Squash is played inside a four-walled box, with a small hollow rubber ball, two players and almost no time to think. The ball can come back at more than 150 kilometres per hour, rallies last seconds, and the player who controls the middle of the court controls the match. It is one of the most physically demanding racket sports in the world — and one of the simplest to understand.

How Squash Works

Squash is played by two players in singles, or four in doubles, inside an enclosed court. The players take turns hitting the ball against the front wall. The ball must strike the front wall above the tin — a metal strip 48 centimetres high at the bottom of the wall — and below the out line. After hitting the front wall, the ball may hit the side or back walls, but it must not touch the floor before the opponent returns it.

The standard singles court is 9.75 metres long and 6.4 metres wide, with a front wall 4.57 metres high. The court is marked with service boxes, a short line and the out lines. Players use lightweight rackets and a small hollow rubber ball. Balls are marked with coloured dots for speed and bounce: the double yellow dot ball used by professionals is the slowest and least bouncy, while the blue ball is used by beginners.

Each rally starts with a serve from the service box. The serve must hit the front wall above the service line and land in the opposite back quarter of the court. From there, players alternate shots. Only one bounce is allowed after the ball hits the front wall, and the rally ends when a player fails to make a legal return — usually because the ball bounces twice, hits the tin, or goes out.

The Core Rules

Three rules matter most. First, every shot must reach the front wall above the tin. Second, the ball may bounce only once on the floor before it is returned. Third, players must give each other clear access to the ball.

That third rule produces squash's most distinctive feature: the let and the stroke. If a player is obstructed while trying to reach the ball, they can ask for a let, which replays the rally, or a stroke, which awards them the point if the obstruction stopped a winning return. Referees decide which applies, and the calls are a constant part of professional matches.

The key tactical idea is control of the T — the spot in the middle of the court where the service lines cross. The player who returns to the T after each shot covers the court best, and the player who is dragged away from it is in trouble. Good squash is built on tight length — shots that hug the side wall and die in the back corners — mixed with drop shots, boasts off the side wall, and lobs that buy time.

Scoring

Modern squash uses point-a-rally scoring, known as PARS. Every rally scores a point, whoever served. Games are played to 11 points, and a player must win by two clear points — except at 10–10, when the next point wins the game. Matches are usually best of five games.

PARS replaced the older English scoring system, under which only the server could score. The change made matches shorter and more predictable in length, and easier for spectators to follow.

Formats and Major Competitions

The sport is governed internationally by the World Squash Federation, and the professional game is run by the Professional Squash Association (PSA), whose World Tour visits more than 40 countries. The biggest events on the calendar are the PSA World Championships, the British Open and the Tournament of Champions in New York. Egypt, England, Malaysia and Australia have long been the sport's strongest nations, with Egypt dominating the professional rankings in recent years.

A Brief History

Squash originated in England in the 19th century, growing out of rackets played at schools like Harrow, where boys discovered that a punctured ball squashed against the wall and produced a game of its own. The sport spread through the British Empire and then worldwide, and it is now played in roughly 180 countries.

For more than two decades, squash campaigned for a place at the Olympics. That campaign finally succeeded in October 2023, when the International Olympic Committee approved squash for the Los Angeles 2028 Games. It will make its Olympic debut there, with 16-athlete draws for men's and women's singles, staged at the Comcast Squash Center at Universal Studios, from 15 to 24 July 2028.

How to Follow Squash

The PSA World Tour is the place to start: its matches are streamed, the scoring is simple, and the rallies are short enough that a whole game can turn on three points. Watch for the battle for the T, the lets and strokes, and the drop shot — the softest shot in the sport, and the one that wins the most rallies. And mark the calendar for Los Angeles 2028, when squash finally gets its Olympic debut after a wait of more than two hundred years.