There is a formal squash textbook out there (can’t remember the author) that says (on about page 3) that a proper stroke in the game of squash is a direct analogue to a proper stroke when Tee-ing off in golf. I believe this to be true. Having a spaghettis wrist is bad technique in both cases. I also believe that, if a player who is starting the game of squash and getting lessons is not taught to cock their wrist, and prepare, and rotate through without breaking the wrist, that player will probably never develop adequate power in an efficient way (unless they happen to have wrists like a gorilla). Many high-end professionals take many liberties, the most famous spaghetti-wrist being Rami Ashour. Lee Trevino had an unconventional T off, but became a very famous professional golfer (and made a lot of money at golf). No golf coach would tell a new golfer to T off like Lee Trevino. I grant that in the same way that professionals quite often do not have time, in a rally, to properly bring the racquet back and up, they may do other unconventional things at a given moment. Beyond simply not having time, they may be using deception. Like every sport, there is the exceptional and the unconventional, and there is also the ‘panic’ or emergency response. One of the reasons people are victorious is that they give their opponent no time to prepare in any way, whether with respect to the wrist or in any other respect of what constitutes a proper stroke. That does NOT mean we should actually teach the spaghetti wrist and that there is no need to prepare, no sir it does not. A squash racquet is not a badminton racquet, and your squash game will not forgive you if you treat it like one. (You will probably also end up needing physiotherapy.)
Agreed Sir. I'm not advocating deliberately teaching a beginner to hit with a floppy wrist. Different folks have different biomechanical abilities (I for one cannot cock my wrist excessively ever since a hairline fracture as a teenager). The purpose of the video is to highlight the fact that different scenarios (contact points, pressure etc), different bodies, deception etc as you rightly noted require adjustments. A lot of coaches maintain a very strict approach - this includes getting behind the ball every time etc., when many times, especially at a higher level, it's impossible. We see this regularly at the professional level. In any case, I'm glad that this video is resulting in lively, respectful discussions. Thank you for sharing your perspective 👊🏼🙏🏼 Wishing you well, - Ahad
The problem if someone doesn't use a cocked wrist, particularly on the backhand -- is that they will break their wrist. This leads to lack of power, total inconsistency, inability to get balls out of the back corner, and potentially tendonitis. A cocked wrist on the backend works properly with an open grip on the forehand (doesn't require "changing" the grip like in tennis). Of course there are variations on the theme, but they at least need to know the "desired" grip and benefits of use. People who golf don't do very well when they just grab a club and start swinging. Thanks to Simon Taylor at Leicestershire Squash for a tutorial provided me to me many years ago.
Absolutely. When starting off, fundamentals are required, but in my humble opinion, they are often over prescribed. Providing players the freedom to experiment and explore is critical to avoid stagnating creativity. You are certainly correct that using a completely broken wrist can lead to injury and inconsistent hitting. At the highest levels, players make all sorts of adjustments when hitting balls from different positions on court, under different degree of pressure. Thanks for watching and commenting, - Ahad
@@ARProformance I don't think the two are mutually exclusive, I think you can play without breaking your wrist but also without over-cocking it, leading to unnecessary tension and inadequate spacing of the ball. If you watch Ali Farag or Nour el-Sherbini play, they're not constricting their wrist angle to be sharper, they're keeping a simultaneously straight and flexible wrist that is nowhere close to 90 degrees as some coaches would advocate for. The best of both worlds is really important. You can keep a straight wrist, which lets you take better space, but also not break your wrist, and you can do all of this quite easily.
There is a formal squash textbook out there (can’t remember the author) that says (on about page 3) that a proper stroke in the game of squash is a direct analogue to a proper stroke when Tee-ing off in golf. I believe this to be true. Having a spaghettis wrist is bad technique in both cases. I also believe that, if a player who is starting the game of squash and getting lessons is not taught to cock their wrist, and prepare, and rotate through without breaking the wrist, that player will probably never develop adequate power in an efficient way (unless they happen to have wrists like a gorilla). Many high-end professionals take many liberties, the most famous spaghetti-wrist being Rami Ashour. Lee Trevino had an unconventional T off, but became a very famous professional golfer (and made a lot of money at golf). No golf coach would tell a new golfer to T off like Lee Trevino. I grant that in the same way that professionals quite often do not have time, in a rally, to properly bring the racquet back and up, they may do other unconventional things at a given moment. Beyond simply not having time, they may be using deception. Like every sport, there is the exceptional and the unconventional, and there is also the ‘panic’ or emergency response. One of the reasons people are victorious is that they give their opponent no time to prepare in any way, whether with respect to the wrist or in any other respect of what constitutes a proper stroke. That does NOT mean we should actually teach the spaghetti wrist and that there is no need to prepare, no sir it does not. A squash racquet is not a badminton racquet, and your squash game will not forgive you if you treat it like one. (You will probably also end up needing physiotherapy.)
Agreed Sir. I'm not advocating deliberately teaching a beginner to hit with a floppy wrist. Different folks have different biomechanical abilities (I for one cannot cock my wrist excessively ever since a hairline fracture as a teenager). The purpose of the video is to highlight the fact that different scenarios (contact points, pressure etc), different bodies, deception etc as you rightly noted require adjustments.
A lot of coaches maintain a very strict approach - this includes getting behind the ball every time etc., when many times, especially at a higher level, it's impossible. We see this regularly at the professional level.
In any case, I'm glad that this video is resulting in lively, respectful discussions. Thank you for sharing your perspective 👊🏼🙏🏼 Wishing you well,
- Ahad
The problem if someone doesn't use a cocked wrist, particularly on the backhand -- is that they will break their wrist. This leads to lack of power, total inconsistency, inability to get balls out of the back corner, and potentially tendonitis. A cocked wrist on the backend works properly with an open grip on the forehand (doesn't require "changing" the grip like in tennis). Of course there are variations on the theme, but they at least need to know the "desired" grip and benefits of use. People who golf don't do very well when they just grab a club and start swinging. Thanks to Simon Taylor at Leicestershire Squash for a tutorial provided me to me many years ago.
Absolutely. When starting off, fundamentals are required, but in my humble opinion, they are often over prescribed. Providing players the freedom to experiment and explore is critical to avoid stagnating creativity. You are certainly correct that using a completely broken wrist can lead to injury and inconsistent hitting. At the highest levels, players make all sorts of adjustments when hitting balls from different positions on court, under different degree of pressure.
Thanks for watching and commenting,
- Ahad
@@ARProformance I don't think the two are mutually exclusive, I think you can play without breaking your wrist but also without over-cocking it, leading to unnecessary tension and inadequate spacing of the ball. If you watch Ali Farag or Nour el-Sherbini play, they're not constricting their wrist angle to be sharper, they're keeping a simultaneously straight and flexible wrist that is nowhere close to 90 degrees as some coaches would advocate for. The best of both worlds is really important. You can keep a straight wrist, which lets you take better space, but also not break your wrist, and you can do all of this quite easily.