Racket sports
Squash
Squash is a high-intensity enclosed-court sport in which both players share the same floor space. Shot quality, recovery to the central T, and safe movement around an opponent are central to success.
At a glance
- Ball dot colors indicate pace and bounce.
- The source presents both point-a-rally and older hand-in scoring.
- Interference decisions use lets and strokes.
Player profile. Requires exceptional repeat-sprint fitness, leg strength, balance, spatial awareness, and disciplined racket preparation. A competitor repeatedly accelerates from the central T, lowers into a lunge, and recovers before the next rebound. Ball choice also matters: slower dot grades demand more warming and punish imprecise length.
Where it happens
A singles court is approximately 9.75 m long by 6.4 m wide, enclosed by four walls with front-wall out, service, and tin markings. The tin, service line, and out line make different heights of the front wall meaningful, while the side and back walls remain available for rebounds. The small shared floor turns route selection into part of every shot.
- A singles court is approximately 9.75 m long by 6.4 m wide, enclosed by four walls with front-wall out, service, and tin markings. The tin, service line, and out line make different heights of the front wall meaningful, while the side and back walls remain available for rebounds. The small shared floor turns route selection into part of every shot.
What you need
- squash racket
- rubber ball selected by pace
- eye protection where required
- nonmarking shoes
How to play
- Serve from a service box to the opposite rear quarter.
- Alternate shots that hit the front wall above the tin and below the out line.
- Allow at most one floor bounce before return.
- Win rallies and games under the selected scoring system.
The essential rules
- The serve must strike the front wall above the service line.
- A legal serve lands in the opposite back quarter unless volleyed.
- After service, the ball may contact side or back walls.
- Every return must reach the front wall above the tin and below the out line.
- The ball may bounce once, not twice.
- Players must clear a direct path to the ball and front wall.
- A let replays a point after unavoidable interference.
- A stroke awards the point for preventable or dangerous obstruction.
- PAR games normally go to 11 with a two-point margin.
- Dangerous swings must be avoided.
How the result is decided
Modern point-a-rally scoring normally uses games to 11 by two; the source also explains the older server-only system. Point-a-rally play makes each error visible on the scoreboard, unlike the older system in which only the server advanced. Lets replay unavoidable interference; a stroke instead compensates a player who was denied a clear, safe opportunity.
Fouls and penalties
- ball into tin
- ball above out line
- second bounce
- illegal serve
- failure to clear
- dangerous play
Techniques
- straight drive
- crosscourt
- drop
- boast
- volley
- lob
- kill shot
Tactics
- recover to the T
- keep the ball tight to side walls
- change length and pace
- move the opponent front to back
- use a boast to change angle
Disciplines and variants
- singles
- doubles
- hardball doubles
Competition landscape
- PSA World Championships
- British Open
- Commonwealth Games squash
Records in the reference
No stable record table is published here. Records change; use the current governing-body source before acting.
How the sport developed
Squash emerged from nineteenth-century British school racket games and developed its own enclosed court and softer ball. The game emerged when British school players discovered that a softer ball could be driven into walls and still remain playable. Dedicated enclosed courts then differentiated it from the older, larger game of rackets.
- A competition ball may warm and become livelier during play.
Play it in India
A dated public source documents an Indian federation, programme or centre for this sport. Current local intake, price and availability still require confirmation.
- Squash is the current organisation reference and is matched to a dated MYAS recognition source. This does not establish local intake, price, schedule or availability.
- Included as an additional sport for the Los Angeles 2028 edition; this does not make it a permanent core-programme sport.
- Organisation reference
- Squash
- Recognition state
- MYAS recognition list matched
- SAI NCOE discipline rows
- No matching centre row found
- Khelo India discipline
- Not established
- Olympic programme
- Not a current core-programme sport
- India Olympic medals
- No sport-level total in current sources
Evidence and currency
This is an original KhelPath explainer assembled from editorial research. It is orientation, not an authoritative rulebook.
World Squash rules ↗ · observed 2026-08-28