Squash Coaching Blog: Triangles

Do you know where to aim when you hit a cross-court drive from the middle of the court or the front corners?

I’ve tried to make it as simple as possible for you by using triangle targets.

We can imagine a triangular target on the floor which is drawn from the corner of the service box directly into the back corner. Then flip this 90 degrees onto the wall and you have two triangles which make up your whole target.

When you hit your drive cross-court from the front corners, or from the middle of the court (likely on the volley) you want your cross-court heading directly into the corner. The ball can either bounce on the floor first in the red zone, or hit the side wall first in the blue zone. What both these outcomes ensure is that the ball will remain close to the back corner, drawing your opponent all the to the depth of the court.

If you miss these zone:

If your shot bounces on the floor first to the side of the red zone your shot will be ‘too loose’ – giving your opponent an easy shot down the wall.

If your shot bounces on the floor before the red zone your shot will be ‘too short’ – so your opponent only needs to take one step from the T in order to retrieve your shot.

If your shot hits the side wall first before the blue zone it will be ‘too wide’ – and the ball will bounce back toward the middle of the court giving your shot an easy shot down the wall.

If your shot hits the side wall higher than the blue box (unless it’s a lob) the ball will again bounce out toward the middle of the court.

Everything you are trying to achieve is to hit a shot which stays close to the extreme back corner of the court, so your opponent is hampered by the back wall and the side wall.