Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink!

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee We now begin a short series of short articles dealing with what can be called ‘conventions’—used here in the sense of ‘understandings’ where we don’t necessarily follow the letter of...

The Uncertainty Principle

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee Well, there’s a catchy title stolen from the lexicon of quantum physics—hinting that maybe we’ve at last found a unified field theory of officiating—and so ending all of...

Hey Ref! An ‘Official’ Q & A

By Barry Faguy HEY REF! I was reading the new 2014 rules and was having a tough time figuring out the difference between ‘excessive’ and ‘exaggerated’ swings. Help!? Welcome to the club. Most rules deal with...

Is Timing Everything?

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee Well...in Squash, yes. And you won’t need a watch. Our subject here relates to the moment one of the players makes an appeal—and how you, as a referee, need...

Blocking or Trapping: What’s the difference?

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee The term ‘blocking’, as commonly used by Referees and players, is actually not specifically found in the rules. In the pejorative sense in which we usually use...

What the….!? Fair view—the neglected form of interference

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee Now here’s a subject about which precious little is written but which, nonetheless, is a real part of the game—sometimes to great significance. There have been multiple...

Time For a Crackdown?!

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee Well, here we go again! Yet another bunch of calls from all over demanding that Referees “crackdown,” “get tough,” “eliminate stroke hunting,” “penalize players,” and so on....

Let’s Keep Things Rolling, Eh!

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee It’s not an exaggeration to say that there would be little continuity in a game if not for the goodwill of the striker. When you’ve got two...

The Swing of Things

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee If there’s any form of interference where decisions appear to be all over the map, and where misconceptions abound, this is it. No doubt you have sometimes (OK,...

Interference, and Stuff!

By Barry Faguy, WSF Referees and Rules Committee A tough act to follow: Well, Rod Symington put in 13 years on this page. It’s hard to argue with the fine job he’s done—but I’ll give...