Blogging on blocking

Don't be a blocker.

Once you have hit the ball in squash the rules say you have to make every effort to clear the way for your opponent to have access to make a return.

In a recent tournament match I saw a penalty stroke awarded against a Comberton Junior when the referee thought they had not made enough effort to clear the ball and let their opponent through. In that case the referee thought that the Comberton player had also contributed to the problem by playing the ball back towards themselves.

On the other hand I thought that the opponent had contributed by being out of position so that the Comberton lad was unsure which way they would be coming in - and so didn't know which way to move.

I thought it was harsh refereeing but after reading about the tactic of some players in 'blocking' their opponents*, I maybe think we have to expect to be penalized if we don't make every effort to clear the ball.

This is sometimes not much help: last week I played a drop shot and then cleared towards the centre of the court expecting my opponent to come in along the wall - and barged right into him as he came around the other way! So a penalty stroke against me in any case.

This is an especially difficult problem because the rules now force your opponent to make every effort to get to the ball and play on. So I think referees have to watch out for 'blocking' tactics designed to gain the advantage when this happens. We are all guilty sometimes of not moving far enough because we don't want to get too far out of position to cover the return. But the plain fact is that its our own fault if our shot was so loose that we lose control of the T and the rally. We can and should do better. And when you are refereeing watch out for the blocker!

* read about blocking in
http://www.squashmagazine.com/vcm/squashmagazine/RULES/Rules_of_Game/BlockingAsArt.html