RIGHT BALL CAMPAIGN: Our comments section and email letters bag on the dot ball conundrum have struck a chord with coaches and players of all standards
It drives me crazy when I see lower level players or juniors playing with the double yellow. Even worse, when they grab an old double yellow out of the “old ball basket” and try to play with it.
This is killing the game. I have bought a couple boxes of single yellows, red dots and blue oversized balls and kept them in my squash bag. When I see people struggling with a shiny old double yellow, I walk on the court and say, “hey, try this one!”
So what’s the solution? Let’s gift boxes of the bouncier balls to our teaching pros to hand out as needed. Further, let’s encourage our teaching pros to utilise these bouncier balls in lessons…if they get them for free they will use them.
Finally, the official ball for younger junior tourneys should NOT be the double yellow. This edict needs to come from the squash associations to make it happen.
Jon Foster, Los Angeles
Biggest barrier to players starting our sport. Had it in our National Centre, two new players were given a really old double dot which literally didn’t bounce. About to give up until I gave them a red spot. Changed their perception & have been back every week since. Basics
Greg Tippings, Squash Wales Performance Coach
I’ve been saying this for 15 years. In my early 60s, I was continuing to play with a double yellow until I counted the length of rally when playing with two others of the same age. I admit that we were all shot makers but the average length of the rally was about three. Hard to believe but it’s true. We then started playing with a red spot and squash returned to what it was, essentially an enjoyable aerobic game lasting 40+ minutes for a club player.
Graham Dixon
We have very strong views on ball selection. We believe you should play with the ball that allows you to rally for the longest time and only change the ball you play with once you are proficient with your current choice.
Merthyr Squash Club
I’ve been banging on about this for years. Our game is so much more fun when you can have some sort of rally. Double yellows are for very very good club players and professionals. The vast majority of us (I include myself in this) should be playing with single dots and in the depths of winter dare I say it a red dot. I’m slowly converting players at our club (Daventry Squash) below 1500 squash levels to single dot balls, many of them don’t know the difference. ES could help with this with some education of coaches and clubs etc.
Ray Chessum
Part of the problem is too many older players who ought to transition to single dot etc. to still get a good active game, instead adapt their game to keep the ball as cold as possible (the lob and drop game with no rallies) .. the dead ball with no bounce is then their preferred choice in fact I know of some older players who keep a dreadful old shiny double yellow in their bag and bring it out for every game – yeuch!! .. I have seen this in all standards of older players. This means, ironically, that they are actually getting a very poor workout, physically .. maybe this is part of the explanation for old people dropping dead on court (not that uncommon as a percentage of players)
PhiloMacc