Is Tennis More About Shots, While Squash is About Strategy?

Feb 14, 2015

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“What are the three shots that a good player must perfect?” I asked the question to some of my squash buddies.

Most of them paused to think.

The top three answers that I got were: length, serve, and return of serve. The answers got me thinking – Squash is about strategy!

Tennis is more about the repertoire of shots that you have.

So, I asked the same question to my tennis buddies.

Without hesitation, they rattled off the first two – serve, and return of serve. The third one I got was the return of the-return-of serve, or, the third shot.

If you are saying to yourself “The third shot?” check out this video of some of Novak Djokovic’s service returns that leave his opponents stranded.

Tennis service return winners

It’s a fact that most club-level tennis players have a weak second serve. If you don’t have a good third shot, you may be in trouble.

Hitting length in squash is more than a shot, it’s a strategy. Keeping the ball close to the wall while hitting a rail shot is another strategy.

The serve and return of serve are important but less so than in tennis. The concepts of aces, second serves, and double-faults are unique to tennis. So is the advantage or the disadvantage that you gain from a good serve or the lack thereof.

I would argue that in squash, the return of serve is more important than the serve itself.

Let’s take a quick look at some basic shots of squash and compare them with those of tennis. Some shots in tennis are definitive and can end in a point, unlike the equivalent in squash.

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In the graphic shown here, you can see that there are at least two shots in tennis that can definitely end a rally. The only squash shot that can definitely end a rally and earn a point for the player is the nick. At the club level, not a lot of players can hit a nick at will and close out the point.

This definitely makes squash harder for players to get good at. Because squash is about strategy and it takes a while before players get it.

For a club-level squash player, there is no rally-ending shot that you can practice by yourself. If anything, you practice keeping the ball alive. On the other hand, a tennis player can practice hitting the corners with a big serve.

Lobs that get you out of tight drops, defensive boasts that let you dig the ball out from the back corners of the court, and getting back to the T are all part of the squash strategy.

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If you are hoping to win at squash with a big serve, return of serve, or volley, you are playing the wrong game.

This does not imply that there is no strategy in tennis.

Serve and volley is a strategy; attacking the backhand is another strategy. So is “chip and charge,” when you get your opponent deep in the backhand corner.

However, there is a reason that tennis statistics are maintained for points won on serve, the percentage of first serves in, and double-faults. Serve is the biggest shot in tennis and even club players get the odd ace in a match.

There is no equivalent in squash. You have to win through hard work.

And, strategy!

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Dax Nair

Ex-Techie | Racquet Sports & Travel Blogger | Real-World Experiences

Comments

6 responses to “Is Tennis More About Shots, While Squash is About Strategy?”

Benny

February 19, 2015

Squash players are some of the fittest athletes in the world. No dispute. Tennis doesn’t even come close to the often-times 30, 40, 50-shot rallies in high-level squash just to get ONE point, and sometimes ends in a let. Tennis is usually 2 or 3 rallies, sometimes a bit more, often one shot off the serve. No comparison as to which athletes are fitter.
Tennis is somewhat fun to watch and the drama of the modern game with Federer et al make for good headlines, but that’s about it for me…
As to which is harder to learn, I’ve never played tennis for real but it does seem like a tough ball to hit well…

Reply
1. Dax Nair
  
  February 19, 2015
  
  With more and more players playing from the base line, tennis rallies can get pretty long. Check this one out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilEUm8lANkY
  
  Reply
Alex Wan

February 16, 2015

Hi Dax. Referring to your table, one very wrong information there is that the “nick” is not a shot in squash. A nick is when ANY shot lands in the “gap” between the floor and any wall. So theoretically, ANY shot can be rally ending if they land in the nick.
So the point on there is only one squash shot that is rally ending compared to more in tennis does not hold.

Reply
1. Dax Nair
  
  February 16, 2015
  
  Alex, Thanks for checking out the blog!
  
  With respect to nicks, you and I may not be able to hit it at will, but good players can and do. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4bFHGv-7IM
  
  Reply
Sasha Cooke

February 16, 2015

“This makes squash harder to get good at.”
I’ve given thousands of tennis lessons and even more squash lessons and I can assure you that EVERY basic shot in tennis is more difficult to learn than ANY basic shot in squash. I’ve had many students who could do advanced drills like boast-drop- rail the first day (obviously not with great accuracy) but never seen anyone who could sustain a rally from the baseline the first day. I’ve seen many people take up squash in adulthood or the late teenage years and become very competent players who use the whole court and a full array of shots. I have never seen one person do this with tennis.
It’s more than a bit odd to describe the goal of hitting rails tight as a “strategy”, or getting back to the T as a “strategy” and on top of that to imply that there aren’t equivalents in tennis. Really the only thing in your article that I can agree with is that there are more rally-ending shots in tennis, which is of course a function of the open un-walled court.
Don’t get me wrong- I love squash, and particularly the physical battle of many consecutive long rallies, which you seldom get in tennis except at quite a high level on clay. Undeniably until you get to the world class level squash is a more gruelling game. Nonetheless, to argue that it is “harder” because of the the challenge of acquiring “strategy” is simply absurd.

Reply
1. Dax Nair
  
  February 16, 2015
  
  Sasha, Thanks for your insights!
  
  I agree with most of what you say. Tennis definitely is a harder sport to learn. I wrote about it here:
  
  https://racquetsocial.com/squash-or-tennis-which-one-is-the-harder-sport/
  
  When I wrote “this makes squash harder to get good at” what I meant to say was that good/hard shots alone won’t make you a good squash player; you need to understand the strategy behind the game…
  
  Of course, we can always agree to disagree. 🙂
  
  Reply