[Updated on 1 January 2024] The serve is the one part of squash where a player can decide how to play a shot without an opponent’s influence. This where you can take advantage of your opponent by making the shot tight to the wall and difficult to volley. After an effective serve, you have the opportunity to set yourself up to put more pressure on your opponent and let the game run in your favor by making even more difficult returns.

Making the Serve

• Your serve can be a deciding factor that can make or break a rally or the game. Unlike tennis, a serve in squash does not have a second serve. A rally starts as soon as the ball makes contact.
• The ball must bounce off any part of the back wall above the service line and below the outside line.
• The ball can bounce off any number of walls as long as it does not bounce off the floor before it reaches the opposite quarter of the court.
• The ball must bounce off the opposite quarter of the court to make a point, which can be the ground, side wall or back wall.
• One foot of the server must be anywhere inside the serving box during the serve.

Key Areas

Before making the serve, decide on which part of the front wall would be the best area to project the ball from.

• Near center, past the opposite side is the key area to making the serve closer to the wall as it reaches your opponent.
• With practice, work on spinning the ball as you get closer to the side wall to make the serve even more diffucult to volley.

Projecting the ball from the front wall as close to the side wall or the back corner as possible gives your opponent less room to work with and a more difficult serve to return. You have the option to bounce the ball on the side wall or not.

• Bouncing the ball on the side wall gets the ball closer to the wall but loses the momentum as it reaches the opponent’s quarter court.
• Not bouncing on the side wall projects the ball to the quarter court much faster but can leave more room for your opponent to volley.
• Practice the serve with these keys areas in mind to gain more control over the serve.
• Understanding the opponent by observing movement patterns to know what kind of service delivery can put you at an advantage for the rally.

Delivery

FOREHAND SERVE

• The forehand serve usually has more power and speed for a squash player to control. With enough practice, it can be more accurate when you aim at a spot on the wall.
• It is best played on the backhand serving box giving you quicker access to the ‘T’ position while placing your opponent in your peripheral vision as you serve.

BACKHAND SERVE

• The backhand serve has less power than a forehand and can be trickier to control, but it can give more advantages especially when serving from the forehand serving box.
• With the backhand, you can spin the ball easier making the serve land tighter to the side wall.

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