I’ve teamed up with England Squash to talk to you about the benefits of playing a game of squash and there’s plenty.

When I was young I played lots of rackets sports, tennis and badminton mainly. When Amy and I got together we developed a love of squash and we played loads of it during our 20’s. Shortly after we started a family, squash along with everything else, took a back seat.

We rekindled our love of playing squash back in 2018, when we joined our local David Lloyd Club. They have three squash courts and loads of tennis courts. We’ve never struggled to book and we also enjoy a cool down in the swimming pool afterwards. Please checkout David Lloyd if you’re after that all-in-one health and fitness club. Squash is a relatively cheap sport to play though. You can hire a court from as little as £5 when you play with a group of friends.

Benefits

Playing a game of squash has loads of benefits! In fact, there’s an argument to say it’s one of the healthiest sports in the world. You could burn off as much as 500 calories in just 30 minutes. That’s more than rowing, swimming and running. I didn’t think I’d have much time to play squash with having a family but it’s a really quick workout.

A game of squash can see you running, diving and leaping for the ball. Squash balls come in a variety of different dots. The best balls for beginners have a single blue dot as these balls have the most bounce. They are also slightly larger than other balls. After that the balls become progressively less bouncy in this order: red, orange, green, white, yellow and double yellow. If you are unfamiliar with the rules of squash, here they are.

Squash will definitely increase your strength and fitness. It will also help you maintain a healthy weight, as well as build excellent hand eye coordination. According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, people who play racket sports are 53% less likely to experience cardiovascular disease.

As it’s an indoor sport, you can play it whatever the weather and it’s reasonably priced. Amy and I love to play squash, it’s a good stress reliever and we really find that time passes quickly.

I’d say my squash ability is ‘not too bad.’ When Amy and I play, it’s important we try and get some good rallies going. We recently played a couple of games and clocked well over 3,000 steps. When I’ve played against friends, I’ve usually done pretty well. I sometimes feel discomfort in my knees when working out so when I’m playing squash, I always make sure I’m keeping that in mind.

I recently had the pleasure of some private squash coaching with Kevin Forster. I really enjoyed it! Kevin gave me some really great advice and he said he could tell I used to play tennis. Kevin was playing some great shots and was making it all look annoyingly easy, haha! I’ve already started putting some of the advice into practice. Thanks Kevin and also to Tracey, Mandy and Chris. I lost 14-15 to Chris, not too bad I thought! I was feeling it for the next couple of days though.

Membership

The England Squash Player Membership has some great benefits and services. Whether you’re a squash player who regularly competes in competitions and events, a social player or a fan wanting to keep up-to-date with the latest squash news offers and competitions. Benefits include:

• Access to raise your game video content
• Eligibility to participate in all competitions and events
• Early access to tickets for games
• England Squash magazine
• Discounts on a whole range of equipment

Please let me know if you play squash, used to play squash or have never played? I hope you found this post interesting and good luck with 2020.

* Disclaimer: This was a collaborative post with England Squash. All words and opinions are my own.