Getting in on the racquet

GET YOUR KIT ON:This week the sports of squash and badminton feature in our continuing series on taking up a new activity

DOWN AT Irish Squash, they’re understandably pleased that the American magazine Forbes recently settled on its sport as the best from a health point of view, ranking it narrowly ahead of rowing, rock climbing and swimming.

Health has always been a major selling point for a sport that is beginning to stage a comeback after years of slow decline from its heyday back in the 1970s. Then, it was routinely associated in the public’s mind with businessmen attracted by the intensity of the workout and opportunity for the fierce competitiveness that it offered.

The image never really did squash any favours, while the speed of the game at the top level actually managed to count against it with broadcasters. Its revival has been based on hard graft at grassroots level, with its governing body here looking to broaden its base in schools while re-energising clubs.

“It’s probably been a problem alright,” admits Paul Byrne, a former international who now works as a coach and development officer with the association in Dublin. “When I was a kid I used to get a fair bit of stick from other kids about playing it because of the impression that people had of it and the people involved, but really it was nothing like that and the players are drawn from every sort of background.”

Byrne has seen interest and numbers of players start to grow again over the past few years as, he feels, people tire of the gym and look for something a little more interesting instead. “There are definitely people coming back to it and others discovering it for the first time, and court bookings at some of the bigger clubs would be well up,” he says.

“The emphasis does tend to be on social squash and it can be difficult to get people to enter competitions because they can involve playing say, four matches over the course of a weekend, and that requires quite a high level of fitness . The important thing, though, is that people are trying it and discovering just how enjoyable it is.”

Clubs such as Westwood, in Leopardstown, Dublin, where Byrne spends a lot of his time, run beginners’ nights every month, but he reckons it’s worth having a look around to find courts. “It’s funny,” he says, “sometimes they are in places you really wouldn’t expect.”

There is no such issue with badminton which is just about everywhere. Aside from the sport’s own centres in Terenure and Baldoyle and the larger, more modern sports facilities up and down the country, almost every church, community or school hall big enough to take a court, has one marked out on its floor, and the numbers of participants are enormous with more than 100,000 reckoned to play on a regular basis.

“We have 95 juveniles and 45 adults, the majority of whom don’t play any other sport,” says Martin Walsh of Kilmacthomas badminton club in Co Waterford, twice winner of Badminton Ireland’s club of the year since being re-established with the help of a Local Sports Partnership grant a few years back.

“We compete in all of the Waterford leagues and Munster competitions, but really the emphasis is on fun and competitions within the club, getting people involved and ensuring that they enjoy themselves.

“We try to give people a chance to decide if it’s for them – we usually provide everything needed for the first three nights after which people can decide if they want to stick with it.”

Even then costs are low with membership just €70 for adults and €20 for juveniles. “The reaction we get is tremendous,” says Walsh. “People love it and there’s a great atmosphere around the place.”

Jean Denihan, who runs an oversubscribed programme for beginners and improvers at Baldoyle, agrees. “We get people in who are looking to do something to get some exercise and they can’t believe how much they enjoy it. There’s a great social aspect to it and it’s a sport where regardless of age or ability, you can find your own level and get a competitive game,” she says.

All balk at the suggestion, meanwhile, that the intensity involved makes the sports a little risky for older participants concerned about more delicate joints. Kilmacthomas, for instance, has active league team members in their 60s. Meanwhile, Cathy Quinn of Irish Squash points to the success of Ireland’s Barbara Sanderson in the over-70s section of the recent World Masters Championships in Germany.

WHAT THEY SAY

‘Squash – that’s not exercise, it’s flagellation” was how Noel Coward described the sport. And in truth there’s little between badminton and squash in this respect. I recall losing an especially tough match after a colleague mistimed a shot some years back and caught me clean across the back of the leg, leaving a perfect impression of his racquet that lasted for several weeks.

WHAT IT DOES

‘These two are a good match in global terms,” says DCU exercise expert, Giles Warrington, “with each having the potential to bring much the same range of benefits to people from the young to the old. Clearly both provide the opportunity to get high intensity workouts and so there are going to be strong cardiovascular benefits but there are a lot of other positives, too: both are good for developing eye to hand co-ordination as well as the fundamental movement skills or ABCS [agility, balance, co-ordination and speed].

“It’s important to try to develop these in young people, but with a fairly basic level of physical fitness, people of all ages can play either and their high impact nature will be good for bone health. If somebody over 40 or someone carrying a little too much weight is thinking of starting from scratch though, it might be best to play safe and have a check-up first, then remember to warm up and avoid trying to compete beyond their limits.”

WHAT IT TAKES

The short answer is “not much” and, as with many sports these days, it’s generally not that hard to borrow from the club where you play until you have an idea of whether either sport is really for you. If you do decide to get a little more serious, the costs involved are broadly the same for both with specialist shoes starting at about €60 while racquets run from roughly that to more than three times as much. Club memberships associated with squash can be more expensive as a significant proportion of courts are at upper-end gyms or tennis clubs but pay as you play is often available with prices starting at as little as €4-5 per person per hour.

WHERE IT’S AT

Both Badminton Ireland (badmintonireland.com) and Irish Squash (irishsquash.com) provide links to clubs around the country although the spread is more comprehensive with the former as squash tends to be strong mainly in the major urban centres and the odd outpost such as Carlow (home of some of Ireland’s leading players over the years). Both organisations are keen to encourage beginners and many clubs are recruiting now.