Positioning Perspective: The Ball Problem Squash Must Solve Before LA28

By Peter Carlisle
November 10, 2025

Olympic inclusion will elevate the profile of squash and attract newcomers to the sport. But if the sport wants to keep them, it must fix a fundamental flaw—the ball itself.

When snowboarding made its Olympic debut in 1998, it was the fastest-growing sport in the world. Four years later, at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Americans won five of the twelve available medals, including a podium sweep in men’s halfpipe. That success triggered a surge in media coverage, televised events, sponsorship, and participation. It even inspired the IOC to add other action sports to the Olympic program.

Yet within a decade, participation plummeted. The problem wasn’t image; it was entry. The sport was punishingly hard for beginners—not because the sport lost its appeal, but because it failed to adapt to beginners. Unlike skiing, snowboarders are bound to one board and one edge. Catch that edge, and you fall—usually on your wrists or tailbone. Until you master balance and edge control, the process is painful and repetitive. Passionate young riders pushed through; many others quit.

The ski industry, having lost those participants, adapted. It introduced shaped skis that made turning easier and twin-tip skis that allowed skiers to land backward and perform tricks. Skiing became easier and more versatile, and many newcomers who had defected to snowboarding returned. Snowboarding, having failed to evolve, lost its entry-level base and never recovered.

Squash should learn from that lesson as it prepares for the surge of interest that LA28 will bring. To capitalize, the sport must create a clear, consistent way to introduce newcomers, and a structure to keep them playing.

Right now, the pathway isn’t clear or inviting. New players, whether children or adults, face four different balls. They vary in “bounciness”: the two-dot (used by pros) is the least bouncy, followed by the one-dot, the red-dot, and finally the blue-dot, which is both larger and livelier.

Most adult newcomers start with a one-dot ball, though there’s no clear guidance on which ball suits which level—or why. At my club, we run a winter league of eight teams with nine players each, seeded by ability. League rules require the top seed (usually a former college player) to use a two-dot ball and the second seed a one-dot, unless both agree to play with a two-dot—which almost always happens. The rest use a one-dot.

The problem is that most players other than top-level competitors shouldn’t be using either. The issue isn’t preference or ego—it’s physics. World Squash defines a “playable” ball as one that rebounds between 26 and 32.7 inches. The two-dot ball doesn’t reach that range until it’s heated to about 112°F, while the one-dot reaches the lower range of playability around 103°F.

I routinely check ball temperature between games; it’s usually between 95°F and 102°F. In other words, I’m not even playing true squash most of the time. As a former college tennis player, it’s not that I can’t hit the ball hard enough to generate the requisite heat, but my less-traditional playing style doesn’t keep the temperature high enough. If I, as a #2 seed, can’t keep the ball in the playable range, it’s fair to assume most of the seven lower seeds can’t either. Which means the majority of our players aren’t actually playing the game as defined by its governing body—and that’s likely true well beyond our club.

Suggesting that all but the most advanced players use a one-dot ball is often met with resistance; suggesting they aren’t really playing “squash” even if they do would be met with disdain. But the data doesn’t lie: if the ball temperature during play isn’t within the playable range, it’s not really squash. It’s all about the temperature.

Unfortunately, for those unable to sustain it, there’s no good alternative. The red-dot ball, which meets bounce requirements at lower temperatures, is larger than regulation size. It’s a great teaching tool for beginners and juniors but not an option for most adult players seeking a livelier, regulation-sized ball. The sport lacks an accessible, properly sized ball that allows the majority of players to experience squash as it’s meant to be played.

Squash needs a new ball specification.

To turn Olympic exposure into lasting growth, the sport must create an on-ramp that attracts players and keeps them in the game by fixing the equipment mismatch at its core. Like skiing, squash can grow by making its game more playable without compromising integrity or skill. That starts with a ball that plays true at real-world temperatures. Without it, most players aren’t playing squash as defined by the sport itself, and new ones won’t stay long enough to learn.