I’d like to get something off my chest, I hope this is the best forum for it?
I would like all participants of the badsquash league to understand the purpose of the knock-up. It is not there to stretch or warm up your body; you should have already done this before you entered the court. It is definitely not a time where you hit the ball repeatedly to yourself 10 or 11 times.
It is there to allow each player a fair go at getting used to the feel of the court, the speed of the ball and to find your length and pace. You have 2m30s on each side, so whacking the ball back to yourself a dozen times before you accidentally let it go over to your opponent is poor form, rude and very frustrating for your opponent. 2 or 3 shots, maximum to yourself and then over to your opponent is, I think, about right. I can almost guarantee that if you do this, you’ll actually get warmer and a better feel of the court and ball.
For the record, I have absolutely no issue for those out there who want to try and intimidate their opponent by hitting the living daylights out of the ball. Go for it, but try and do it with some skill, pace and decent width. Don’t rally with yourself up and down the wall, at league standard we can all do this pretty well for ourselves now.
There doesn’t seem to be any particular demographic for the main perpetrators, just some individuals who just don’t get it.
Rant over. Thanks. | 
