Rules

A 'Friendly' Reminder: What to do when there's no ref

By Rod Symington, WSF Rules and Referees Committee

Rod Symington is on the WSF Rules and Referees Committee and is a consultant on Rules and Refereeing to the USA. He has also been the Tournament Referee for, among others, the Women's Worlds, Pan Am Games, and Junior Men's and Women's Worlds. To contact Rod with questions or to enquire about clinics and his Squash Rules for Players, email him at symingto@uvic.ca

Many of the e-mails I receive from readers all over the US relate to disputes on the squash court, almost always concerning lets and strokes. Naturally, the writers want to be reassured that what they did on the court was correct (and what their opponent did was wrong). But the one common feature of all the queries is a lack of knowledge about what to do when a disagreement arises during a 'friendly' game.
It is inevitable that situations will occur where each player will see something different: 'Let, please.' 'That's a let.' 'No, it's my stroke.' 'No, it isn't; it's just a let.' Does that sound familiar?

Two things to bear in mind. First, in any game of squash there are always going to be some 'borderline' situations, where the decision could be let or stroke. (That's the kind of decision that referees hate to have to make, especially at the crucial stage of a match!) Depending on how the observer happens to see the episode, the decision could go either way.

Second, endless scientific studies of eyewitnesses have shown that different people see the same situation in radically different ways; observers are simply not reliable. (My favorite example is a US Army study that asked people to estimate the speed of a car travelling along a section of road. The estimates ranged from 10 to 50 mph!) In observing squash matches for the past 40 years and in listening to the reactions of spectators and referees, there is one indisputable conclusion to be drawn: no two people see the same thing, even on a squash court.

It gets worse. When people start to describe a scenario to me, hoping that I will confirm their view of it, I inevitably respond, 'Show me the video!' It is impossible to accurately convey in words what happens on a court, so it is a waste of breath. Unfortunately, watching a video is not much of an improvement because even with the evidence before our eyes we all see the situation differently. Countless sessions with the top players and referees in the world have confirmed in me the view that there can never be agreement even on what is actually happening!

What are we to do about disagreements on the squash court? You perceived that your opponent was in the way of your shot to the front wall; he saw that he was clear. You won't give in; neither will he. This occurs several times, and each time the disagreement escalates until it reaches the stage of outright argument. The match ends with bad feelings on both sides, and one of you goes back to the office and sends an email to Rod Symington (who is no help at all!).

We are all stubborn. Even though we know (from reading this column) that when there is no referee any disagreement between the players must result in a let, we continue to argue with our opponent in the hope that he or she will give in and we'll get our way. If we can't win the rally outright, we'll win the war of words.

Arguing with your opponent will get you absolutely nowhere on the squash court (and might even upset you enough to ruin the game so that you lose!). And even if you do succeed in browbeating your opponent into giving you stroke after stroke, your victory will be tainted (and will enter your personal record book with an asterisk). Instead, remember that the point is to enjoy squash, not to win at all costs. It's a game, and one that is all the more enjoyable for being played in the right spirit.

My e-mail inbox would be considerably lighter if squash players followed a few basic rules of etiquette in friendly games:

1. If there is a disagreement between you and your opponent about a let/stroke/no let situation, play a let.

2. If your opponent calls 'Let' and you can see that it might be a stroke, ask him if he thinks it was a stroke.

3. If a stroke is offered to you, only accept it if your are absolutely sure that it is, indeed, your stroke.

4. 'If you want someone to change, treat him the way you would like him to be, not the way he is.'

Here endeth the lesson.