I’m just going to cut right to the chase, no hiding the answer somewhere right in the middle of the article.. the surprisingly fast way to get considerably better at squash is… to WATCH GOOD SQUASH!

Yep! That simple.

Whatever level you are playing at, whether you’re a junior player who’s just getting rallies going and working on a better serve and serve return. Or an intermediate player regularly having rallies at the back of the court and off the back wall. All the way up to seasoned top county and team squash players, playing maybe 3 or 4 times a week.

Watching more squash could just lead to one of the biggest accelerated leaps in your performance.

The British Open

I was lucky enough to have tickets to watch both finals of the British Open, possibly the most prestigious event on the PSA tour, in the stunning theatre venue of ‘The Rep’ in Birmingham’s city centre last Sunday.

The ladies final: Nouran Gohar (World number 1) vs Nour ElSherbini (World number 2)

The mens final: Mostafa Asal (World number 1) vs Diego Elias (World number 2)

The experience was truly quite special.

In both finals the audience (and you at home too if you were watching on SquashTV) were treated to the current world number 1, battling against the current world number 2! Incredible really.

The skill level of the ladies final was absolutely out of this world, and the physicality displayed by both Asal and Elias was absolutely astonishing.

How does watching professional squash help our game?

There are so many things you can take from watching the pro’s play squash. If you pay attention, there is an incredible list of things that can be observed once the players step on court (having already completed an extensive warm up):

The knock up
Footwork around the T
Movement patterns and efficiency
Different body positions and dominant feet in the back corners
T-position dominance
Recovery to T after every single shot
Smart shot choices that are varied
Use of deception
Precision and quality of accurate hitting
Agility and explosive power
Players adapting their tactics in real time
Mental toughness - seeing how the players deal with controversy
Soft touch at the front of the court
Anticipation and reading the game

How can I get access to watch professional squash?

Go to watch professional squash live and in-person.

Upcoming events and tickets are available throughout the whole year via the PSA website: https://www.psasquashtour.com

2. The very next best option is watching pro squash in the comfort of your own home. There are a couple of options here:

A- Youtube (free) offers a vast library of previous professional squash games, whole matches and small clips to learn from. My personal favourite is the 2019 British Open Final when Mohamed ElShorbagy played Ali Farag:

Full link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsPwXtkymDA

B- SquashTV (monthly subscription) is the best place to watch live squash matches, catch up on what you’ve missed and keep up to date with the latest squash tournaments on the pro tour.

What about watching squash that isn’t professional squash?

Going down to your local squash club and watching league matches, team squash matches or local events such as club championship matches or visiting exhibition matches is probably going to be your best bet for watching live good quality squash.

The squash you are watching doesn’t have to be professional in order for you take take something away from it. Often it’s a great social event, going to watch a team squash match, enjoying the theatre of the event, commenting on whether the marker made the right call giving a ‘no let’ instead of a ‘stroke’, meeting new people at your club and leaving with something to think about adding into your own game.

Final Thoughts

Aspiring players can learn a lot about how to structure rallies, move more efficiently, and make smarter decisions from watching professional squash, or squash that is at a higher level than they are currently playing!

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The surprisingly fast way to get better at squash…