Richard King - squash coach

The Squash Swing

The technique of the squash swing is very simple...

Step 1: Stand with legs and shoulders parallel with your feet shoulder width apart. Do not use your racket.
Step 2: Relax your arm and swing it parallel to your feet and shoulders.
Step 3: On your backhand, your hand should come to rest on your shoulder. On your forehand, your arm should bend upwards.
Step 4: Get used to the swing as the forehand is simply the reverse of the backhand. Repeat 10,000 times to get into muscle memory!
Step 5: Pick up racket and do exactly the same as steps 1-4. Keep your wrist still.

This swing is very long and will not place any strain on forearms or shoulders and so injury should be avoided. Any forearm or shoulder strains have probably resulted from poor technique.

Below I show the sequence of the correct swing, the absence of racket is simply help focus on the key elements of what's going on. The pictures work for both forehand (L to R) and back hand (R to L) as it is essentially the same stroke. The key to easy swing is the wrist. Note how in each part of the swing the wrist is in the same position.

The benefits of the below stroke are three fold -

1.	Less chance of arm strains or cumulative injury in the arm.
2.	The wrist stays in the same position through the shot, so consistency is greatly increased.
3.	More power in the shot. The longer swing accelerating through the ball will generate a crisper, more powerful shot.