Life & Style | Health
Be a racqueteer
Squash is a high-intensity, suitably stylish way to burn some calories as Nitin Nair finds out.
- By Nitin Nair, senior features writer
- Published: 00:08 July 2, 2008
- How difficult can it be to chase a tiny deflated rubber ball around a 32x21 feet wooden court?
- Image Credit:
Squash is a high-intensity, suitably stylish way to burn some calories as Nitin Nair finds out
How difficult can it be to chase a tiny deflated rubber ball around a 32x21 feet wooden court? So when Baber Mohammed Sharif, the squash instructor at Aviation Club, tells me that my next hour is going to be 'busy', I give him a dry smile.
Now, having played most sports as a student, it was unlikely that I had no idea what I was in for, but an hour later I realise why squash is such a 'high impact' sport - at more than 650 calories burned per hour, it is a gruelling workout.
And when Baber calls time on our training session, I don't waste a second stepping off the court. Unlike tennis, where it might sometimes take you a lifetime just to get your service across the net, it is relatively easy for beginners to get started in squash.
The floor of a squash court is marked with a transverse 'half-court' line and further divided into two rear 'quarter courts' and two 'service boxes'.
The T formed by these lines is probably the most important area of the court. The game is fairly simple. Like most racquet games, the game begins with a service and points and a point is earned when either of the players involved in the rally makes a mistake.
Having spent many summers on badminton courts, I have no problems making my way around court to retrieve the ball. Like in badminton, squash is a really fast-paced sport and calls for fast reflexes.
"Always watch the ball," says Baber, a former second division player on the Dubai circuit, as he plays a drop shot, sending me into an almighty lunge forward to front of the court.
It's been just 15 minutes into the session and I am already out of breath. Squash looks a lot easier on television.
I can also understand why the sport can be the preferred DIFC executive workout. Long rallies and constant running provide for an excellent cardio workout. I'm told that the constant lunging and twisting increases flexibility in the back and stomach muscles.
And besides, the game is suitably upmarket - squash was played solely in upper class clubs till the 1950s. Even now, it is confined mostly to members of clubs.
It's a good idea to get sufficiently warmed up before a game.
Apart from avoiding being whacked on the head by your opponent's racquet, pulled groin muscles and knee injuries are common mishaps associated with the sport.
A few games on and I'm getting used to the game, even stealing a few points from my instructor. But this is when things get difficult.
Baber now wants me to play a game, against a girl, a beginner of sorts who hasn't been on a court for two years now.
So when she races to a 5-2 lead, Baber looks at me and grins, "You can't let me down! You can't lose to her." I am playing for pride now. I go on to win the game by a single point, but it is two days later now and I still can't walk without wincing.
The lowdown
WHERE TO GO: Aviation Club, Garhoud, 04-2824122, members only; Al Nasr Leisureland, Oudh Metha Road, 04-3371234, Dhs65 per session for non-members,
Sofitel Gym, Deira 04-2955522; Squash with Nicky Harradine, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dhs180 for a session for non members, 050 4507762.
THE EQUIPMENT: Most leading sports stores sell racquets (cost Dhs100 upwards). Balls cost Dhs7. It is important to wear good footwear, shoes with a wide base and non-marking soles.
HISTORY: The game is thought to have originated in the 19th century at Harrow School, London. The first recorded construction of purpose-built squash courts was at Harrow in the 1860s.
From schools, the game spread to private clubs and to officers in the British armed forces. Squash continued to be a sport for the upper classes till the 1950s when public courts first appeared in the UK and US.
SAFETY: Squash balls can travel sometimes at up to 200kmh or more. So beginners are advised to wear clear polycarbonate lens goggles.
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