"I just read your comments on the women's tin and you are right on the money. The point
of squash is that anything but a nick or a shot played when the
opponent has been forced well out of position should be
retrieved. Too many of the women can't or won't cover the
court. I watched the US women lose to Hong Kong; the
American women shot randomly and barely tried to retrieve the gets off
their ill-chosen shots. Lower the tin and you reward this kind of
casual amateurish play. As you write, only Nicol David among the
women plays a game that I would consider truly "professional".
There are other women with better skills, but they shoot without a plan
to cover or to continue to develop pressure. That's how club
players play. Perhaps they're simply not quick enough to cover-
but that certainly won't be remedied by lowering the tin. This
should be obvious to even casual observers- why does it take Ted Gross
to point it out?
"The men now cover so well that
they can afford to shoot at random and from awkward positions.
Ramy was talking about this in his remarks on how the game is not being
taught as it is played at the high levels. I think he's wrong
actually- not in his point about how the game is played but in how it
should be taught. Most people will never be able to cover dumb
shots hit against good players. It's the ability to cover under
all circumstances that is currently distinguishing the top of the top
from the rest. Most of us will have to continue to shoot when we
have position and otherwise fight first for that position."
"You are absolutely right about the women's tin. Far too many 20-minute matches! It's an embarrassment."
"The longest recorded match (as of this comment) for the women's draw
at the Pan-Am's was 30 minutes. All this does is highlight the
mis-matches of the event.
"If you look back at some major events this year (British Open,
Alexandria for example) Ted Gross cannot make the same argument.
Women's matches are not as long on average as the men's, but they are
hardly short either. They are becoming longer and more competitive,
better depth of competition. Raising the tin??!! What a ridiculous
notion. It should lowered to 17 inch, no questions asked. And it should
have been done long ago."
"An opinion of one, which is not shared by anyone else I have spoken to, backed up by stats from one event."
"Too much sense in your proposal for raising the tin for women for it to be adopted."
