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Hi Naderys, I took up squash 18 months ago and although i'm a beginner I thought my experiences with rackets might help. I started playing with an old Prince Extender that I was given, after 3 months I had tennis elbow so I bought a Head ix150 which had a much larger hitting area and was easier on my elbow, 4 months later I felt I needed something more powerful so I purchased a Head Liquidmetal 140 which added power but never felt 'quite right'. After 5 months with the LM140 I'd finally learnt to strike the ball properly so my tennis elbow was no longer a problem and I set about trying to find a racket that felt right for me. Mainly I asked my opponents if we could swap rackets for a friendly game after a match, this way I got to try a lot of rackets and slowly found out that I prefered something light, evenly balanced, fairly stiff and with a reasonable amount of feedback. I eventually settled on a pair of Oliver xtron 110's strung with Ashaway Powernick 18 and I found certain parts of my game improved overnight. I think the only way to find a racket thats right for you is to play with your Wilson until you know why it's not right for you (too head heavy, too light, etc) then think about changing it for something that corrects these 'faults'. Good Luck....

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Naderys,

There are a few other thread open on the site with some good tips on DVDs and other learning material that you can use. Glad to hear you've caught the "squash bug" and hope it gives you many hours of hapiness (and frustration I bet) in the years to come!

Keep working at it and learning as much as you can off anyone who you can find to help!

Adz

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Woow, thank you guys for your fast and prompt responses :) , well i guess i will keep my racquet until it breaks and then if it does break (from what i hear it will do) i will look for another one, anyway, it seems that i'm having difficulties finding a coach, does anybody know any good books or DVD or VHS that can help me learn the basics of this game?.

Sorry guys for all the questions, but i played this game once with a friend of mine and for some reason i developed a passion for the game and i really would like to learn it ..

Thank you all

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• If  the swing and grip are not reasonably technically OK there might be a feeling of a lack of power in the swing.  Beginners often use their arm and racket to generate the power rather than the forearm rotating movement in the swing.
• As Biz said, one of the other things to watch is a sore arm.  This can happen by having the incorrect technique, so that is catch 22.   Try not to generate the power from the arm, but from the swing technique.

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Continuing to play with should be fine. I can't see any reason why it shouldn't be.

Although you may find that as your game develops, different rackets become more "comfortable" to use, at this early stage it will make no difference to the basics of squash that you need to develop. If, like some people who use a light racket, you find that you are beginning to get a recurring injury to your elbow, then you should definately change. But as things currently stand, it doesn't sound like there's any problems with what you have!!

Adz

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JJ, sorry but I have to disagree about this racket - The lighter the frame then usually the less material has gone into its construction. As a newbie to the world of squash - especially if you have a strong swing, a light racket might not be the best tool for the job as they are more prone to breakage when coming into contact with walls.

Although the Wilson 110 gram rackets do appear to have a longer life than their Head equivalents (under impact conditions), but neither last as long as their slightly heavier models (around 130 to 150).

NADERYS - This doesn't mean you should go out and buy a brand new racket for the fun of it!! The racket you have is still very good, and if you can keep it away from the wall and learn to wield the head correctly then you'll be absolutely fine! With a heavier head you're going to need some forearm strength, and if you've never done any racket sports before then you might want to try some exercises to help build up the muscles quicker. Other than that the best thing you can do is go near a flat wall and start swinging your racket (slowly at first!!) to the point where it is just skimming the surface of the wall. This will give you a better guage on how close to the wall that you can swing in a match - Remember to do this SLOWLY to start - one nasty collision can break a racket!!

ADZ

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