Interference Yet Again!

Rehashing an Old Answer

By Rod Symington, W.S.F. 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

Get the WSF's Rules of Squash!

I receive a significant number of e-mails asking questions about a common problem: What the call should be when interference takes place just as the player is hitting the ball. Here is a recent example:

Both players were about four to five feet from the front wall, standing maybe about two feet apart in the middle of the court, but actually clear of each other's swings.

The first player, standing on the left, tried to hit a cross-court passing shot to the right of his opponent who was standing beside him on the right. It wasn't too bad of a shot, and quite far to the right, but it was not far enough or quick enough to pass his opponent. His opponent left his left foot in place but was able to stretch his right foot out to reach the ball and attempt to make a forehand return down the right side.

But both players were slightly off balance, and the player on the left, in his attempt to regain his balance after his follow through, accidentally stepped on the left foot of his opponent while his opponent was stretching to the right to make a return. This clearly affected the opponent's return shot, which hit the tin about an inch down. What should the call be?

It happens quite frequently that some form of interference occurs when a player is in the middle of his swing: it might be slight racquet contact with the opponent or the opponent's racquet, an elbow in the back, or (as here) a foot stepped on. These are difficult situations to evaluate because they happen so quickly.

Some basic principles: If interference occurs, the player who wants to ask for a let is expected to stop play immediately and request the let. If you encounter interference and then play the ball, you have no right to a let. We all make mistakes on the squash court, and the excuse: “I didn't really mean to hit that ball!” simply isn't valid. The Rules expect you to keep your wits about you and stop play at the appropriate moment.

Secondly, if the interference occurs because the non-striker has not made every effort to clear, it is a stroke to the striker. Squash demands that all players make every effort to get out of the way after hitting a shot; without this Rule squash would become dirty and dangerous.

However, if the interference occurs in the middle of the striker's swing (as in the above example), the latter has every right to a let (at least). In this situation the Referee must be convinced that the striker was making a normal swing that could not be stopped. It often happens that a player, playing the ball, touches the opponent with the racquet on the downswing. If the swing took place in one continuous motion (which is mostly the case) and was affected by the contact, it is a let.

In the example cited above, the opponent was making every effort to clear when the contact occurred. Furthermore, the contact came in the middle of the player's swing and he was not able to stop and ask for a let before completing the swing. Thus, “let” is the fair result.

In such situations, if there is a Referee, he or she will have to make a judgment call, based on when the interference occurred and whether or not the striker could have halted the swing. If there is no referee, it is you (the striker) who has to make that call. Only ask your opponent for the let if you truly could not stop your swing. Otherwise your victory will enter the record books with an asterisk.