Lately, I've been thinking about giving squash another go. I've been playing badminton for the last couple of years. I like it in general. My problem, though, is that the game is geared mainly towards doubles. By that, I mean that all social clubs are for doubles, most players prefer doubles, and it's hard to find people who would want to play singles outside the club. This probably stems from fitness and budget requirements. While I enjoy a _good_ doubles game: 1. It's not so easy to come up with 4 good players. Otherwise, I feel I'm wasting my time. 2. I don't find doubles intensive enough, and I'd prefer to play more singles (say 30:70% rate). I mostly play in a 2.5-3hr club, where I feel that I rest for too long, the games aren't intensive enough - I need more singles, and a few of the games are outright boring. Squash, on the other hand, is only singles, and you can probably get enough in 1-1.5hr. Years ago, I used to play squash. I remember that I stopped since I had recurring ankle sprains, and I was also worried about stress to the knees. While there are a few posts of comparison: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/index.php?threads/squash-vs-badminton.38968/ http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/index.php?threads/badminton-and-squash.133118/#post-2144922 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...minton-vs-squash-vs-tennis.59535/#post-970584 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...and-squash-not-mixing-well.49776/#post-717797 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...ng-badminton-squash-tennis.45411/#post-618267 I'm more interested about the knees perspective. Regarding taxing the joints, this article mentions casually "Squash players tend to injure their knees the most." https://racquetsocial.com/squash-or-tennis-which-one-is-the-harder-sport/ and this paper says that badminton has higher injury rate (mainly in lower limbs) http://crimsonpublishers.com/ooij/pdf/OOIJ.000519.pdf If I'm comparing the two with regards to the knees, then I think that most of the shots in squash are low. In badminton, in comparison, you have more varied shots, such as clear and smash, and in general I think on average you meet the shuttle in the middle of the body, thus not going low so often. Any thoughts?
Hi, As far as your knees are concerned then Badminton is far more injury prone in comparison to squash. There are jumps, lunges, dives quick directional changes and explosive movements. Furthermore squash is exclusively indoors. Badminton is played on all sorts of platform available from concrete to synthetic. Cheers.
I think the article in my link supports what you say. What I meant actually wasn't that kind of surprise/uncontrolled injuries. I was more referring to the stress on the knee joints in the long run, and the "tear and wear" as a consequence.
I understand that too. The answer is also simply the extrapolation along these lines. Keeping all the nutritional, exercise and physiological factors same and only on the basis of usage and wear and tear Badminton players will be slightly more susceptible to develop Osteoarthritis after certain age. Kindly bear in mind that more factors are involved which determines Osteoarthritis for eg:- # Weight ( more weight higher stress) # Singles or Doubles # Any history of previous injuries or surgery greatly increases the risk. # Any other sporting activities like soccer, weight lifting, long distance running. So if you are really concerned then may be you should pay attention and start risk reduction early. Cheers.
for those who are starting to feel knee issues. it is highly recommended to do some strength training exercises. lunges, squats (esp back squats), core. they give more strength and support to joints, and soon you will notice the knee issues will be less or even go away.
Go for the one that gives you most enjoyment. There is no completely safe sport and the differences between the two are not that big in terms of injury. If you are really concerned about the knees or ankles, then either sport is not a good option.
Clubs do tend to be doubles oriented but I would suggest that you should go to those clubs and when you find people that you think can play singles with you, you can then ask them if they want to join you for a singles game. Swap contact details with them. There are loads of clubs. You can build up a good set of contacts that are interested in singles. There are usually a few people in a club or at least one, that wants to play singles. And then the two of you just need to book a time and book a court. If one of you is a member of the club then (depending on the club), sometimes booking can even be free.
Free? Where do you play for free? I'm relocating now Unfortunately, in Wellington there isn't even a club everyday, and I used to go as far as commuting between 3 centers to cover 6 days of the week. After playing for ~2 years, I know pretty much anyone who goes to the clubs. I'm really hard-pressed to find someone to play only a game or two of singles during club time (while waiting for our doubles game), much less find someone to play singles exclusively.
I'm sorry to hear that. Looking at @ralphz's reply and my own experience, I'd say, "Move somewhere else!" Seriously, there are club nights when we have three courts for eight players and that's not enough...
3 courts for 8 players? The center manager would turn one off if not two, claiming that a rest/play of 1/1 (for doubles) is a reasonable ratio for a club night
