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Featured Questions
Q: Two questions-both about automatic lets. Is it a let when an opponent is taking the ball on their backhand high and is forced by the height of the ball to turn toward the sidewall and then the back of the court, losing sight of the front wall?
Also, on some courts the ball squirts out of the corner on 45 degree angle towards the T, is this a stroke? I have seen it called that way in the YMG classic video's and wanted some clarification.
Thanks for your insight in to this wonderful game. - Stephan, Toronto
A:The first thing I'd caution you about is calling anything an "automatic let". Every situation's a little bit different and I'll do my best to address your questions as I interpret what you've written. What you've described may sound fairly straight forward but another individual watching the same rally might describe the situation differently and make a different call.
Question 1: It's generally up to the striker to keep track of where the opponent is. If the ball goes side wall then back wall and the striker keeps the ball on their backhand side and asks for a let there can be 3 possible results: * If the the striker has a winning shot or the opponent is in the direct path of the ball to the front wall, rule 12.8.4 applies - "Stroke to Striker" * If the opponent is "close" to this direct path to the front wall (reasonable fear of injury) or could be hit by the ball going to the side wall (but no winner) the correct call would be "Yes Let", rule 13.1.2 * If the striker doesn't make every effort to get to the ball or the referee feels that the striker could not have made a good return, the correct call would be "No Let". This is explained well in guideline G6 If the striker turns (see definitions section of rules) there are again 3 possible results: * If the striker could have made a good return and reasonably feared hitting the opponent - "Yes Let" (rule 9.2.1.1) * If the striker could not have made a good return - "No Let" (rule 9.2.2) I've assumed that the opponent isn't interrupting the strikers normal swing.
Question 2: If the ball squirts out from the corner the opponent has essentially made a bad shot and must still give the striker freedom to hit the ball directly to the front wall (12.2.4) and freedom to hit the ball with a reasonable swing (12.2.4). One of these frequently (but not always) applies with a "Stroke to Striker" decision. - Dave Howard
Q: During a rally, let's say the striker makes a drop shot and the opponent is all the way in the back court and doesn't have a chance to get the ball, but let's say the ball hits the striker, then is that a stroke to the opponent even if he/she didn't have a chance at getting to the ball? - Adam, Waterloo
A: Rule 8.3 and Guideline 4 state that if the ball touches anything that the non-striker is wearing or carrying then the non-striker looses the rally. The only exception to this is if there is turning or further attempts involved which in this case do not apply. The person in your example who hits the drop shot is the non-striker once the ball has hit the front wall so the person at the back of the court is now the striker and hence wins the rally. - Brad Dussiaume
Q: Under section 16.6 and 17.3.4 it indicates that the player conceding the game / offending player would retain the points from the current game. What happens to the other players points? Do they start at 0, but are up a game? If the score was 8-5 and the player with 5 conceeds the game. Does this mean they start the next game with a 0-5 lead? Why would the next game not start at 0-0? To me this could lead to abuses of this rule to get a 0-7 advantage in the next game. - Darryl, Toronto
A: The answer to the question is that the player against whom a game is awarded or who concedes a game to gain recovery time retains the points earned in the game awarded/conceded and the next game starts in the usual manner at love-all. For example, if the score is 6-3 to the player being penalised or conceding the game, that game is recorded as 9-6 to the opponent, the 90-second interval is taken and the next game starts at love-all.
In the situation under 17.3.4 (very unusual I would think) where a game is awarded to the opponent at the end of a game, e.g. a player wins a game and the opponent behaves so badly (probably some bad behaviour had already occurred) that the referee decides to award a game to the opponent, the next game would be recorded as 9-0 to the opponent and the following game would start at love-all after only the 90 second interval for the game just concluded by actual play. - Penny Glover
Note: Squash Ontario asks you to please keep in mind that replies to questions
are interpretations of the rules made by one person only. Any reply is not necessarily
the official position of Squash Ontario or its Officiating Committee.
