Category: Fitness

In today’s fast-moving world, it’s often a challenge to carve out time for the things we most enjoy. This is particularly true for squash enthusiasts balancing family, work, and social life. The quest to harmonise time on the court with physical training can feel like a daunting task, but there’s a savvy solution that can help fit in those crucial fitness sessions amidst a hectic schedule: the concept of ‘bolt-on’ sessions.

Athletes have long recognized the importance of warming up before engaging in physical activity. Traditionally, warm-up routines have always involved more dynamic protocols, centered around movement, mobility exercises, and sport-specific drills.

However, advancements in sports science have confirmed the potential benefits of the concept of a ‘passive’ warm-up. In contrast to the conventional approach, passive warm-up techniques aim to prepare the body for intense activity without engaging in any significant active movements.

This blog delves into the benefits of passive warm-up protocols for squash players, shedding light on how they can optimise performance and help prevent injuries.

Developing a solid base of conditioning is an essential aspect of maximising your on-court performance.

Amongst the exercise bikes, treadmills, and rowing machines commonly seen in the typical gym environment, there are very often a number of less familiar, less used machines sitting idly by away from the most popular CV equipment. ‘Less used’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘less useful’ however, and some of those machines gathering dust in the corner can not only provide a great workout, but also provide you with some much-needed variety in your training.

Check out our SquashSkills top 3 favourite ‘alternative’ CV machines, and keep an eye out for some of these pieces of equipment in your gym ready for your next endurance workout!

Squash is a game of high pace and intensity. The ability to move powerfully around the court and accelerate rapidly onto the ball is a key prerequisite to playing at a high level, yet is an element that is often neglected or trained inadequately. Want to learn how to better develop explosive movement? Read on for our SquashSkills 3 Top Tips to Boost Your Power & Acceleration.

Almost everyone has a more dominant side of the body (bar the ambidextrous), which will influence the hand they favour to use. This includes the hand with which squash players hold their racket – typically (but not exclusively), the same hand with which they write, carry, and interact with. This also extends to which side players favour to lunge into their shots with, but over-favouring one side can potentially cause overuse issues.

Frequent quick movements and rapid adjustments with the feet are an integral part of the physical make-up of squash, so developing the speed of your footwork can make a big difference to your performance. Incorporating some focused drills into your training with appropriate parameters can help you make this shift, and provide a real boost to your court coverage and positioning.

For a lot of recreational squash players, family, work, and social commitments mean it can be difficult to find enough time simply to get on court and play during the week, let alone schedule in additional physical training sessions as well.

Squash is a game based upon prolonged, multi-directional, high paced rallies, so a high level of endurance is a crucial requirement of a squash player’s physical profile. Maximising your endurance will allow you to work harder and recover quicker in your games, giving you a big advantage over your opponent.

Not sure where to start? Check out our SquashSkills ‘6 of the Best’ endurance workouts.

While specificity in your training is a key principle of progression, incorporating some cross-training into your programme can provide some welcome variety to help replenish both body and mind. Swimming is one such modality of cross-training that can actually provide a surprising benefit to squash players.

With the Christmas period fast approaching and many of us across the world preparing to celebrate the festivities, it’s easy for squash to get lost in the shuffle at this time of year. 

To avoid that happening and to make sure you keep an equal balance between Santa and Squash this festive season, check out our top 3 SquashSkills Christmas training tips!

As an amateur player striving for improvement amidst the familiar stresses and strains of work, family, and social life, it’s crucial to learn to properly manage your time. You may not have the luxury of a clear daily schedule to work on all the multiple facets of technique and physical fitness that the professionals may have, but with a bit of foresight and organisation, you can optimise the time that you do have available to really maximise your on-court training. Check out our 5 top tips:

To optimise your game and push yourself to play at the very best level possible, enhancing your physical conditioning is crucial. To fully optimise your training though, you need to move beyond vague assertions of ‘wanting to get fitter’, and start to really zero in on the key physical areas that you need to focus your efforts in.

This week’s new article sees us revisiting our ‘What the Science Says’ feature – a blog series taking a look at squash-related scientific papers and breaking down what the authors found from their research, and detailing the info that players of all levels can take from it to use to help improve their own on-court performance.

Summer is in full swing here in the northern hemisphere, and we’re finally seeing squash courts fully re-opening and getting back to some semblance of normality. With a return to competitive action now firmly on the agenda at all levels of the game, we’re seeing players getting back into their training regimes with renewed motivation and enthusiasm.

Having a good base of physical strength is an important consideration for the squash player, as it provides a foundation for all of the other fitness components that are crucial to the game. Being strong will also help make you more robust, and thus better resistant to injury.

With lockdowns easing in many parts of the world and courts opening back up, thoughts are finally beginning to turn toward a return to squash for a lot of players who have been unable to indulge their favourite pastime over the pandemic period. Based on the hum of chat across our social media, a lot of amateur players are starting to step up their physical training ready to hopefully hit the floor running! But what is the best way to prep yourself for a return to court? As odd as it may sound to be doing it off the court, it’s Ghosting that is the very best way to prepare your body for your on-court comeback.

SquashSkills has teamed up with SquashLevels to devise a brand new testing system that links your test results to your playing level.

‘Fitness’ is comprised of a number of different elements, that all combine together to make up our overall physical profile.

Perhaps one of the biggest differences between most amateurs and professionals in respect to their training, is how much more schedule and structure there is surrounding the whole process with the pros. In contrast to the average club player where things are often taken day by day on a fairly ad hoc basis, elite-level professional players typically plot out their training dates and session plans well ahead of time, and in far more detail.