The Dayton Squash Center
Address: 3200 West Tech Road, Miamisburg, just off Springboro Pike
Phone: (937) 885-9701
Website: www.daytonsquash.com
Upcoming: Midwestern Junior Squash Championships, Feb. 24-26
Squash 101: The Game
(From the World Squash Federation)
The game of singles squash is played between two players, each using a racket, a ball and played in a court, all three of which must meet WSF specifications.
Point-a-Rally scoring to 11 points is the official scoring system for all levels of competitive squash since April 1, 2009.
Scoring
Either player may score points. The server, on winning a rally, scores a point and retains the service; the receiver, on winning a rally, scores a point and becomes the server.
A match is the best of 3 or 5 games at the option of the organizers of the competition.
Each game is played to 11 points. The player who scores 11 points first wins the game with one exception. If the score reaches 10-all, the game continues until one player leads by two points.
Each time the score reaches 10-all, the Marker announces “10-all: a player must win by 2 points.”
The Marker calls “Game ball” to indicate that the player who is leading requires 1 point to win the game in progress, or “Match ball” to indicate that the player who is leading requires 1 point to win the match. This includes the situations where it is the receiver who requires 1 point to win the game or match (e.g. “10-6, game (or match) ball” followed by “hand out, 7-10, game (or match) ball.”
Janet Carlson was a bit perplexed when her son approached her about joining his middle school squash team.
“I had no idea what squash was — no clue,” the Springboro mother of three said. “But once he started playing and I watched enough of it to understand the game, I wanted to play myself.”
She connected with a group of women and played casually for a while.
“When we started, we probably did more talking than playing,” Carlson said with a smile.
But the Springboro woman is now all-in as Carlson is an avid player and recently became a certified coach. She plays and works at the Dayton Squash Center in Miamisburg. The whole family now plays squash, her daughter competes on the University of Minnesota club team.
“Squash is like an unknown jewel,” she said. “It’s fun and it’s great exercise.”
Squash is nothing new as the first court was built in England in 1864. There are now around 50,000 courts in more than 185 countries worldwide.
Participation continues to grow as the Pro Squash Tour reports that more than 20 million people play worldwide, close to a million in the United States.
“When I started in this sport, I got a lot of ‘what is that?’ when I mentioned squash,” said Charlie Johnson, a managing squash professional at the Dayton Squash Center. “But it is really growing in popularity, especially among junior players.”
The basics
Squash is a racket sport that can be best compared to racquetball but with several key differences.
Both games are played indoors in closed rooms and require agility, coordination and quickness. Players win points by hitting a shot or serve that their opponent cannot return before the ball bounces twice.
But in squash, both the ball and court are smaller. Because squash balls bounce less than racquetballs, play tends to be faster in squash. Players also use longer, narrower rackets.
Differences in play include the fact that, unlike racquetball, you cannot hit the ceiling in squash.
Squash players only get one serve and must hit the ball from the air while racquetball players get two serves and hit the ball after bouncing it on the floor.
While many players walk into the squash center with little knowledge about the sport, it doesn’t take long to catch on.
“Between five or six sessions of practice and you’ll know the game,” Johnson said. “And you don’t have to be a super athlete to play.”
The benefits
“I tell people this is the best 45-minute workout in sports,” Johnson said. “You can burn twice as many calories, in the same amount of time, as you can on an elliptical.”
Forbes Magazine rated squash as the No. 1 sport in the world for getting and staying fit, better than rowing, running and swimming.
The physical benefits of playing squash include increased cardiovascular health, endurance and muscle strength.
“It’s an interesting workout with aerobic and anaerobic components,” Johnson said.
The pace and challenge of the sport hooked Carlson from the start.
“I don’t like to run and I find lifting weights boring,” she said. “For me, this is a perfect workout.”
The players
Much of the growth of squash in the United States in recent years has been in the junior ranks. More than 10,000 junior players competed in sanctioned events last year in this country. Some of the best junior players in the region will descend on the Miami Valley Feb. 24-26 for the Midwestern Junior Squash Championships.
Four area middle schools field teams at the Dayton Squash Center: Tower Heights and Watts in Centerville, the Miami Valley School and Springboro. Squash is currently a varsity high school sport at Miami Valley and a club sport at Springboro High School.
More than 200 colleges and universities have courts and, according to the PST, the number of schools offering programs is expected to increase by 15 percent during the next three years.
While organized youth and collegiate programs are seeing significant growth, the sport is one that appeals to all ages. Carlson didn’t start playing until she was 43 and Johnson is now 51.
“We have people in here playing who are in the 60s and 70s,” Johnson said.
Players can play any time — day or night at the squash center, which is a pass-key facility. Courts are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The club also offers spinning and pilates classes.
“We really do have something for everybody,” Johnson said.
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