Healthy squash — Sport is ranked as the fittest of them all

Squash just doesn't quite have the sophisticated ring to it as does other racket sports like, say, tennis or racquetball or even the lesser known paddleball.

Squash sounds, well — more edible than playable.

But, according to Forbes magazine, squash — the game — is the healthiest sport an individual can undertake — better than rowing, rock climbing, swimming, cross country skiing or basketball, all runners-up in the scheme of fitness.

Not taken into account is the sheer fun of standing inside a room, about the size of a large bedroom, and hitting a little ball as hard as is physically possible.

Regulation squash, as is played now, involves playing in an enclosed area that is 21 feet long and 18.5 feet wide, has no ceiling (one difference from racquetball), and a thin piece of tin stuck to the front wall that makes it nearly impossible to play a "quick" game.

And now, said Craig Bennett, teaching pro/manager of the Squashworks — Utah's only designated squash playground — the introduction of a softer, squishier ball in recent years has upped the level of play.

Deseret Morning News graphic Sports-rated Requires Adobe Acrobat.

Forbes consulted with fitness experts and asked them to score the various sports in four areas — cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. Also scored were calories burned and injury risk.

Of a possible five points, squash scored 4.5 for cardiorespiratory endurance, 3 for muscular strength, 5 for muscular endurance, 3 for flexibility and 5 for calories burned in 30 minutes (517). In rating injuries — high, so-so and low — it scored a 2 or so-so. Total points: 22.5.

Rowing and rock climbing tied for second with 22 points each.

What this shows, confirmed Bennett, is that squash is both healthy and fun.

Unlike other racket sports, points are scored on every serve. The ball can be played off any of the four walls but can bounce no more than once before being returned.

What makes this game so different is the 19-inch-high tin plate on the front wall. All shots must be returned above the plate, which eliminates quick kill shots, which are common in racquetball.

"What you find," explained Bennett, "is that the better you get at racquetball the shorter the rallies because of the kill shot.

"It's quite the opposite in squash. The better you become, the longer the rallies . . . the more of a workout you get."