Squash Racket

A sport once dominated by Pakistan

Squash is a sport Pakistan has excelled at. Pakistan dominated the sport for a good part of 50 years, sadly since 1998 no player has excelled like the ones before. A racket based sport, with a boxed-in court and a ball that can be lightning-fast once it has reached a certain temperature. Squash balls have different dots on them, which informs you if one is a faster or slower ball. The racket is the player's main appendage, a racket that fits well and feels right is important to perform well.

Weight and balance of a squash racket

When purchasing a racket it is important to keep in mind the weight, on average the weight can be anywhere from 110g to 190g. A heavier racket works better for beginners as it allows one to generate more power while swinging so the player can focus on control. There is a trade-off with manoeuvrability with the heavier rackets. Light rackets work for more advanced players who can strike the ball with force and still maintain good control. These also do work better for juniors so they don't struggle with the weight of a heavier racket. The lighter rackets are also more expensive and aren't as durable. Medium weight ones are a compromise between power and manoeuvrability. As for balance, some are 'head heavy' and others 'head light'. Similar to what the weight does, the heavier head ones feel heavier in your hand and generate more striking force. Making it easier to deliver powerful strokes. Head light ones make the racket more manoeuvrable. What weight and balance a seasoned player chooses is dependent on what they feel more comfortable with.

Head shape and stringing

Head shape also affects how the racket performs, the newer tear-shaped head provides more power and generally a larger sweet-spot too. This makes it easier to hit the ball better. The closed one or one with a bridge offers more control and a higher quality sweet spot, these are often used by advanced players. Strings on a squash racket give you more room to personalise the feel of your hits. Amore open pattern has more give making the hits more powerful and a denser, more tightly set pattern offers more control cutting off some of the power. It is up to you to decide what trade-off you are okay with. There are two types of the shapes of the strings, the traditional is a parallel/crisscross but you can find a fan-shape on some rackets

Build materials

Squash rackets today are commonly aluminium or graphite-composites. Cheaper rackets are aluminium and are heavier. Also with the downside of more vibration being felt by the player, aluminium being a metal isn't as good at absorbing shock. The other graphite-composite ones are lighter and more manoeuvrable, with the plus side of generating lesser vibration. Titanium and carbon are often used along the graphite-composite base.

Some of the known brands are HEAD, Wilson, Prince and Dunlop. Price points vary depending on brand and material of build.