30 Must-Know Squash Terms, Phrases and Slang

57 squash terms explained, from boast, nick and length to tin, let and stroke, plus the slang players use on court.

Squash terminology is mostly a set of names for angles: where the ball met the wall, and how little the opponent could do about it. The words related to squash below cover the shots and the calls, and the squash glossary after them adds the words associated with squash that a club night takes for granted, the telltale, the T, the length, and the difference between a let and a stroke.

Must-Know Squash Terms, Phrases and Slang:

1. Boast
2. Crosscourt
3. Drive
4. Drop shot
5. Game ball
6. Ghosting
7. Let
8. Lob
9. Nick
10. No let
11. Rally
12. Serve
13. Stroke
14. Tin
15. Volley
16. Back wall
17. Ball Mark
18. Lunge
19. Corner Kill
20. Cutthroat
21. Down
22. Fault
23. Grip
24. Hand Out
25. Kill Shot
26. Match Ball
27. The T
28. Side wall
29. Length
30. Tight

Squash Glossary: Every Term A to Z

Term	What It Means
Back wall	The rear wall of the court. Balls that come off it give the easiest attacking chances in the game.
Backhand	The stroke played across the body on the non-dominant side, and the side most rallies are aimed at.
Ball dots	Coloured dots showing the speed and bounce of a squash ball, from blue for beginners to double yellow for experts.
Ball Mark	The smudge the ball leaves on a wall or floor, used to settle whether a shot was in or out.
Boast	A shot played into a side wall or the back wall first, so it reaches the front wall at an angle.
Clearing	Getting out of the opponent’s way after playing a shot.
Corner Kill	An attacking shot hit low into a front corner so the ball bounces twice before it can be reached.
Crosscourt	A shot sent to the front wall on an angle so it travels diagonally into the opposite back corner.
Cutthroat	A three player variation in which one player serves against the other two, rotating the server.
Double bounce	A ball that bounces twice before being returned, which loses the rally.
Double yellow dot	The slowest ball, marked with two yellow dots, used in competition. Faster balls with a single yellow, red or blue dot suit colder courts and newer players.
Down	The call when the ball hits the tin or the floor before the front wall. The rally is lost.
Drive	A straight shot hit parallel to a side wall towards the back of the court, the backbone of the game.
Drop shot	A soft shot played just above the tin so it dies in a front corner.
Fault	A serve that breaks the rules, for instance one that misses the correct service box or fails to reach past the short line.
Forehand	The stroke played on the dominant hand side.
Front wall	The wall every shot must reach, bounded below by the tin and above by the out line.
Game ball	The point that would win the current game.
Get	A retrieval nobody expected, dug out of a corner. The word is used as a compliment on its own.
Ghosting	Practising court movement without a ball, running the patterns to the corners to train footwork and recovery to the T.
Glass court	A court with transparent walls used at big events so the crowd can watch from all sides.
Grip	How the racket is held. A slightly open face is standard, because most squash shots need cut rather than flat power.
Half-court line	The line dividing the back of the court into left and right halves.
Hand Out	The change of server. The incoming server takes over after winning the rally.
Interference	Obstruction of the opponent, which leads to a let or a stroke.
Kill Shot	A hard, low shot into the front wall intended to end the rally outright.
Knock-up	The warm-up before a match, when both players hit the ball for a few minutes.
Length	A drive hit deep enough that the ball dies in a back corner. Good length is what keeps the opponent behind you.
Let	A replayed rally, given when interference stopped a fair chance at the ball without costing a clear winner.
Lob	A high, soft shot to the front wall that drops into a back corner over the opponent’s reach.
Match Ball	The point that would win the whole match.
Nick	A shot that lands exactly in the join between side wall and floor and rolls out dead. The most satisfying shot in squash.
No let	The referee’s ruling that no interference occurred, or that the player could not have made the ball anyway. The rally stands as played.
Out line	The line marking the top of the playing area on all four walls.
PAR scoring	Point-a-rally scoring, in which every rally scores whoever served it. Games are played to 11.
PAR-11	Point-a-rally scoring to 11, the standard system today.
Rail	Another name for a straight drive hugging the side wall, more common in North America than in Britain.
Rally	The exchange of shots from the serve until one player cannot return the ball legally.
Referee	The official who rules on lets, strokes and no lets. At professional level three referees share the decision.
Reverse boast	A boast hit into the far side wall rather than the near one, sending the ball across the court the long way.
Serve	The stroke that starts the rally, hit to the front wall above the service line so it lands in the opposite quarter.
Service box	The marked square the server must keep one foot inside while serving.
Service line	The line on the front wall that a serve must hit above.
Setting	The procedure at 10-10, where play continues until one player leads by two points. Tiebreak is the everyday word for it.
Short line	The line across the court that a serve must land behind, marking the boundary of the front half of the floor.
Side wall	The walls left and right of the court, used for boasts, nicks and tight length.
Single yellow dot	A squash ball for good club players, slightly bouncier than the double yellow.
Straight drive	A drive hit along the same side wall.
Straight drop	A drop shot played into the same side of the court as the player is standing, rather than across it.
Stroke	A point awarded because interference stopped a player from hitting what would clearly have been a winner.
T	The junction of the short line and the half court line, in the middle of the court. Holding the T means reaching everything sooner.
Telltale	The other name for the tin, the metal strip along the bottom of the front wall. It is called a telltale because it announces the shot that hit it.
Tin	The out of bounds strip at the base of the front wall. Hitting it loses the rally.
Trickle boast	A short boast played from near the front wall into the side wall, dropping the ball into the opposite front corner.
Two-wall boast	A boast that hits one side wall, then the front wall.
Volley	Hitting the ball before it bounces, which takes time away from the opponent.
Winner	A shot the opponent cannot reach at all.

What Is It Called When…? Squash Terms by Situation

Know what happened but not the word for it? Find the situation on the left and the squash term on the right.

When…	It Is Called
The opponent is in your way	Let, please
The referee awards the point for obstruction	Stroke
The referee decides there was no interference	No let
The ball lands in the join between wall and floor	Nick
The ball hits the metal strip at the bottom of the front wall	Tin (down)
The server loses the rally	Hand out
The ball hits a side wall before the front wall	Boast
The ball hugs the side wall to the back	Tight drive
The ball dies in the back corner	Length
The ball is hit before it bounces	Volley
The ball bounces twice	Down (double bounce)
A player moves around the court without a ball	Ghosting
The players warm up before the match	Knock-up
Three players play together	Cutthroat
The score reaches 10-10	Play on to two clear
A player takes a long step into the corner	Lunge
A player stands in the middle of the court	On the T
A shot hits above the out line	Out

#1 Boast

A shot played into a side wall first so the ball angles onto the front wall. A two-wall boast hits one side wall then the front, a three-wall boast hits both side walls. Boasts are used to get out of the back corners or to wrong-foot an opponent.

In a sentence: “He’s in trouble in the back corner, so he boasts.”

#2 Crosscourt

A shot hit diagonally from one side of the court to the other. A good crosscourt drive passes the opponent on the T and hits the side wall behind them; a bad one comes off the side wall into the middle.

In a sentence: “Her crosscourt went wide and the ball died in the back.”

#3 Drive

A hard shot hit to the back of the court, usually straight along a side wall. Drives make up most shots in a rally, and the aim is a length that dies in the back corner.

In a sentence: “Straight drive, tight to the wall, then back to the T.”

#4 Drop shot

A soft shot that lands just above the tin and dies in the front of the court. Played well, it forces the opponent to run the full length of the court.

In a sentence: “He’s at the back, so drop it short.”

#5 Game ball

The rally that wins the game for the player who wins it. Games go to 11 under PAR scoring, and at 10-all a player must lead by two points, so a game can go on well past 11.

In a sentence: “Game ball at 10-8, and she goes for the nick.”

#6 Ghosting

A training drill in which a player moves to each corner of the court and plays shadow shots without a ball, returning to the T between movements. It trains fitness and footwork at once.

In a sentence: “Twenty minutes of ghosting every morning.”

#7 Let

A replay of the rally, given when a player is obstructed but could not have hit a winning shot, or when there is a doubt about the outcome. Players ask for it by saying “let, please”.

In a sentence: “Let, please, she was in my way.”

#8 Lob

A high shot sent over the opponent’s head into the back corner, usually from the front of the court. A good lob buys time to recover to the T.

In a sentence: “She lobbed him from the front and the ball died in the corner.”

#9 Nick

The join where a side wall meets the floor. A ball that lands in the nick rolls flat and cannot be returned, which makes it the perfect winner.

In a sentence: “Straight into the nick, no chance.”

#10 No let

The referee’s decision that there was no interference, or that the player could not have reached the ball, so the rally stands and the opponent wins the point.

In a sentence: “No let, he wasn’t going to get there.”

#11 Rally

The exchange from the serve until a player fails to return the ball properly. Under PAR scoring every rally wins a point for one player, regardless of who served.

In a sentence: “That rally lasted two minutes.”

#12 Serve

The shot that starts each rally. The server keeps a foot in the service box and hits the ball onto the front wall above the service line so it lands in the opposite back quarter. Players alternate service boxes after each point they win.

In a sentence: “Serve high to the backhand side.”

#13 Stroke

The referee awards a stroke, meaning the point, when the opponent prevented a winning shot or failed to clear. It is stronger than a let and often decides a close game.

In a sentence: “Stroke to Smith, he cleared the wrong way.”

#14 Tin

The metal strip along the bottom of the front wall. A ball hitting it is out. It is 48 cm high in standard courts and 43 cm in professional men’s play, which makes shots near the tin even more attacking.

In a sentence: “Into the tin, that’s a cheap point.”

#15 Volley

Hitting the ball before it bounces. Volleys cut the opponent’s recovery time and keep the player close to the T, which is why the best players volley whenever possible.

In a sentence: “Volley the drive, don’t let it go to the back.”

#16 Back wall

The rear wall of the court, often made of glass so spectators can watch. A ball may hit the back wall before reaching the front, but it must reach the front wall before bouncing.

In a sentence: “He played it off the back wall.”

#17 Ball Mark

The mark left by the ball on the floor or wall. Players sometimes ask the referee to check ball marks to see whether a ball was out, though the mark does not decide the call on its own.

In a sentence: “Check the ball mark, it was in.”

#18 Lunge

The long step into a corner with the front knee bent, used to reach the ball while keeping the body stable. A good lunge is followed by a quick push back to the T. Ghosting drills are built around repeating it.

In a sentence: “Big lunge into the front corner and back to the T.”

#19 Corner Kill

A shot aimed into the front corner low on the wall, so it dies with no time to reach it. A corner kill is often played after a boast.

In a sentence: “Corner kill, that’s the rally.”

#20 Cutthroat

A casual squash game for three players, each playing against the other two. The server plays against the other pair, and the rally winner takes the serve. It is practice, not a match format.

In a sentence: “Three of us, so let’s play cutthroat.”

#21 Down

Called when a ball hits the tin or the floor before the front wall. It is a casual call in club squash, and refereed matches use the word down for the same thing.

In a sentence: “Down, that one hit the tin.”

#22 Fault

A serve that breaks the rules, for example by landing outside the service area or below the service line. Under PAR scoring a fault loses the point immediately.

In a sentence: “Fault, the serve hit the service line.”

#23 Grip

The way the racket is held. Squash players use a continental grip, close to the handshake grip, for both forehand and backhand, with the racket head kept up.

In a sentence: “Same grip for both sides, just open the face a little.”

#24 Hand Out

The change of service when the server loses a rally. The referee calls “hand out” before announcing the new score. Under traditional scoring it was the only way to win the serve back.

In a sentence: “Hand out, 5-4.”

#25 Kill Shot

A hard, low shot that bounces twice before the opponent can reach it. It is usually played from mid-court at a loose ball.

In a sentence: “Loose ball, so he went for the kill shot.”

#26 Match Ball

The rally that wins the match. Matches are best of five games, so match ball can come after three, four or five games.

In a sentence: “Match ball, and she goes for the drop.”

#27 The T

The point where the short line meets the half-court line, the best position from which to reach any part of the court. Players fight to control the T and push the opponent away from it.

In a sentence: “Get back to the T after every shot.”

#28 Side wall

The two long walls of the court. The side wall line marks the out-of-court limit, and a ball hitting above it is out.

In a sentence: “He hit it off the side wall.”

#29 Length

A shot hit deep enough that it dies in the back of the court, the basis of tactical squash. Good length forces the opponent behind the T.

In a sentence: “Work on your length, everything else follows.”

#30 Tight

A shot that hugs the side wall all the way to the back of the court. A tight drive is very difficult to return because the racket cannot get behind the ball.

In a sentence: “Tight drive, he can barely scrape it off the wall.”

Squash Slang Players and Fans Actually Use

Slang	What It Means
Knock-up	The warm-up before a match.
Bat	A racket, used by British and Australian players.
Get	A great retrieve of a ball that seemed unreachable.
Rail	A drive hit straight down the side wall, mostly in North American usage.
Double yellow	The slow ball used by advanced players.
Blue dot	The bounciest ball, used by beginners.
Dying length	A drive that dies before reaching the back wall.
Hand in	The server, or the call when the server keeps the serve.
Glass court	The transparent show court used at big tournaments.
Dropper	Short for drop shot.
Crosscourt nick	A crosscourt shot that lands in the nick, a showpiece winner.

Squash Expressions and Sayings in Everyday English

• Let, please: The polite phrase players use to ask for a replay after interference, the most common sentence on any squash court.
• Squash a rumour: To put an end to it. The meaning comes from squash in the sense of crushing, not from the sport.
• Hand out: The referee’s call when the serve changes, an old phrase from rackets and fives that squash inherited.

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