One of the aspects of squash that makes the sport so unique and, for beginners, equally exasperating, is the fact that the ball doesn’t bounce like balls in other racquet sports. You know the drill—the squash ball looks like it’s flying around the court with no problem, but if you pick it up, hold it over your head and drop it, it bounces as high as the top of your foot! The ball used in tennis or racquetball, on the other hand, will bounce at least four or five feet off the ground.
For very young kids, it can be frustrating at best to try to hit the ball when it’s rolling on the ground by the time it gets to them. While the issue hasn’t stopped thousands of people from taking up the sport, might it be possible to entice new players (especially young ones) if they get hooked by a ball that is light, lively, colorful, and easy to play with?
Enter the EZ Squash Balls from Black Knight.Available in a variety of colors (including orange, yellow and pink), the EZ Squash ball is soft (similar to a nerf ball, for those of you who have thrown them around) yet bouncy. Despite it’s size (a little over two inches in diameter), the EZ Squash ball is very light (less than 1oz) and will bounce about 2 feet off the floor when dropped from above your head.
The primary advantage of the EZ Squash ball is obvious—it bounces. So instead of beginners struggling to produce rallies of more than one hit each, the livlier EZ Squash ball makes it possible to keep the ball in play. Roy Ollier, at one time ranked No. 19 in the world and currently the teaching pro at Village Health Clubs in the Phoenix (AZ) area, has been promoting the balls for awhile now. You can find videos of people playing with the ball and interviews with the likes of David Palmer on YouTube.
While the EZ ball is not designed to replace the traditional ball, it is squarely aimed at getting new and lower-level players hooked. Eventually, those players can migrate to the traditional ball. In the meantime, they can get a workout (that they won’t get by starting out with the traditional ball) and begin learning how to swing a racquet at a moving ball inside a red-lined white box.
For more, visit GetSquashedWithRoyOllier.com.
