Racquet
You must be comfortable with you racquet don’t buy it because of its price.
Weight:
The average weight is between 140-170gs, the lightest available is 115g, but most people prefer mid-weight evenly balanced racquets.
- Balance: racquets very greatly as to where the centre of balance is, when held by the handle a head-heavy racquet will feel overall heavy, while head-light will feel overall light. Avoid racquets that are overly head-heavy or light
- Lightweight: favoured by experienced players because of their manoeuvrability, they need a powerful swing, but a slightly head-weighted model could compensate for this. Because it’s easily swing many players choose light-weight but choose a head-weighted model if you can’t deliver a powerful swing
- Heavy: deliver a powerful swing but are hard to control
Size and Grip:
The size of the head affects power and the ‘sweet’ spot, if you want a head-heavy or large-headed racquet a custom grip will help you balance out the extra weight.
- Narrow profile: or beam width, are flexible and have a manoeuvrable feel
- Wide profile: increased power and a larger ‘sweet’ spot
- Mid profile: great for novices as it balances power and control
- Grip: everyone has individual preference, when you start playing regularly you will need to modify your grip to get maximum comfort, building it up in certain areas so it contours to your hand, tape, gauze and towels have all been used to customise grip - talk to other players for customisation tips
Stringing:
Gives control over how the racquet plays, high-quality multifilament set at the proper tension gives precision and power
- Strings: look for textured, multifilament, 17 or 18 gauge squash designed strings
- Tension: proper tension is important, 28 PSI is average, increasing tension improves touch, decreasing tension improves power
- Restring: do this as soon as fraying becomes noticeable, regular players will need to restring every 2 months to maintain reliable and effective tension
Stiffness:
Racquets are made from reinforced fibres and metals for both non-brittle rigidity and controlled give
- Flexibility: the more flexible the easier it is to control
- Stiffness: for experienced players that can control them, giving better power for shot making