What Is The Difference Between A Let And A Stroke In Squash?

Some Specifics

Squash is quite unusual in sports because both players occupy the same space on the court. This means that occasionally players wil get in each other's way. This is even more true when you consider the rackets they are swinging.

The rules don't explicitly say it like this, but I suggest you think of it like this:

➔ If one player makes it difficult for their opponent to reach the ball, play a let.

➔ If one player stops their opponent from hitting the ball, it's a stroke, i.e. a point to the person who was about to hit the ball.

Stay Safe

However, if at any moment things become dangerous, i.e. by hitting the ball at the other player or because your racket could hit them, then immediately STOP and play the point again (let). It is not worth risking an injury just to win one point!

If you are asking this question, there's a good chance that you are quite new to the sport. Firstly, well done for taking the time to learn more about the rules. Secondly, please buy and wear squash googles. They are not expensive and even though squash is NOT a dangerous sport, protecting your eyes is a sensible thing to do.

Sometimes it's impossible to get out of the way. Always play safely though.

Read The Rules

The rules of squash are not too complicated, at least when compared to some other sports, but problems often arise in three cases:

1. Players don't know the rules. It only takes one player to not know the rules and suddenly there are disagreements on court. I've seen a lot of strange "rules" that people believe are true but aren't. Solution: Read the rules and get a basic understanding of them.
2. Players disagree whether something was reachable or not. Playing points happens very quickly, and making decisions can be hard, especially for new players. One player thinks they could have reached the ball and the other player doesn't. What do you do then? Well, to be fair, you should play the point again, but a lot depends on the personality of the two players. If one is very "forceful" and the other a little "shy", then it's easy to "bully" the shy player, but that's not right nor fair. Solution: Play a let, but learn the rules better.
3. The match has a referee who doesn't know the proper rules. This can be really frustrating for the player who does. Solution: Don't referee a match unless you have read the rules.

It's more Complicated Than That

The guidance above really is as simple as it gets, but in reality situations are harder to classify. Some players have a very strong desire to win, sometimes even cheat, so that adds another layer of complexity to each situation.

If a player is purposefully making it hard for their opponent to reach the ball that is unfair, but some players don't get out of the way.

Some Incorrect Myths

Here are a few myths that are incorrect.

• Being on the T means you are not in the way - I've heard this many times. Player think that because they are on the T, they don't have to move. That's wrong. You do. You have to try to give your opponent enough space to swing and hit the front wall.
• You can't hit the ball to the front if you are at the back. - Yes, you can. You can hit the ball any where you want, as long as it's not at or near your opponent.
• If the ball hits the back wall before the floor, it’s out. - I've seen so many arguments about this. The ball is allowed to hit the back wall before it bounces, as long as it hasn't hit above the out line first.

Next Steps

If this question and its answer has inspired you to learn more, then I suggest visiting the World Squash Officiating website. It runs courses and has plenty of resources for learning about how to interpret and apply the rules of squash.

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