Beware the Squash Player in Full Swing!
By Rod Symington, W.S.F. Rules and Referees Committee
Illustration By Tony Cristovich
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|  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
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In recent columns I have outlined the requirement for the non-striker to make very effort to get out of the way of the incoming striker so as to permit the latter i) fair view of the ball, ii) direct, unobstructed access to the ball, iii) freedom to hit the shot of his or her choice, and iv) the entire front wall to hit to.
In my last column I discussed the central question of the “freedom to hit the ball” and stressed the fundamental obligation of the non-striker to be clear of the swing-path of the striker’s racquet: if the non-striker in any way impedes the swing of the striker, the non-striker loses the rally.
Several readers have asked me to clarify what the outcome should be if the non-striker is caught within the swing-path of the striker’s racquet. They asked: Do all situations result in the same outcome? What, for example, happens if the outgoing striker makes every effort to get out of the way, but doesn’t quite make it? What happens if the contact is very slight? What happens if the striker’s racquet just touches the non-striker at the very end of the backswing—or even on the way down? And so on.
With the ball 20 feet away, George is fishing for lets again.
Don’t be the bait on George’s hook the next time he casts his line.
If it’s not playable—no let!
Strictly speaking, all situations in which the non-striker impedes the striker’s backswing should result in a stroke to the striker. But there are two very important provisos: first, the ball must be in a position where the striker could reasonably be able to hit it, and second, the swing itself must be reasonable.
In regard to the first proviso: it is a stroke, if the striker’s reasonable swing is impeded at the moment that the striker is trying to hit the ball.
Obviously, if the ball is twenty feet high and the striker makes a swing at it, there is no reasonable expectation of hitting it. So if the striker’s racquet hits the non-striker, a stroke would be unjust. In such a situation, a let would probably be a fair result to the rally since the ball is likely to have dropped within hitting range by the time the let is called (if not, “no let” would probably be justified).The same principle applies to any situation where the ball is not within immediate striking distance: if the ball goes tight down the rail and into the corner, and the incoming striker, while running to the ball, takes the racquet back in early preparation of the backswing and the racquet contacts the outgoing striker—then here again a let would be the fair outcome of the rally.
These comments lead to the question of what is a reasonable swing. The Rules define a “reasonable backswing and follow-through” as being a swing with the arm not extended straight out (imagine a lethal follow-through on the backswing where the racquet arm is extended straight out—I was once hit over the eye for five stitches by one of those!). Such an excessive swing is both dangerous and contrary to the Rules—and in consequence, a player who has such an excessive swing cannot expect to win the rally if, with an excessive swing, his or her racquet contacts the opponent.
The correct decision of the Referee in such a situation would be “No Let”—with the added explanation that the swing was excessive (and therefore dangerous) and the advice to keep the swing reasonable or risk further penalty for dangerous play.
The revised Rules of Squash, which will come into force in May 2001, will contain clear statements about the above issues: if you are in the way of your opponent’s swing, you will lose the stroke; and correspondingly, if you have an excessive swing, you will not be awarded the stroke. Please note: these will be merely clarifications of what is already in the Rules. Both right now and in the future, both of these Rules exist to ensure that the game of squash is fair and safe. |
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