I've been pressuring her into taking this step ever since we've met. From the beginning of this year, I've been playing at least 1-2 games of squash a week with friends of mine from work. I love the sport, and wanted to bring Amanda along for the exercise.
What is squash?
Squash is a cousin sport to tennis. Instead of a huge outdoor court, you're put in a cubicle room. The rackets are lighter to carry, and the balls are made out of a lighter foam material. There are analogous rules about out of bounds, and proper serving, but I'm not going to focus on that part.
Why is it a good couple sport?
All the time at the gym, I see different pairs of couples playing squash together. To an outsider of the sport, it isn't immediately obvious why this would be over any other sport. Sure, there's the shared exercise aspect, but you can get that in other things too.
- There are no inherit gender advantages to this sport. Most of your swinging is going to be done with your wrist, leaving men and women on equal playing grounds. Speed and agility are more important.
- Even when you're losing, you're still winning. If your skill is lower than the other player, then there is no doubt you're in for a great workout. I find that even when I'm badly losing, I don't notice that I'm getting a workout.
- You want the other person to succeed and become better. You become addicted to long rallies. Dominating the other player means that you don't work as hard and its not going to be satisfying. You will want to help each other to get better.
Squash is a great workout, a fun game, and a great couple sport.
Welcome to the world of squash. You're in for a hell of a ride.
Kalon
