Safety, dangerous swings, and following through

Stopping to avoid contact

A player who stops or holds up a shot because continuing would risk hitting the opponent is behaving correctly. Referees generally treat that as a legitimate reason to stop, and a let or stroke may be appropriate when the stop was caused by the opponent's position and the shot would otherwise have been playable.

Dangerous swings

A swing becomes dangerous when it creates a real risk of striking the opponent, for example with an excessive or uncontrolled follow-through. Referees may penalise the player making the dangerous swing even when the interference was caused by the opponent. Judging this needs attention to the arc of the racket, not just the position of the bodies.

Why safety calls can differ from access calls

Access calls ask whether the striker could play the ball. Safety calls ask whether playing it was acceptable. A striker may physically be able to hit the ball but still reasonably choose not to when the shot would almost certainly hit the opponent. Keeping these two questions separate helps you avoid mixing reasons.

Practising safety decisions

When reviewing a clip, watch where the racket would have travelled had the swing been completed, and where the opponent's head and upper body were. Camera angles can make a safe swing look dangerous and vice versa, so treat video as a prompt for discussion, not proof.

Official rules and resources

Always check the current rules and regulations from the governing bodies:

• World Squash Officiating (WSO): referee education and courses
• World Squash: official rules and governing body

Keep learning

• Understanding interference in squash
• Let versus stroke: choosing between the two
• When no let is the correct call
• Video review in squash: what it can and cannot change
• How to improve as a squash referee

This article is educational and does not replace the current official rules. Try the decision trainer.