Squash Glossary

One of the four things a striker is entitled to (Rule 8.1.2): a clear route to the ball. Denying it is interference, and the specific provisions sit in Rule 8.8.

A player's challenge to a call or the absence of one made by the Marker. The Referee rules, and if unable to decide, may allow a let.

A shot hit into the back wall hard enough to reach the front wall. A defensive last resort from deep in the court, and a rally-saver rather than a winner.

Any shot played into a side wall before the front wall. Two-wall, three-wall and trickle boasts are all variations on moving the opponent to the front corners.

A game awarded to the opponent as a penalty. It takes the game in progress, or the next one if none is running, and the penalised player keeps every point and game already won (14.10.4, 14.10.5).

The most severe conduct penalty: the match is awarded to the opponent. As with a Conduct Game, points and games already won are retained.

A point awarded to the opponent for unacceptable behaviour. If play was stopped to award it, it becomes the result of the rally; if awarded after a rally, the rally stands and the point is added with no change of service box.

The first rung of the penalty ladder. No point changes hands, and if play was stopped to issue it, a let is allowed (14.10.1).

A shot hit diagonally from one side of the court to the other. The standard way to move an opponent off the T without going short.

The call when the ball hits the tin or bounces twice before being struck. The rally ends and the striker loses the point.

A straight shot hit hard down the side wall to the back of the court. The backbone of the game and the shot that earns the T.

A soft shot played to die in a front corner. Effective in proportion to how deep the opponent is when you play it.

The older hand-in, hand-out system, in which only the server could score and games went to 9. Replaced by point-a-rally scoring, which made game lengths far more predictable.

The phrase the interference rule turns on. A player must make every effort to clear after their shot, and the striker must make every effort to play the ball. Whether the opponent was making every effort separates a let from a stroke.

A striker's entitlement to enough time to see the ball and prepare to strike it as it comes off the front wall (8.7). Not the same as an unobstructed view of everything.

A serve that does not comply with Rule 5.7. The receiver wins the rally. A serve hitting the service-line, short line, half-court line or any line bounding the top of the court is a fault.

The wall the ball must reach on every good return, above the tin and below the out-line.

Played to 11 points, except that at 10-all it continues until one player leads by two (2.2). There is no cap and no tiebreak.

The Marker's call when a player needs one point to win the game. Match Ball is the equivalent for the match.

The line dividing the back half of the court into two quarters. A serve landing on it is a fault.

The Marker's call preceding the score when the service changes hands. A survival of the older scoring system, still in the calling protocol.

The failure to give an opponent who is making every effort to play the ball fair view, access, room for a reasonable swing and freedom to hit the front wall (8.1). All four are required; denying one is enough.

A hard, low shot hit to die before the opponent can reach it, usually into a front corner just above the tin.

A drive that carries to the back of the court and dies there. Good length is what forces an opponent off the T and is the first thing coaches build.

A rally replayed with no point awarded. Allowed when there was interference the opponent was making every effort to avoid, and the striker could have made a good return (8.6.6).

A high, soft cross-court shot aimed to drop into a back corner. The counter to an opponent camped on the T.

The official who calls the score and the calls of fault, down, out and not up. Where there is one official, they are both Marker and Referee (3.2).

Interference that did not prevent the striker seeing and getting to the ball. No let is allowed (8.6.4), and it is the clause that keeps the ball in play.

The join between a side wall and the floor. A ball that lands in it rolls out dead, which is why the nick is the target of most kills and drops.

The decision that the rally result stands. Four of the seven general provisions in Rule 8.6 produce it, including minimal interference and playing on past the interference.

The call when the ball bounces twice before being struck, or is not struck correctly. The striker loses the rally.

A ball hitting on or above the out-line on any wall. The rally is lost by whoever hit it.

The continuous line bounding the top of the playing surfaces on the front, side and back walls. A ball on the line is out.

Point-a-rally scoring. Every rally produces a point regardless of who served, which is what the modern game uses at every level.

One of the four areas of the court used to describe where a serve must land: the receiving quarter diagonally opposite the server's box.

The play between the serve and the point being decided. It ends when a return is not good, a player requests a let, an official makes a call, or the ball hits a player.

A reasonable backswing, a strike at the ball and a reasonable follow-through, none extending further than necessary (8.9). Interference with it is judged under the general provisions.

The official whose decision is final. Rules on lets, strokes, appeals, conduct, timing and whether the court is fit to play on (3.6).

The stroke that starts each rally. The server must have one foot inside the service box with no part of it on a boundary, and hit the front wall between the service-line and the out-line.

The square from which the serve is delivered. The server chooses the box at the start of each game and after each change of server, and alternates while retaining the serve.

The line on the front wall above which a serve must strike. A serve hitting it is a fault.

The line across the floor separating the front of the court from the back quarters. A serve must land behind it, in the opposite quarter.

A drop played down the same wall the striker is on, rather than across the court. Shorter travel and far less risk of interference than a cross-court equivalent.

A point awarded to the striker who was interfered with. Given when the opponent was not making every effort to avoid the interference (8.6.5), or whenever the striker would have made a winning return (8.6.7).

The junction of the short line and the half-court line, and by extension the central position a player tries to hold between shots. Controlling the T is the strategic core of the game.

The board across the bottom of the front wall. A ball hitting it is down and the rally is lost.

Striking the ball before it bounces. The primary way to take time away from an opponent and to keep possession of the T.