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Sinlge or double yellow ball?

Published: 15 Feb 2007 - 11:37 by jimbob1965

Updated: 19 Sep 2008 - 17:38

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Hi

First time poster here and pleased to have found this forum.

I am just an average player who enjoys a couple of games a week in my local, small town leisure centre league.  I have fought my way up the divisions to reach Division 1 (one off the top 'Premier' division) and am now increasingly finding myself at loggerheads with my opponents in the higher divisions reagarding ball choice.

Most players seem to insist on the Dunlop double yellow, whereas I prefer to play with the single yellow.  There was never a problem in the lower divisions, as most players there tend to prefer the single yellow.

My take on the choice of balls available is that the double yellow was made to suit the really top class players, as it is only these players who can get it hot enough to provide proper bounce characteristics.  I don't think that even at the top level of my league that the standard of play is good enough to get the sort of ball characteristics that the pros get, consequently, you end up with a very 'dead' game, with the ball often dying too much at the front or back of the court.  In my view, this hardly makes the game interesting or representative of how the game should be played.  This also stifles development, as you do not get long enough rallies to practice good technique, plus it tends to benefit a certain kind of player who is good at drops, kills and lobs.

I suppose my view stems from the fact that I do prefer to rally, but I just feel that there is a sort of 'obsession' with players of club standard to play with the double yellow as they think that you can't be any good if you play with anything else!  I don't think they realise that they are thereby not getting the kind of ball behaviour that is closer to what the pros get.  I have had a number of heated debates with opponents lately on this, but no one seems willing to take on board what I am saying!

What are other people's thoughts and experiences on this issue?  Our league does not have any rulings on this, but do other clubs/leagues?  What is England Squash's, or any other squash organisations', take on this?

I really could do with some back up on this, but if it is a case that most people use the double yellow, then I suppose I will have to take the 'if you can't beat them, join them' approach!

Cheers

Jimbob

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From raystrach - 16 Feb 2007 - 14:53

you are doing the right thing jimbob

re
        "....get the sort of ball characteristics that the pros get, consequently, you ...."

as i have said many times in this forum, the pros play squash, but not as we know it.

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From hamburglar - 16 Feb 2007 - 12:12   -   Updated: 16 Feb 2007 - 12:12

try http://www.pointfore.co.uk/squash.htm

The US website is only a distributor and says Pointfore is distributed in over 20 countries. I'm sure the UK must be one of them if not the first.

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From jimbob1965 - 16 Feb 2007 - 11:09

Thanks for all your replies.  That link to information about squash balls is especially interesting.  I am tempted to print off some of it to show to the other players, but following your advice I have come to the conclusion that if I am to progress (and not make myself too unpopular along the way!), I am going to need to get used to the double yellow ball.  I have already bought a pack of 3 today and will try them out over the weekend.

Re Pointfore balls, are these available in any UK retailers?  I would not mind trying these out for a change.  All players in my league use Dunlop only.

Cheers

Jimbob

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From rippa rit - 16 Feb 2007 - 06:46   -   Updated: 16 Feb 2007 - 06:47

jbs24 - that is a useful link - I have never seen it before.  Good one.

I guess there are horses for courses as the saying goes.  Good advice though but it does not help you in the competition. 

I know in some clubs they have a single dot,  say for the two bottom grades, and then change as the standard gets higher.   To keep the rallies going and give people a good hit. Nothing worse than a lob serve, and no return, as the ball just gets worse.

The cold hard facts are you need to be able to cope with both bounces whether it comes from a single or double yellow dot.  When you play touch players,  more skillful players, or more experienced players, the single yellow can also be dead, as these players may not bash the hell out of the ball and use the tactics and strategies more by keeping the ball close to the walls and corners. 
Competition becomes more about winning, than getting a sweat-up too, I suppose. Sorry to say, to progress up the grades,  you will need to cope with fast,  slow and dead squash balls.  The bounce of course is so variable in different climate changes too, eg winter, summer etc.

As Adz said try to get on the court and experiment/persevere with the double yellow, and you will eventually use the pace when speed is important, and slow when touch is important......it is a learning curve you could say.

Be patient....

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From hamburglar - 16 Feb 2007 - 02:10   -   Updated: 16 Feb 2007 - 06:25

If you take a look at http://www.ithacasquash.com/ball/ball.html there is some excellent information that describes exactly what you are concerned about. I can get the ball warm enough to get the 'cracking' sound on the front wall and a good bounce off the back wall. If i'm playing with another person who can do this, we'll use a double-yellow. Playing with someone who can't do this, i'll use a single yellow or even a Pointfore red-dot(Pointfore red is nice because it's the same size as the Pro ball). Unfortunately people will always want to use what the pros use even if it doesn't benefit the level of play. Therefore you'll probably be playing with a cold double-yellow. If this happened to me, I'd have to change my basic strategy from hitting long mostly, then going short, to hitting short mostly, then going long and having the ball die in the back. Too bad there are two spots on the double yellow. The author of the above link used to paint a yellow dot onto red and white dot balls and people never suspected it. They just thought they were hitting the ball well that day!

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From Adz - 15 Feb 2007 - 20:59

Yeah this is a tough call to make when you're first starting out. Personally I've always got my intermediate players to move off a training ball (blue / red) straight into a double yellow spot. How you play with the ball is no different, you just need it to be warm enough to keep the bounce going.

 

If the players in the higher league are keeping the ball warm enough during play that it does bounce, then this ball actually plays better than a single spot ball. I've got juniors of 6 playing with these balls, and when you start getting involved in teams and higher levels of play, they become the norm. If I were in your position I'd get on court with one and get used to playing with it as much as you can.

 

 

ADZ

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