Squash

2. Squash

Minority to Major Player

A minimum of 2 outcomes

Sum up the brief in 6 words

Squash, Brand Activation, Campaign, Personality, Language, Communicate.

Re-brand an established sport for a mainstream audience.

No budget

Look for keywords specific to Squash.

Visual Information around that sports.

Facts and figures.

Tell the story of the brand.

What does it look like, act like, speak like?

Take the sport in it's purest form and sell it.

Look at popularising the sport through clubs.

What are squash's competitor sports?

if this was a _____ what would it look like?

How easy is it to book a court?

How many people play the sport?

How many people do you need to play the sport?

How do you do it if you are on your own?

What times can you play the sport?

Where can you play the sport?

First thought:

Squash reminds me of playing pat ball up the wall with tennis ball.

Squash Rules

Squash is a game played around the world and has as big a following professionally as it does in amateur ranks. The game dates back to 19th century with variations of the game (then called racquets) evolving into the modern game as we now know it. Whilst squash isn’t currently an Olympic sport, its pinnacle comes in the form of the Squash World Championships where the best players from around the world compete to be the ultimate squash champion..

Object of the Game

The object of the game is hit the ball off the back wall until you manage to make your opponent fail in returning the ball. Every time you do so you will receive a point. Points make up sets, which in turn determine the winner of the match.

Players & Equipment

Squash is played between two people in a box like room. All that is needed is a squash racket (similar to a tennis racket but smaller head size) and a squash ball. The squash ball is around 2 and a half inches in diameter and made from rubber. There are 5 different speeds of squash ball ranging from super slow (competition standard) to fast (more beginner standard). The ball is generally pretty low bouncing, especially the super slow balls, which make it tough to return the ball.

There are many lines on a squash court. The first line is out line that runs across the top of the back wall and down the sides of the side wall. Any ball hitting outside this area is deemed out and a point is awarded to your opponent. A board runs along the bottom of the back wall which is technically the ‘net’. If the ball hits into the board then it is deemed a foul. 3 feet above the board is the service line. All serves must hit above this line for it to be a legitimate serve. The back of the court is split into two rectangular sections where a player must start from before each point. A service box is in each section and a player is required to have at least one foot in whilst they serve or are waiting to receive the serve.

Scoring

Scoring a point can come one of 4 ways: the ball bounces twice before your opponent hits the ball, the ball hits the back board (or net), the ball goes outside the outline or a player causes interference purposely to prevent their opponents from getting the ball.

There are two methods of scoring Squash. The first is called ‘PAR’ where you play first to 11 points and you can score a point from either yours or your opponents serve. The second is a more traditional style where you play first to 9 points but can only score points off your own serve.

The 11 point PAR scoring system is now the official scoring system in professional ranks and the majority of amateur games.

Winning the Game

In order to win the game you need to reach the required amounts of sets determined before the start of the match. Most sets are best of 5 games, so the first to that number wins.

Rules of Squash

Games can be played by either two (singles) or four (doubles) players at one time. You must hit the ball with your racket within the boundaries on the back wall.

The ball can hit the side wall at any time as long as at some point it hits the back wall.

A let is called when a player accidently gets in their opponents way and is unable to get out the way.

A foul is called if the player purposely tries to get in the way of their opponent.If a game gets to 10-10 then a player must win by two clear points to win that game.You cannot hit the ball twice and you cannot carry the ball.

When serving one foot must be within the service box; the same goes for your opponent.Upon returning a serve you may hit the ball on the volley or after it bounces.

The speed of balls are determined by number and colours of small spots on the ball: Double Yellow = Extra Super slow for competitionsYellow = Super slowGreen or White = SlowRed = MediumBlue = Fast

Squash is a game played around the world and has as big a following professionally as it does in amateur ranks. The game dates back to 19th century with variations of the game (then called racquets) evolving into the modern game as we now know it. Whilst squash isn’t currently an Olympic sport, its pinnacle comes in the form of the Squash World Championships where the best players from around the world compete to be the ultimate squash champion..

Types of Shots

Straight drive

•It is one of the basic squash shot where the ball has to be hit parallel and close to one of the side walls to travel deep back of the court. It is also known as the good length shot.

Boost

•In this shot, the ball is hit to the side wall at an angle or to the back wall before it hits the front wall.

Volley

•In this shot, the ball is hit before it touches the ground mostly directly to the strong wall.

Drop shot

•In a drop shot, the ball is hit softly to the front wall to fall softly to the floor in the front corner.

Lob

•Here the ball is hit softly and high on the wall with a big curve to land on the back corner.

Cross Court

•The ball is hit to the front wall from the right side to the left side or vice versa.

Kill

•The ball is hit hard and low to the front wall so that it won’t travel more than half court.

Trickle boost

•It is like a boost shot where the ball is hit to the side wall on the front of the court. It is often disguised as a drive or drop shot.

Squeeze boost

•It is a more difficult shot and very much similar to trickle boost. Here the ball is hit from the front of the court when it is very close to the side wall.

Nick

•The ball is volleyed to the front wall then the junction of the side wall and floor, which is called the Nick, to give minimum or zero bounce.

Rolling nick

•When nick shot is played really well, the ball rolls along the floor.

The Ramy

•Here the ball bounces in to the light fittings of the room. It is also known as inadvertent foul shot.

Back wall boost

•In this shot, the ball is hit moderately hard and high on the back wall so that it travels the length of the room and hits the lower part of the front wall.

Philadelphia

•In this case, the shot is played diagonally upwards into the front corner which hits the front wall first and then the side wall. The ball then lobs over the court with significant spin and hits the opposite side wall at the back and then it travels parallel to the rear wall making a return very difficult.

Skid boast

•This shot is played from the back corner of the court where the ball is hit high on the side wall with a small angle so that it hits the sidewall first, then hits high in the middle of the front wall and while being high in the air, it crosses the court ideally hitting the opposite sidewall and landing close to the back wall to go past the opponent.

Reverse angle

•This shot is similar to a boost shot where the ball is first hit on the reverse side wall.

Mizuki

•This shot is very much similar to volley but the only difference is that the ball is hit by the opposite side of the racket by using wrists which helps to change the direction of the ball.

Facts About Squash.

•Squash has been around since 1830, when it was invented by students at the Harrow School outside London. (Upper class prisoners in the London debtors' prison had previously played a similar sport, rackets, which involved hitting a ball against walls with rackets to get exercise, according to the World Squash Federation.)

•2. The Titanic had a squash court and professional Fred Wright went down with the ship.

•3. The first players used rubber balls, which, when hit, squashed against walls (hence the name "squash").

•Squash is played today by more than 25 million people (1.2 million in the United States), and there are nearly 50,000 courts around the world in 185 countries.

•Squash may be in the 2024 Olympics

•It's been voted the healthiest sport to play by Forbes magazine based on cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, calories burned, and risk of injury.

•An hour of squash can burn 600-1000 calories.

•Prince Philip played squash while Queen Elizabeth II was in labor (for 30 hours) giving birth to Prince Charles.

•The late Rainier III, prince of Monaco, played squash every day for many years.

What does squash look like?

What type of people play squash?

It is dominated by 30+ year olds from middle and upper class backgrounds.

The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, at Grand Central Terminal and has been running since 1932, is the best and largest opportunity to see the most competitive squash in the world. "Wimbledon of squash."

What do logos in in squash look like?

The World Squash logo is used as an interchangeable logo for different events across the world. I don't like the format of how it looks. I feel World Squash does not sound good.

Looking at the logos and visual language in squash there is no consistency between branding.

These are the most modern/ up to date posters for squash i can find, 3 of which are by a product company selling squash equipment, which looks like is trying to copy a style Nike has used.

Dunlop is the name sponsor of Squash. They make the best rackets and the best squash balls.