Recently Amanda Sobhy wrote an article for Squash Magazine talking about her love for the North American Hardball Doubles game.
After suffering a devastating Achilles rupture in Cartagena, Columbia in 2017, Sobhy talks about how her return to professional competition was first in two doubles tournaments which she saw as a great way to get her racquet skills back up to scratch without the faster cutting and change of direction of the singles game that would have put more stress on her body.
When it came time to go back to the singles game Sobhy notes that her time with the fast-moving ball doubles ball to helped her to read the singles game more quickly and improve her reaction time. Also retrieving feels so much easier since every ball is only two or three steps away rather than six or seven in the doubles game.
Doubles can also help you to think and practice different angles and strategies since skid boasts and shots down the middle which are frequently used in doubles can also have a role in the singles games if used at the right moment.
ESC pro Julie Multamaki is also an accomplished singles and doubles player herself, with the 2016 Canadian 45+ Women’s Doubles and 2017-18 Alberta Mixed doubles championships to her name, as well as being the current US 55+ and Canadian 55+ national champion.
“After having arthroscopic knee surgery in Dec 2011, I focused primarily on playing doubles for the next 5 years. I always thought that I was a creative singles player, but over these past 8 years it turns out that my doubles game has made my singles game even better,” Julie says. “My racquet prep is much quicker as a result of having to react to a faster ball, I can execute shots with a much shorter backswing (which translates to being more deceptive in my singles game), and my understanding of where to place the ball to put my opponent under the most pressure has improved dramatically. If I can make pressure and/or winning shots on the doubles court with my opponents guarding half of the court, then this translates to three-quarters of the court being open on the singles court. I have so much more confidence on the singles court as a result of playing doubles.”
We are considering adding a low-cost doubles only membership to our club offering in the fall. If this is something of interest to you, or if you are interested in hearing about doubles programs and leagues at the Edmonton Squash Club, then sign up for updates by filling out the form below.
Doubles Squash Email List
MailChimp Group for North American Hardball Doubles Squash Programs and Events at the Edmonton Squash Club.
