SQUASH ACTIVITIES

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BASIC RULES, SCORING AND COURT DIMENSIONS

DRILL # 1 - COURT DIMENSIONS RELAY

The instructor will give a brief overviw of the names and locations of the court dimensions (approx. 1 - 2 min talk)

• Students will line up in teams of 4
• There will be a bucket with cards that have the names of the various court lines, and dimensions in it (ex: service line, service box, forehand side wall etc.)
• The idea will be to get to the location of the court dimension and place the appropriate card there
• This will continue untill all cards are placed correctly
• Teammates can help each other out by shouting hints
• Students must travel to that location using a different form of locomotion (ex: crabwalk, hopping on one leg etc.)

The instructor will give a brief talk about the rules, safety and scoring of the game (approx. 3 - 4 minutes)

• Students will complete a mini quiz on the rules of the game and must have 75% of the questions right to move on to the free ralley
• The quiz will be on the basic rules and safety concerns of squash
• The free ralley will be an opportunity for students to discover by themselves how to hit the ball and move around the court
• Encourage the students to help each other out and provide feedback
• The teacher may also go around and provide some feedback

DRILL # 1 - RUN AND RECOVER - PAIRS

• Using a ball of the partners choice
• Partners will rally in a a squash court throwing a ball against the front wall or a combination of the front wall and other walls
• The object of this drill/game is to catch the ball before it has bounced twice and throw it against the wall for your partner to return it
• Before returning the ball by catching and throwing it the player must return to the middle of the court and touch down on a spot (ex: cone) for the return to count
• If a player is unable to do any of the following he/she will recieve a point
• The object of the game is not to get points
• The game will continue to 5 points then start again

• This game can be played as doubles if there is less available space

• Students will line up in a line of approximately 5 - 6 students
• This drill is one continious cycle
• This drill is much the same as the above one however you will remain in the game as long as you can get to the ball being thrown before or after it bounces once
• The line is a stream of players who go one after another
• The point of the drill is to toss the ball to difficult places and have your opponents try to move to that space
• The rule is that the ball must always hit the front wall though
• If the ball bounces twice and you are unable to return it you are eliminated
• Eliminated players will start a new game
• The ball  must be hit in the boundariy lines of the wall

• Make rules like the ball can only be tossed underhand

DRILL # 1 - FOREHAND PRACTICE DRILL - INDIVIDUAL

• Stand near front of the court and use the forehand shot to backhand side wall, to frontwall, and then to forehand side wall to the centre of the court.
• This drill is one continious cycle and should try to be completed as many times as possible (ex: 10 - 15)
• This drill is good for ball control and wrist development
• Ball should be volleyed hard to it travels back to where the person originally hit it
• This drill can be done alone

DRILL # 2 - FOREHAND PRACTICE - PAIRS

• Have students divide into pairs, and each pair may use a squash court
• If space is limited, 4 people may use a court
• This drill is simple and is merely a rally back and forth between partners using the forehand shot
• Use the front wall as you would in a game

• To 5 points
• Using all rules taught to this point
• Can play doubles or singles

DRILL # 1 - BACKHAND PRACTICE DRILL - INDIVIDUAL

• This drill is done the same as the forehand practice drill however the ball is hit with a backhand shot rather than forehand
• The player will also hit the ball the opposite direction so the racquet is facing closest to the front wall
• This drill is good for ball control and wrist development

• Have students divide into pairs, and each pair may use a squash court
• If space is limited, 4 people may use a court
• This drill is simple and is merely a rally back and forth between partners using the backhand shot
• Use the front wall as you wold in a game

• To 5 points
• Using all rules taught to this point
• Can play doubles or singles

DRILL # 1 - PRACTICE OF SERVES FOR ACCURACY

• Students will get  racquet and a ball and a partner
• Students will execute and practice the types of serves taught in class
• This drill is merely practicing the following serves: Overhand, Forehand, Backhand, and Lob

• Students will get in a group of 2
• Students will execute and practice the types of serves taught in class
• This drill is simply a 3 shot ralley, that starts with a serve, has the opponent returning that serve, and then as a final shot the person who served will return the second shot
• The premise of this drill is for students to not only practice but also react to a small ralley
• Each person in a pair will complete 20 serves (or a requiered number of each serve)

DRILL # 1 - DRIVE CLEAR RALLEY

• Students will get in a group of two
• Students will start in the centre of the court and with their forehand or backhand shot try to force thier opponent over to either of the sides of the court
• This ralley is meant to be kept up as long as the partners are achieving these clear shots
• The ralley will eventually spread opponents to either side of the court where they will be hitting from the left and the right respectively
• Change side so opponents get equal practice of both forehand and backhand shots

If this drill is difficult have students start closer to the wall or hit the ball with less force

• Students will get in a group of two
• Students will execute and practice the the alley shot
• This drill is simply a  ralley back and forth that will be very narrow in nature and be confined to one side of the court
• The premise of this drill is for students to hit the ball low and as close to the side wall as possible
• The shots will practically come back to where they were originally hit
• An added feature of this drill is that opponents need to give each other fair view of the ball and in fact will have to cycle or move out of the way so the ralley can continue

• If this drill is difficult have students start closer to the wall or hit the ball with less force

• To 5 points
• Using all rules taught to this point

Can play doubles or singles

DRILL # 1 - VOLLEY AND HALF VOLLEY PRACTICE - BY SELF

• Students will get practice by themselves inititially
• Students will start in the centre of the court and with their forehand or backhand shot try to hit it with enought force to have it return to them in the air
• This single ralley is to try to keep the ball in the air and not have it bounce against the floor
• It might be necessary for students to start closer to the wall adn move back as they get better
• Once students are able to vlley underhand, get them to try to encorpirat over hand shots in this drill as well, and half volley so as the ball bounces on the floor almost right before it is hit

• Same as above  (Volley and half volley practice singles) but with partners

• Get students to initially practice by themselvees by hitting the ball to themselves and experimenting with the pace of the ball and hitting it higher and with less pace for a lob
• Have students divide into pairs, and each pair may use a squash court
• If space is limited, 4 people may use a court
• This drill is simple and is merely a rally back and forth between partners using the forehand or backhand shot
• Use the front wall as you would in a game
• Every second shot by a player must be a lob with is a high slow moving shot to the back court

• Get students to initially practice by themselvees by hitting the ball to themselves and experimenting with the pace of the ball and hitting it lighter for a drop shot
• Have students divide into pairs, and each pair may use a squash court
• If space is limited, 4 people may use a court
• This drill is simple and is merely a rally back and forth between partners using the forehand shot and backhand
• Use the front wall as you would in a game
• Every second shot by a player must be an attempted drop shot

• To 5 points
• Using all rules taught to this point

Can play doubles or singles

USING WALLS & CORNERS ON SHOTS (BOAST, BOW, ANGLE &CORNER SHOTS)

DRILL # 1 - BOAST AND RETURN

• Students will get in a group of 2
• Students will execute and practice the boast while their partner tries to return the shot
• This drill is simply one shot followed by a return shot
• The students will try to hit the off either the side walls closest to them having the ball rebound and travel to the front wall nearer to the corner
• The partner will try to return then retrieve such a shot
• Each person will complete 10 - 15 boast shots

• Students will get in a group of 2
• Students will execute and practice the bow shot while their partner tries to return the shot
• This drill is simply one shot followed by a return shot
• The students will hit the ball off the wall closest to them have it rebound travel to the opposite side wall, rebound close to the front wall then rebound off the front wall
• The partner will try to return then retrieve such a shot
• Each person will complete 10 - 15 bow shots

• Students will get in a group of 2
• Students will execute and practice a number of different angle or corner shots
• This drill simply is one shot followed by a return shot
• The students will hit the ball off the walls and corners and experiment on the difficulty it presents their opponents
• The partner will try to return then retrieve such a shot
• Each person will complete 10 - 15 shots using angles and corners

DRILL # 1 - MIRROR SHOT DRILL (EX: DONKEY)

• Have students divide into pairs, and each pair may use a squash court
• If space is limited, 4 people may use a court
• This drill is simple and is merely a rally back and forth between partners using a variety of shots
• The partner leading must execute a shot and the partner must mirror it, if this is unable to be done the person who was unable to deliver the shot will get a leter (ex: D in donkey)

• Have students divide into groups of three, and each group may use a squash court
• This drill is simple have the one person chase and survive the ralley for as long as possible
• As an added incentive you can assign points, and the one player will receive two points whenever he or she scores
• This drill will make all people run and use the space on the court while incorpirating a variety of shots

TOURNAMENT AND OTHER CULMINATING GAME & ACTIVITY

ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENT
 

• A class of 30 to be divided into 5 groups of 6 people each
• The top 2 players from each group of robin play will advance to Championship Pool A
• The middle 2 players from each group of round robin play will advance to Championship Pool B
• The bottom 2 players from each group of round robin play will advance to Championship Pool C

• Each group of round robin play will play between 3 to 5 times depending on time
• 3 points will be awarded for a win, 2 for a tie, and 1 for a loss
• Games will be timed or play to a fixed score (ex: 7 points) to cut down on time

The Round Robin Tourney Schedule will look like this:

ROUND ROBIN POOL YELLOW - EXAMPLE HAVE 6 POOLS LIKE THIS FOR ROUND ROBIN PLAY

According to teh above Round Robin Play, Sherri and Mike would advance to Championship Round A, Dave and Sean would advance to Championship Pool B, and Erin and Phil would advance to Championship Pool C.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS WOULD BE LAYED OUT AND ORGANIZED LIKE THIS:

The seeding of the players would be drawn out of a hat as they finish their Round Robin Play so no player clearly has an advantage or disadvantage in being matched up.

POOL A

The losers of the games 7 and 8 would them play for 3rd and 4th place
And the other 6 players can reinter a smaller pool to play for 5th - 10th place