If there is one shot that decides more squash rallies than any other, it is the straight drive to the back. It is not glamorous, it does not draw applause, and beginners often ignore it in favour of flashier winners. But watch any strong club or professional match and you will see the same pattern: the player who hits a better length controls the rally, and the player who controls the rally usually wins the point.
What "length" actually means
Length is simply how deep your shot travels before it dies in the back corner. A good length forces your opponent to move all the way to the back wall, turn, and dig the ball out from an awkward, cramped position. A poor length sits up in the middle of the court, giving your opponent a comfortable ball to attack.
The target for a straight drive is narrow but clear: the ball should hug the side wall, bounce around the back of the service box, and land tight in the back corner. When it clings to the side wall, your opponent cannot get their racket behind it cleanly — and that is where errors and weak returns come from.
The three ingredients of a good drive
- Height on the front wall. Aim above the service line, not at it. The ball needs enough height to carry the full length of the court and drop softly in the corner. Hitting too flat is the most common reason drives fall short.
- Width off the side wall. A drive that drifts toward the middle is an invitation to be volleyed. Aim to have the ball brush the side wall as it passes the service box, so it stays out of your opponent's comfortable hitting zone.
- Pace that matches the target. You do not need to smash it. A controlled three-quarter pace that reaches the back is far more useful than a full-power drive that rebounds off the back wall and sits up.
Why the back corners are so punishing
The back corners are the hardest place on the court to play from. The ball is behind you, the walls crowd your swing, and you have almost no angle to attack. When you consistently put the ball there, you are not trying to hit a winner — you are asking your opponent to make a mistake, or to give you a loose ball you can then attack from the front.
This is the core rhythm of squash: build pressure with length, wait for the short reply, then step in and finish. Players who chase winners from the back skip the first step and gift away rallies they could have won with patience.
How to train it
The straight drive rewards repetition more than almost any other shot, because the target never changes. A few focused routines will move your length forward quickly:
- Solo drives. Stand behind the service box and hit continuous straight drives to yourself, trying to land ten in a row past the box. Count them. The number climbing over weeks is your progress.
- Drive and reset. After each drive, return to the T before the next one. This links the shot to the movement it demands in a real rally.
- Target zones. Place a marker in the back corner and treat every shot that lands beyond it as a success. Working to a defined reach zone trains accuracy far faster than hitting freely.
In SquashRT, the straight drive is the shot the whole training model is built around: a clear target deep in the court, a defined reach zone, and immediate feedback on whether the ball made length. Grooving that one pattern — front-wall height, side-wall width, controlled pace — is the fastest route to rallies that you dictate instead of chase.
The takeaway
Before you spend hours on drops, kills and trick shots, earn the right to play them by owning your length. A player who can put the ball in the back corner ten times in a row is a nightmare to play against — not because of any single winner, but because they never give you anything to work with. Master the straight drive, and the rest of your game has a foundation to stand on.