Author: Dax Nair

  • Squash 2020: Do you really care?

    If you follow squash, you probably have been inundated with articles, blog posts, email campaigns, and tweets espousing the reasons to include squash in the Olympics, in the year 2020. I have done my share, through my posts titled “Squash out! Rugby sevens and kite-surfing in” and  “What do squash, roller sports, karate, sports-climbing, wakeboard,…

  • Five facts about privacy that may catch you unaware!
    Five facts about privacy that may catch you unaware!

    With the proliferation of the internet and the growing number of users of social media, one is often confronted with the question: What about privacy? The adage “What happens on the internet, stays on the internet” is indeed true. Are we comfortable that Google, Facebook, and other such aggregators of information – be it public…

  • Fifteen unique tennis venues around the world!

    A few months ago I wrote a popular blog post titled “Nine spectacular squash venues around the world!” As a follow-up, I decided to do a round-up of unique tennis venues around the world that I compiled into a Slideshare presentation, shown below. As one would expect, no discussion on tennis venues can be complete…

  • A vacation sans Social Media, and discoveries there of…
    A vacation sans Social Media, and discoveries there of…

    Over the holiday season, I decided to take some time off and travel to Asia – Hong Kong, Singapore, and India. The plan was to unplug — no blogs, podcasts, tweets, or Facebook posts — and smell the proverbial roses. I emerged with moderate success and decided to write this blog about a vacation sans…

  • Four things on social media that make me scratch my head…

    If you are a user of Facebook, Twitter, or “LinkedIn”, you probably have come across aspects of it that annoy or intrigue you. Perhaps it is a “friend” who “tags” you in pictures that you did not want posted on the web, or it is a brand that you “liked” filling up your timeline with…

  • Can squash squeak through into the 2020 Olympics?

    What do squash, roller sports, karate, sports-climbing, wakeboard, and wushu have in common? If you guessed Olympics, you would be right! Well, sort of. In reality, none of them is an Olympic sport. These six “sports” along with the newly minted World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) are vying for the one position available for inclusion…

  • Is the future of squash a sub-culture or pro sport?

    I recently came across a blog called The Squashist that talked about some misguided perceptions about squash, as a game on the decline. I believe that for squash to get bigger, it needs to cultivate an audience beyond the hardcore squash fan. We need bigger venues and sponsors with deep pockets. I believe that if we had more…

  • A quick look at fake reviews, purchased followers, and true reach…
    A quick look at fake reviews, purchased followers, and true reach…

    Recently the popular user-review site Yelp.com announced that it had proof that some of the reviews posted on its site were bought. Yelp quickly took steps to publicly identify some of these miscreants by posting warning messages alongside the fake reviews, using a “badge of shame” approach. For three months, Yelp will display an “alert” on…

  • Can Serve-and-Volley Tennis Make a Comeback?

    Last month I wrote a blog post titled Serve-and-volley: Shifting from tennis to squash? One of the comments that I received was from Patrice Boies, a former colleague. Patrice played tennis for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1989-1993, winning the MVP award three times. Patrice continues to remain actively involved in tennis, and…

  • Serve and Volley of the Squash Kind!
    Serve and Volley of the Squash Kind!

    So when was the last time you watched a professional tennis match where the players served and volleyed? No, I am not talking about doubles tennis. It is true that serve and volley as a technique has all but disappeared along with the sliced return of serve. A recent article, written by Kevin Darling for…