The Dayton Squash Center
Address: 3200 W. Tech Road, Miamisburg
Phone: 937-885-9701
Website: www.daytonsquash.com
More: Free beginners programs, 24-hour-a-day access at the pass-key facility
Rules of the game
Scoring
Matches are best of three or five games.
Each game is played to 11 points. The player who scores 11 points first wins unless the score reaches 10-all, the game continues until one player wins by two points.
Either player may score points (PAR — point-a-rally). 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.
Service
The player to serve first is decided by the spin of a racket. Thereafter, the server continues serving until losing a rally, when the opponent becomes the server.
The player who wins the preceding game serves first in the next game.
At the beginning of each game and when the service changes from one player to the other, the server can serve from either service box. After winning a rally the server then continues serving from the alternate box.
To serve, a player stands with at least part of one foot on the floor within the service box. For a service to be good, it is served directly onto the front wall above the service line and below the out line so that on its return, unless volleyed, it reaches the floor within the back quarter of the court opposite to the server’s box.
Good return
A return is good if the ball, before it has bounced twice on the floor, is returned correctly by the striker onto the front wall above the tin and below the out line, without first touching the floor. The ball may hit the side walls and/or the back wall before reaching the front wall.
Rallies
A rally consists of a service and a number of good returns. A player wins a rally if the opponent fails to make a good service or return of the ball or if, before the player has attempted to hit the ball, it touches the opponent (including racket or clothing) when the opponent is the non-striker.
SOURCE: the abbreviated version of the World Singles Squash rules
Bryan Link needed a challenge. He found that challenge on the squash court.
After playing racquetball for 20 years, the Bellbrook resident was ready for a change to his fitness routine.
“After you get to a certain level, there just aren’t as many people to play with,” Link, 46, said.
Making the switch to squash, however, proved to be more challenging than he imagined.
“The points are much longer and there’s a lot of change of direction,” Link said. “It’s not easy, but I love playing.”
Link, who once weighed in at 260 pounds, has lost more than 70 pounds since he started playing squash a few years ago. The benefits of squash, however, go well beyond weight loss as the sport provides a good cardio workout, improves overall strength, balance, reaction time and speed. Forbes Magazine has even ranked squash as the world’s healthiest sport based on physiological benefits, injury risk and calories burned.
If you aren’t sold yet on this whole-body workout, it has benefits for the mind as well as the body.
“People liken it to chess on the court,” said Janet Carlson, the managing squash professional at the Dayton Squash Center in Miamisburg. “There is a lot of skill involved.”
The basics
Squash is a racket sport that can be best compared to racquetball, but, while both are played in enclosed rooms and require agility, speed and coordination, there are some key differences.
One of the biggest differences is the tiny ball. Squash balls are smaller and bounce less than racquetballs, which means players have less time to get to the ball.
“It’s more about being strategic and more about the angles,” Carlson said.
Squash courts are shorter and wider than racquetball courts. And, unlike racquetball, squash players are not permitted to hit off the ceiling. There are also boundary lines along the front and back walls of a squash court.
Squash rackets are longer and narrower than racquetball rackets. 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 the sport might be unfamiliar to many, it doesn’t take long to catch on.
“It’s very beginner friendly, it’s easy to catch onto,” Carlson said. “And it’s a great workout.”
The Dayton Squash Center offers free programs to help beginners get a taste of the sport.
The benefits
Squash is played by all ages and all ability levels all around the world. An estimated 20 million people play in 175 countries.
Players can burn 600-1,000 calories in an hour of play. Constant lunging and frequent change of direction enables players to utilize more muscle and burn more fat.
But while longtime squash player Andrew North, of Centerville, enjoys the physical benefits of the game, it isn’t what has brought the 24-year-old back to the squash court for more than a decade.
“I love the speed and the constant motion,” he said. “And getting better and better and seeing myself improve, that’s what I really enjoy.”
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