There is extensive gym work done consistently by these top players to build up their core strength and muscle conditioning. 

Raystrach, as another example, has been a builder for years so the strength in his wrists cannot be compared with a pen-pusher, and at times it seems that he should  get his swing higher to get the power and leverage, etc. but he can get away with it more than another person will because of that natural strength component built up and maintained over many years.

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Thanks Sparty

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You will indeed see many different preparation 'styles' on this shot.

To quote top coach Mike Way.... "it's important that you don't get hung up on any one particular style and just make sure you get the mechanics of the swing correct" There is a correct technique section on this site in the squash library, with detailed explanation of the important issues.

There have been certain players who have been praised for having a fantastic backhand ( eg. Jon Power) and others for having a fantastic forehand (eg. Dave Palmer) but there's no evidence that copying any person's particular swing style is going to help you become a better player.

The elaborate style you mention on the backhand comes from taking the racket back higher than some other players may do. If you have a cocked wrist position, and you take you're racket up and back so you forearm is pointing to the ceiling (with a lot of shoulder turn) you will notice that the racket actually points into the sidewall, rather than straight up. If your style is to keep the racket lower then the racket will point up to the ceiling, and your forearm will point to the back wall (with less shoulder turn). The visual difference is made more obvious if a player uses a very cocked wrist (a la JP) as opposed to a straighter wrist position (a la Nick Matthew). Obviously neither of these players have exactly got serious technique flaws! So I guess there is not much in it really.

wrist flicks are generally used for deception and variation. It is rare to see wirst flicky basic drive technique in good players. Although Ramy Ashour and Greg Gaultier both have a very wristy almost clipped technique (very short swing) at times. Again it doesn't seem to do them any harm.

All this adds up to making it very confusing for us mere mortals.

Sparty

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