The World Squash Federation is calling on squash facilities across the world to help solve a problem that is restricting the sport's growth - players using the wrong ball.
The lack of awareness about the different types of balls is leading to new players commonly being given an inappropriate double yellow dot ball which gives them an unsatisfactory first experience of being on a squash court. Consequently, many of them will not return.
The problem has existed in the sport for decades - and the WSF have teamed up with their official partners Dunlop (who have a huge global market share in squash balls) to try to address the issue.
As the Squash Facilities Network highlighted in a recent article, the crux of the problem lies with the unwitting gatekeepers of our sport - the receptionists at multi-sport venues with squash courts. Unless they are educated about giving squash beginners a blue or red dot ball (or a big red ball for novice juniors), first-time squash players will continue to be mistakenly handed a double yellow dot ball that's intended for pros and elite club players. For them, it's a dead bit of rubber that won't bounce above their shins.
In an exclusive interview with the Squash Facilities Network, WSF President Zena Wooldridge (pictured above) called upon squash facilities to help eradicate the problem from our game - and outlined how the WSF, as the game's global guardians, intend to do address it.
"I visited Open Squash's venue on the fifth floor in New York and they had boxes of balls outside each court with guidance about picking the right one," said Wooldridge. "That's exactly the kind of support we'd like to see."
Wooldridge says attempts to raise awareness of the issue have to be simple. "Unless we're re-educating that key person on the front desk, we won't change the dial on this. It's about simplicity - making that message succinct and easily understood. It's someting we need to keep pushing."
Dunlop have come up with their own ideas to "change the dial." Previously they have sold balls in packs of 12 (double yellow, single yellows, red and blues). Instead, they will start to sell mixed boxes of 12 with accompanying instructions, so squash venues become more aware that different types of balls exist and will put more thought into which ones to give different standards of players.
Dunlop's annual ball sales now exceed those before the pandemic, which is great news for the sport. All squash stakeholders must now push harder to make sure those extra balls are getting into the right hands.
The WSF and Dunlop are discussing next steps, such as potentially changing the names of the ball categories (currently Pro, Competition, Progress and Intro), whether the four balls could be different colours entirely (rather than just dots) and anything else which may aid people’s understanding before they step on court.
The federations and ball manufacturers can do their bit, but the clubs, leisure centres and similar multi-sport venues with squash courts are the key battleground on this issue. That's where use of an inappropriate ball is rife – whether that’s unknowingly by novices or juniors or through habit and the stubbornness of more experienced players.
Related to the theme of balls is the bigger, bouncier ball and bigger rackets of squash's sister sport, Squash 57 (more commonly called 'racketball' in the UK). Squash 57 players enjoy the slightly gentler, less intense version of the game. As we recently discovered, it is particularly popular among older players, who find it accessible, easy to learn and sociable - all the same attributes that are currently attracting people to padel and pickleball.
Wooldridge said: "If we looked at inventing a version of squash that is the equivalent of padel, using existing infrastructure, that was easy to play, easy to understand, extended our market reach and kept existing players in our squash communities, what would we invent? We would probably invent Squash 57!
"We already have the solution, but there just seems to be a resistance to promoting and adopting it as an extension to our existing sport. That's one aspect that puzzles me. Some nations are resistant to it. People ask me, what are we doing about padel? We have the solution here!
"We've got something that is really consistent with squash, can bring a lot more female participation, keep our older players playing, but we don't quite have the promotional resource behind it to make it really fly."
Here again, squash facilities can help achieve these positive outcomes by offering Squash 57 as an alternative to conventional squash, which will help keep their courts full and their venues vibrant.
Part two of our interview with WSF President Zena Wooldridge is coming soon...
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