Carefully selected exercises for squash players, from beginner to expert level.
Below are a few globally used exercises I recommend, all include a few variations and their difficulty level, based on the levels at the bottom of this page.
back to homepageBeginner to expert two or three player drill. Player A starts in the front hitting straight shots to the back of the court along the side wall, Player B returns these from the back playing boasts from the back quarters of the court.
view variations"Always keep looking at the ball"
Intermediate to expert solo drill. Start on the T and hit shots to the front wall close to the side wall (left or right side). The ball should return to you, after which you hit a shot towards the front wall on the other side.
view variations"Hit as many balls as you can in your first few years"
Beginner to expert solo drill. Stand in the middle of the court. Hit shots into the side wall alternating between left and right side. Prepare smoothly and minimize unnecessary racket swing on follow through.
view variations"Filming yourself play is probably the best training"
Solo/duo drill. Place two objects each in the front, middle and back of the court. Start a timer for one, two, or three minutes and see how many shots you can make. Completely come to a stop on the T before moving.
view variationsBeginner: Many service and return faults, generally short rallies often only lasting one or two shots, trouble hitting balls into the back of the court, balls in the back of the court often mean the end of the rally. Players often stand still after hitting a shot.
Intermediate: Improved base game, still hampered by many mistakes and miss hits. Still trouble retrieving the ball from the back of the court. Improved movement with some situations of stand still. Often one shot rallies, but longer rallies may exceed 10 shots.
Advanced: Fluid racket preparation and movement, decent control over power, height and direction. Improved sense of strategy, being able to purposefully play shots out of the opponents reach. This is often the level where precision and attrition starts to matter more than hard hitting and sprinting.
Expert: No trouble keeping and getting balls out of the back of the court, able to play with considerable margin to avoid unforced errors. Most rallies are played as variations between lengths and crosses. When not under pressure, can hit pretty much any shot from most angles. Wide variety of shots to adapt to opponents.
Disclaimer: The above is a general approach. Especially men often have a more hard hitting and conditional playing style involving lots of sprinting. Even though their level could be considered higher, they usually miss one or two of the above qualities associated with that level in the above classification.
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