Squash Etiquette 101

101 THINGS NOT TO DO IN THE GAME OF SQUASH (posted: 26-Oct-2006)

The Guide to Squash Etiquette

by

Sean Sunderland

© 2006

INTRO:  I have been a victim of or seen someone else be the victim of the following etiquette violations.  I am not “holier than thou” because I’ve been guilty of several of these myself.  All of these 101 hinge on self-respect, respecting your opponent, honesty, and safety.  In many cases, the etiquette violations you see on the squash court reflect the perpetrator’s character at home or at work, too.  So, Be Good!

101 Things Not to do in The Game of Squash…

1)            Arrive late to your match

2)            Fail to arrive to your match without informing your opponent well in advance

3)            Leave the court without thanking your opponent

4)            Fail to shake hands before and after the match

5)            Say “lucky shot”

6)            Decline to offer lets or strokes when you obstruct play

7)            Challenge your opponents’ retrievals or “gets”

8)            Make excuses for losing or missing shots

9)            Complain about your host’s squash courts, lights, locker room, court dimensions, cracks, walls, temperature, floors, ceiling, humidity, or etc.

10)        Pump your fist after a rally, game or match

11)        Cheer when a player hits a tin

12)        Shout in the court or within earshot of players in a court

13)        Wear street shoes on a squash court or wear squash shoes outside

14)        Intentionally hit your racquet on the wall or floor

15)        Consistently arrive to your match without a squash ball or with an old ball

16)        Coach a player during or between points

17)        Question a referee’s calls during a game

18)        Try to converse with a referee while he or she is refereeing a game

19)        Neglect to call your own double bounces, out-of-court shots, and carries

20)        Intentionally add to your points or deduct from your opponent’s points when calling the score

21)        Expect a let or stroke without requesting a let

22)        Hit a bad shot, then ask for a let

23)        Stall excessively between points and between games

24)        Wipe your hands on the walls of the court

25)        Sign up for a league or ladder and fail to play a majority of your matches

26)        Slam the door to the squash court

27)        Negotiate calls and rulings with the referee and your opponent

28)        Hit more than 50% of the warm-up shots to your side of the court

29)        Repeatedly fail to clear

30)        Fail to clear without offering a stroke to your opponent

31)        Coach players when you are the referee or a tournament official

32)        Throw your racquet

33)        Play only with players who are better than you

34)        Neglect to offer to over-rule a referee when you know that the referee has erroneously ruled in your favor

35)        Wear dirty or stinky clothes on court

36)        Play with a contagious illness

37)        Grunt loudly for every difficult shot

38)        Give unsolicited advice

39)        Refuse to accommodate reasonable match re-schedule requests

40)        Push off of an opponent to reach a shot

41)        Fish for lets by calling lets when you’re out of range or unprepared

42)        Ask your opponent for a stroke

43)        Threaten to hit your opponent with the ball to prove a referee wrong

44)        Refuse to lend a racquet to a player who needs one

45)        Hit your opponent with the ball to show her that she’s blocking

46)        Decline to vacate a court when a player who has reserved that court waits

47)        Employ an excessive swing, and neglect to attempt to reduce it

48)        Bring badly behaved children (or adults) to an important match

49)        Stop to discuss every point at its end

50)        Repeatedly solicit advice, but fail to follow it

51)        Brag

52)        Curse loudly on court

53)        Habitually foot-fault

54)        Complain about tournament favors, shirts, food or prizes

55)        Criticize a squash association without attempting to make a meaningful contribution to it

56)        Fail to referee the tournament match which follows a match you won, unless you find an acceptable substitute referee or have been dismissed by the director

57)        Decline to seek a replacement referee when you reasonably know that the match or players you are to referee are beyond your referee capabilities

58)        Neglect to encourage a new player or a junior player

59)        Stomp your feet when your opponent is preparing to play a shot in front of you

60)        Wring the sweat out of your headbands or grips onto the floor

61)        Transfer your sweat onto the ball to change its movement

62)        Purport to arrive to your match on time, then excessively delay entering the court to prepare the racquet, adjust clothing/eyewear, or stretch

63)        Play a hard match smelling strongly of smoke, alcohol, perfume or cologne

64)        Use a cell phone between games or interrupt play to answer a cell phone

65)        Decline challenging matches to avoid the risk of losing

66)        Record/videotape a game without your opponent’s knowledge or consent

67)        Treat club staff members disrespectfully

68)        Leave lights on or turn lights off if either violates club practice

69)        Await your opponent or a spectator to fetch a ball that you hit out of court

70)        Fail to offer to replace or restring a racquet that you borrowed and damaged

71)        Publicly criticize the technique of a player who consistently beats you

72)        Eat or drink on the court

73)        Double-book opponents for a match without obtaining approval from both

74)        Hit the ball hard in the court after a point concludes

75)        Fake a swing during a rally

76)        Beg to play “just one more game” with a player who is obviously done

77)        Insist on a disputed stroke or no-let without compromising with a let

78)        Persist in a fruitless debate about a let ruling, long after the point, game or match

79)        Fail to post ladder, league or tournament results in a timely fashion

80)        Leave towels, old grips, food wrappers or other refuse outside the court

81)        Decline to wear safety glasses, yet complain when an opponent cleans or adjusts hers

82)        Argue playing without safety glasses in the presence of a minor

83)        Doubt your opponent’s integrity by asking:  “Did you get that?”

84)        Shout “TURNING”

85)        Swing at a ball after you turn in the back court

86)        Promise “I’ll play better next time” every time you lose, then repeatedly fail to play better

87)        Use your station as a squash official to displace spectators to improve your own viewing position at a match

88)        Intentionally arrange match locations to impose guest fees on your opponent

89)        Spit in or around the court or in or around drinking fountains

90)        Face the rear to gesture to spectators during a match while your opponent is on court

91)        Persistently ask how a player fared against another named player

92)        Put your bags, racquets or towels on chairs or benches when seating is limited

93)        Place your bags, racquets or dark towels outside the court near the bottom of a glass back wall where they can obscure players’ sight of the ball

94)        Idly watch your guest clean your court’s floor or walls to make the court playable

95)        Handle food or drink when watching from a viewing area directly above the court

96)        Bounce the ball excessively as a serving ritual

97)        Ask a professional to play without offering to pay

98)        Perpetually whine about your lack of improvement, but fail to take lessons and train harder

99)        Blame a loss on your age

100)    Sign up for a tournament division below your skill level (aka “sandbag”)

101)    Coach or parent a juvenile (aka “junior”) without correcting them when they behave as enumerated above

ADD 10 OF YOUR OWN THAT MISSED MY LIST: