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by Brent Johner (Owner)

Essential Squash Serve Return Tips

November 29, 2009 in Squash Tips

Brent Johner is a certified tennis, squash, badminton and pickleball coach

Brent Johner is a certified tennis, squash, badminton and pickleball coach

Returning the serve is a struggle for many beginner and intermediate squash players.

This is why aces are common in E and D-level matches. By the time players get to B-level and up, though, players have mastered the serve return and aces virtually disappear from the game.

Here are five essential tips for returning the serve. None of them should be considered optional. If your goal is to improve as a squash player, you should incorporate all five.

Ready Position

Preparing to receive the serve in the correct place is an essential first step. You should be on your toes on the imaginary red line in the diagram above.

Starting from this position immediately puts you at the strategic centre of your box. From here you can take one step up the court to volley or one step back to take the serve after it hits the side wall. If you stand anywhere else in the box and you will have to take at least two steps to execute one of these strokes.

Watch the Ball

Watch the server and the ball until the point of contact; do not stare at the front wall and wait for the ball to get there.

Every player has tells — little clues in their movements — that give you important information about the serve that is about to come your way.

By watching your opponent until his racquet strikes the ball, you will learn to read important information about the height, speed, spin and trajectory of the serve.

Volley Every Time

Although it is not possible to volley every serve return, you should be prepared to do exactly that. Position yourself correctly and observe your opponent’s serve motion. When the opportunity to volley the serve before it hits the side wall presents itself, take it.

The most important match statistic in squash is the percentage of volley opportunities taken. Players should strive to be as close to 100 per cent as possible, especially on the serve return.

Give Yourself Space

One of the things that separates beginner and intermediate squash from advanced squash is the space that players give themselves to strike the ball. Beginner and intermediate players often run under the serve and try to return it with their racquet overhead. Even when they don’t actually run under it, they often end up setting up so close to the ball that they don’t have room to execute a good stroke.

Learn to stay back from the ball and separate your feet. Staying back and using your full reach will help you avoid bad returns that strike the side wall before striking the front wall. Separating your feet will allow you to achieve maximum shoulder rotation, which is needed both for good length (when returning straight) and good width (when returning cross court).

Place the Serve Return

Tight trumps might: never is this dictum truer than when it refers to the serve return. Intermediate players too often try to pound serve returns when they should be trying to place them.

A high, tight length that lands at the back of the court and bounces twice within 24 inches of the back wall and a few inches of the side wall is an ideal serve return. It forces your opponent to move off of the tee and into the back corner. At the same time, it allows you more than enough time to take up a position in front of your opponent on the tee.

Since the tee is the stategic centre of a squash court, a serve return like this immediately puts you in an offensive position. It also forces your opponent either to hit a good next shot himself or to continue the rally on the defensive.

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Avatar of Brent Johner (Owner)

by Brent Johner (Owner)

45-Minute Solo Squash-Based Workout

November 8, 2009 in SQUASH, Squash Drills

Brent Johner is a certified tennis, squash, badminton and pickleball coach

Brent Johner is a certified tennis, squash, badminton and pickleball coach

This is a squash-based workout that will improve your fitness and squash skills at the same time. Please consult a physician before beginning this or any other fitness program.

When you are done, you should be red-faced but not ruby-faced. Your skin temperature should be elevated but you should not be burning up. Your respiratory rate should be elevated but you should not be panting. You should also be sweating just enough to keep you sweating for about 15 minutes after you have completed the work out.

30 minutes after this workout, your heart rate, repiratory rate and body temperature should all be normal. If this does not happen, you should consider reducing either the number of sets or the number of reps in each set to a level better suited to your current physical condition.

Exercise 1

Ghosting through the tee, side wall to side wall with lunge and swing

This is a warm-up exercise. The purpose is to get your blood pumping and your feet moving. You also want to raise your respiratory rate and body temperature.

Start on the tee. Ghost shots that are tight to alternate side walls. Be sure to lunge and graze the side wall with your racquet when you swing.

Do three sets of eight reps to start. Increase to 10 or 12 reps per set as your fitness improves. Pause for 30 to 60 seconds between each set as needed.

Exercise 2

Movement from tee to backhand corner with two foot plant, squat, swing and lift

Imagine you are retreiving a high, slow drive that will finish deep in the backhand corner. Start on the tee and move to the back corner ahead of the ball. Finish setting up in the corner either by walking in the back foot or by hopping in with both feet so that you are square to the side wall.

Squat deep enough to create a 90 degree angle at your knees. Start your swing low and lift to a standing position in one continous motion. Finish with your racquet lifting high toward your target on the top third of the front wall.

Do three sets of eight reps to start. Increase to 10 or 12 reps per set as your fitness improves. Pause for 30 to 60 seconds between each set as needed.

Exercise 3

Movement from tee to back forehand corner with two foot plant, squat, swing and lift

Mirror Exercise 2 in the backhand corner. Do three sets of eight reps to start. Increase to 10 or 12 reps per set as your fitness improves. Pause for 30 to 60 seconds between each set as needed.

This completes the warm-up. You should be starting to sweating and your heart and respiratory rates should be elevated but still within a comfortable range.

Exercise 4

Self-rally forehand lunge drives for length

The purpose of this exercise is to coordinate lunging and striking the ball on the forehand side. If you do it correctly, you will do exactly 25 lunges. If not, you will mishit some shots and will have to do more than 25 lunges.

Start behind the serve box on the forehand side. Hit a forehand drive high on the front wall that will rebound and land on or behind the back line of the service box. Return your own shot with a forehand drive from a lunge position so that it too lands on or behind the back line of the service box. Count each shot that lands on or behind the box AND incorporates a lunge. Do not count shots that land short and do not count shots that do not incorporate a lunge. Do not count serves that start the self-rally.

Do 1 set of 25. Pause as needed to restore heart and respiratory rates to comfortable levels. As your fitness level increases, you can add additional sets to a maximum of three.

Exercise 5

Self-rally forehand volleys to the serve box

By now your quads and gluts may be burning, so you can take a minute or two to allow them to cool down before doing the same thing on the backhand side. While you are waiting, stand in the serve box and practice your volleys. Hit 25 volleys back to yourself so that you can return them from the serve box. Score one point for every volley you can return with at least one foot in the service box. Stop at 25 reps.

Exercise 6

Self-rally forehand squat drives for length

Do exactly what you did for Exercise 4, with one variation: substitute the word squat for lunge. The goal here is to squat at least 25 times deep enough to create a 90 degree angle at your knees.

Exercise 7

Self-rally forehand volleys half way to serve box

Repeat what you did in Exercise 5, from a slightly different position: half way between the front wall and the service box. Do not count balls that touch the side wall. Stop at 25 reps. Pause for 30 seconds.

Exercise 8

Self-rally backhand lunge drives for length

Repeat what you did in Exercise 4 from the backhand side. Stop at 25 reps. Pause for 30 seconds.

Exercise 9

Backhand volleys to the serve box

Repeat what you did in Exercise 5 from the backhand side.

Exercise 10

Backhand squat drives for length

Repeat what you did in Exercise 6 from the backhand side. Pause for 30 to 60 seconds.

Exercise 11

Backhand volleys halfway to serve box

Repeat what you did in Exercise 7 from the backhand side. Pause for 30 to 60 seconds.

Exercise 12

Serve, move to tee, lunge to cut off serve returns.

By now, your racquet arm, quads and gluts should be tired and you should be sweating steadily. So you will want to slow the pace and begin a cool down sequence.

Stand in the right service box. Hit an accurate lob serve that will make contact with the side wall in the opposite court about 12 inches below the out line and land in the back corner less than 24 inches from the side wall and back wall.

Immediately after striking the ball, move to a neutral position on the tee. You should be there (in a neutral postion, not leaning) before the ball strikes the side wall. When the ball touches the ground, lunge and stretch out to cut off an imaginary drive that is tight and low along the left side wall.

The goal here is to work on fluidity. Your service motion should take you fluidly to a neutral postion on the tee from which you can easily lunge across and volley low drives.

Once you have completed the first set of eight reps. Pause for 30 to 60 seconds before starting your second set.

The second set is the same as the first, except that you are now imagining a cross court return to the right side wall. Therefore, your service motion in the second set should take you fluidly to a neutral postion on the tee from which you can easily lunge back and cut off low cross court returns.

Exercise 13

Repeat both sets in Exercise 12 from the opposite serve box.

When you are done this 30 to 45-minute workout, you should be red-faced but not ruby-faced. Your skin temperature should be elevated but you should not be burning up. Your respiratory rate should be elevated but you should not be panting. You should also be sweating.

You should stop sweating 15 minutes after you have completed the work out. 30 minutes after you are done, your heart rate, breathing and body temperature should be normal. If not, add or reduce sets and/or reps as necessary.

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