Talk:Squash (sport)/Archive 1

The Name of the Game
Some contributors are of the view that the correct spelling is 'racquets' rather than 'rackets': the latter is correct.

I refer to the following authorities:

--The 'parent' game is referred to by most, if not all, sources as 'RACKETS' not 'Racquets'; --The original English body presiding over the game was the Tennis and RACKETS Association; --The [English] Squash RACKETS Association was formed in the late 1920s; --The Oxford Dictionary cites 'racket' as the original English word, noting 'racquet' as the variant.

'Racquet' is a tennis term, probably relating to that game's French origins

Please do your research before conducting an edit of this nature...

Cheers

Peter E — Preceding unsigned comment added by Peter Eedy (talk • contribs) 04:08, 23 February 2005 (UTC)

History
I'm not sure that "the game of squash was developed based on other pre-existing racquet sports involving the use of whips and slaves." Could someone confirm? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Penalba2000 (talk • contribs) 17:21, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

It's been reported by the BBC that squash originated in London prisons: 

Norman Zylstra (talk) 23:36, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Squash Player Photo
I don't support the inclusion of that photo of "a typical squash player" -- I think a shot of players in action on a court would have been much more useful (sorry, I haven't got one to contribute)

Or is that you Peteyboo, just indulging yourself? :o)

What do others think?

Cheers

Peter E

Squash Player Photo
Hmm, I didn't check this page before I went and edited it. But Peter, I agree with you, that is why I chose to remove it. It doesn't seem to provide anything "useful" to the article. Everyone knows what a guy with a racquet looks like. Hope I wasn't too forward? Oh well, I guess it will get edited back if enough people disagree with me.

Michael

Confusing
I think by simultaneously describing the British, American and International versions of the game, whilst also briefly referring to other variants such as hardball, makes this page is very confusing and ends up providing no clear description of any of the games. I believe it would be better to describe the international version in toto on this page, refer only to the other games in talking of its history and in passing. The other games could then be described on their own pages (or in their own sections at the foot of this page), referencing the international version to contrast as appropriate.

Paul.

Links
In my opinion there is far too many links. They are pointless. It should be decreased to actually useful and essential links in my opinion.James Barlow 23:20, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you James -- we should really have the major links only (eg WSF, national associations and the like) Maybe some others if relevant for the article

Go for it! (I will probably review another time as well)

Regards

Peter E March 2007


 * I agree too that most of those were not appropriate. However, I also think the national associations should be removed too, there are a tonne of them and it is arbitrary to only link to a couple of them. Kilrogg 20:38, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah...maybe keep england squash as its a main source of info, the WSF and squash player magazine? &lt;marquee&gt;James Barlow 22:52, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Service Quarter
You use the term service quarter in the article, without defining it. I came on this article to just check the rules before a squash lesson tomorrow so I actually don't know what it is. Perhaps somebody more qualified to me could add it to the article or the diagram? Cheers! Hydrostatics 18:36, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm not able to change the diagram but the service quarter's are in the back half of the court split with a line down the middle. The serve must bounce (if not volleyed) inside the service quarter on the opposite side from which you served from. Jezzyjez 16:50, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

How big are standard squash balls?
i don't have any squash balls and need to know how big they are (diameter).

can anyone help? x

40 mm diameter, 24 grams. See https://bosssquash.com/blog/squash-ball-specifications/

Cheers

Peter Eedy 09:25, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

changing quarters
Please mention that players change quarters every serve

3 Player Squash
Does this addition really have a place in this article? If it's not a widely played version of the game, I don't feel it belongs. To me, this just looks like the variation of one (among many) of the drills I've done as practice. Comments? Dross82 01:33, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Also the last line doesnt seem right to me: created, tested and developed in summer 2007? I've been playing the exact same thing since 2004 in various countries - maybe "officially established" would be better? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.138.88.7 (talk) 17:41, August 27, 2007 (UTC)

I agree. The whole "summer 2007" sentence seems somewhat juvenile to me. Furthermore, I also don't feel it should be here if no one can point to a good source for it somewhere...otherwise I think I'm just about ready to create my own "8 player version" and add it right into the article!! Dross82 01:28, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Is this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squash_tennis article the same or what? Should it be merged into one? --80.91.187.131 (talk) 10:11, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Links again
As mentioned above by someone else, I think there are too many. Why, for example, are individual clubs' sites listed? 86.136.248.48 (talk) 22:44, 9 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I have addressed the links section. - RoyBoy 01:21, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Handball
I wonder if it would be appropriate to characterize squash as a court game and mentioning racquetball and handball. Lots of courts are used for all three sports, e.g., with the removal of the metal panel for handball players. Kdammers (talk) 00:09, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

tin
The article talks about the tin in media res. If I hadn't seen squash courts (NOT the picture in the article, which has no indication of a metal panel), I would have no idea what this is. Please write the article for the uninformed intelligent reader. Kdammers (talk) 00:15, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Players
Over in American handball, we had a discussion about including leading players and came to the solution that no players would be named in the handball article. The decision was based on Wik articles about other sports, like baseball (no one seemed to think to consider squash) which have players listed in a different, linked-to page. thus, handball players are found at the USHA page. I don't know if squash should be handle this way, but I thought I'd point it out for consideration by you squash people. Kdammers (talk) 00:24, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Dunlop Max Progress balls
"... is 6% larger with a 20% longer hang-time than a "double-yellow dot ball" and has instant bounce" I am not aware of any information sheet claiming instant bounce for this ball but from my personal experience, the Progress ball definitely needs warming up. Please check that the warm up statement in the article is correct. If so, please state the provenance of the information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.14.73.69 (talk) 23:04, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

"Contrary To Tennis"
Removed the clause "contrary to tennis" w.r.t. hitting the ball above the tin and below the out line, as it appears to be irrelevant and no reasonable comparison can be made to tennis "outs". 152.78.219.10 (talk) 22:50, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Popular culture
I moved the "King of Queens" reference to Racquetball (as they play Racquetball and not Squash :-)). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.65.122.170 (talk) 16:22, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Unreferenced Statistic ?
This is an interesting stat (70%) but there is no provided reference for it. Can we get it cited or removed ?
 * Its uncited so i removed it Random2001 (talk) 12:30, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Squash provides an excellent cardiovascular workout. In one hour of squash, a player may expend approximately 600 to 1000 calories (3,000 to 4,000 kJ),[4] which is significantly more than most other sports and over 70% more than either general tennis or racquetball.

thanks -jeffhomme —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeff.homme (talk • contribs) 14:48, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Comparison to racquetball
A section comparing squash and racquetball should be inserted. This article gave me no indication of how the two sports really differ, and even in casual observation, it's hard to tell. When I recently tried squash, I was surprised by how much smaller the ball is than a racquetball (the picture does not really show this), its deadness, the difference the size of the court makes, and the emphasis on running (versus hitting). Squash courts are hard to find in much of the US, so a lot of people who look at this article aren't going to have tried it. Racquetball seems much more common, but the two sports look very similar to the uninitiated. 128.146.172.101 (talk) 20:48, 9 November 2009 (UTC)
 * My thoughts exactly (but the other way around). A lot of Europeans know what squash is but wonder what the difference is with racquetball. A separate article comparing the two would be great. --Alastair Rae (talk) 15:15, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

women vs men
"Squash is getting very popular among the casual enthusiasts. Other than the positive health effect, it also allows males and females to play against each other without much advantage for either sex"

As a former Junior National Squash Team member, I can attest that this is plainly false. The significant edge in squash owes to men's more rapid reaction times, their better hand-eye coordination and their ability to change direction far more quickly than women are able to. While at lower levels there might appear to be a level playing field, the field slants significantly as one moves up the ranks. At age 14 I was already beating the highest ranked woman (in her late twenties) in my country with a fair amount of ease. This is not a slight against women, but I think we need to keep our facts straight.

Of course, on a casual level this does not hold, but neither would it hold in a sport where being male is typically an advantage over being female. A woman with a year's more experience in, say, hockey would be a far better player than a male with no experience. For that matter, a woman doing a year's worth of weights will be stronger than the average unathletic man. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.89.114.61 (talk) 23:59, 25 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Agree. At all levels in squash (international, national, regional, county, club and casual), males have a significant advantage over females. Of course a county female player might easily beat a club male player, etc. At one stage, the offending statement cited an article about "top reasons to play squash" on sportales (website is now on Wikipedia's banned list, so I can't link to it). This appears to be written by a casual (male) squash player who states, "I can proudly say that I’ve been brutally beaten by girls in this sport before". That is not enough grounds to deduce that there is no general advantage for either sex, so I have deleted the paragraph.

Squashstring (talk) 00:08, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Trinity College, CT added to records?
Trinity College in Connecticut has lost a squash match sine 1998 and have a 224 game ( 3/2/2010) winning streak going... I'd say that something to be added to the records.. source: http://www.yaledailynews.com/sports/sports-general/2010/02/22/m-squash-trinity-does-it-again/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.159.147.24 (talk) 05:28, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Spam link?
Anyone else think that the inclusion of the 'Squash: Game for Fitness' external link that goes directly to a store's product page for squash rackets is a bit spammy?87.194.116.146 (talk) 17:26, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Wider Acceptance
The final paragraph in this section was completely uncited and I couldn't find anything to back it up when searching google. I removed it as per WP:NOCITE Random2001 (talk) 12:35, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Racquet/racket spelling
This article used a mix of spellings for the word "racquet"/"racket". While "racket" seems to be the preferred modern spelling even in British usage, the original spelling used in this sport is definitely "racquet", and a cursory Google search implies that it still predominates slightly in discussions of this specific sport. Moreover, "racquet" is the spelling used in the original version of the article. I have standardized on that spelling except in a few instances where a proper name or title specifically used the spelling "racket". I don't actually have a preference for either spelling, but the random mix of different spellings that was previously in the article was very bad, so picking any one spelling is an improvement in my opinion. 168.12.253.66 (talk) 19:21, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

Referees
There are *not* "three referees" at the pro level; there is one referee, one marker (for the score) and two linesman… Historian932 (talk) 00:18, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

4 Player
Four Player Squash is called out in the intro, but is not described elsewhere in the article. Should this be a new subsection or perhaps an addition under service and/or play? Dspark76 (talk) 23:34, 27 November 2015 (UTC)

Scoring
PARS to 15 is rarely called American scoring; and PARS just means point-a-rally scoring and is not specifically to 11. It's just an acronym. Also PARS to 15 is far more widely used than HiHo to 9 in amateur leagues. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AST Squash (talk • contribs) 07:07, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

Commons files used on this page have been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page have been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 09:06, 17 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Joelle King v. Camille Serme Squash.jpg
 * Rodriguez v. Shorbaghy.jpg