has also helped create more power. I think there is a balance between the power you gain from a larger racquet face and the control you have from a smaller one.
Today, with the player’s ability to cover more of the court more effectively because of the racquet technology, the tin has been lowered in the professional game by two inches. What this does is simply make the court bigger! It forces the players to stretch more as they reach to the front corners where drop shots can be placed shorter than with a 19-inch tin. There may be an argument now that the tin needs to be lowered a further inch!
Geoff Hunt in the days of the wooden bat
When I compare the athletes of all eras, I would say that to be at the top is a feat that can only be achieved through hard work and application—no matter the tools of the trade. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same names would have made it had they been exposed to the game in a different era, with a different racquet. After all, squash is about adapting to achieve a win in any way. We play on hot and cold courts at different venues against different opponents all year round.
Peter Nicol, grasping graphite
In my opinion, if you put Peter Nicol against Geoff Hunt on today’s court, both players in their prime, Hunt with his wooden racquet and Nicol with graphite, then there would only ever be one winner: Peter Nicol. And if you put them both on today’s court with a graphite racquet then I think Nicol would win. The reason this is such a certainty is because of technology. Peter’s racquet is far superior to Hunt’s in every way. Hunt would not be able to cope with the speed and pace of the game with his wooden racquet. But, if you put them both on a court of 20 years ago with a wooden racquet, then I think Hunt would win!
The bottom line is that each player has adapted and developed his game to perfectly fit the environment they have grown up with on the court.
What do you think?
Chris Walker is World No. 13
To read more about how technology has affected the game of squash, click HERE.
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Dec 2008
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