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So I am going to talk about playing one of my favourite shots. Down this backhand side I often like to take the ball in to the front of the court if I can. In professional squash so much is played down this (backhand) side you will always get a few more opportunities to play this shot than on the forehand side.

The first thing is to give myself as much room as possible because it is so easy to get too close to the ball and too tight on it and that can cause all sorts of problems. The shot is not going to go where you want it if you haven't given yourself enough space! So I am looking to stretch into the shot as much as I can and give myself room so that I can get my racket through.

Depending on where the ball has landed, whether it has come off the side wall or whether it has come on a bit straighter, there are certain options I can take into that front corner. One is a touch shot that can probably played with a little bit more height and guided into the wall tighter. The other is more of a stab/kill which can be played with a little bit more pace and possibly lower.

I think it is good to have these variations if possible in squash and not get too simple about it, doing the same shot on every one, so giving yourself variations is very important.

So when practicing the shot on my own in a solo practice situation I try and give myself a couple of different options. The one where I feed myself onto the side wall for it to come off it gives me more of an angle. That is probably the shot in a match that I am likely to take in as you have a natural angle to hit the backhand drop. If it is coming straight, that makes it harder but it can still be quite valid to play the shot and with this straighter one you can attempt a slightly lower risk shot and maybe the higher ball I was talking about.