The boast is one of squash's most misunderstood shots. New players either never use it, or they use it far too often. Learn when it is the right choice — and how to hit it cleanly — and you will turn some of the worst positions on court into playable rallies.
What a boast is
A boast is any shot that hits a side wall before the front wall. Instead of driving the ball straight into the front wall, you angle it into the side wall first, and it rebounds across the court to the front. The most common version is the two-wall boast played from the back corner: side wall, then front wall, and the ball drifts toward the opposite front corner.
Why it exists: the escape
Most of the time, the boast is a defensive shot — an escape. When your opponent has pushed you deep into a back corner with a good length, you often cannot generate the height or angle to drive the ball straight back down the wall. The ball is behind you, cramped against the wall, and a straight drive would either die short or sit up in the middle.
The boast solves this. By taking the ball into the near side wall, you buy yourself an exit from the corner and send your opponent scrambling to the front of the court. You have not won the rally, but you have survived it and reset the exchange.
The attacking boast
There is also an offensive use. The attacking boast — played from further up the court — is a short shot designed to bring a slower or tired opponent sprinting to the front corner. Because it travels across the court, it covers a lot of distance and can wrong-foot an opponent who is anticipating a straight drive. Used sparingly and with disguise, it is a genuine weapon.
The danger: the loose boast
Here is why coaches warn against over-boasting. A boast travels across the middle of the court, and if it comes off the front wall too high or too central, it hands your opponent an open ball in the front — perfect for a straight drive or a counter-drop. A loose boast is one of the easiest balls in squash to attack.
- Do not boast from a comfortable position. If you can drive straight, drive straight. The boast gives away court position, so only spend it when you have to.
- Keep it low and dying. A good boast lands short and soft in the front corner, not floating out toward the middle where it can be killed.
- Recover to the T immediately. Because the boast opens up the whole front of the court, you are vulnerable if you admire it. Get back to the middle before your opponent replies.
How to hit it cleanly
The mechanics matter because the angle is unforgiving. A few points make the difference between a controlled boast and a loose one:
- Get low. The ball in the back corner is usually below knee height. Bend into it rather than reaching down with the racket alone.
- Open the racket face. You need the ball to lift into the side wall and carry to the front, so the face should be slightly open, not closed.
- Aim your side-wall contact. The height and spot where the ball strikes the side wall control where it ends up at the front. Practise finding the same side-wall target repeatedly.
Building a feel for the angles
The reason boasts feel unpredictable to newer players is that the ball's final position depends on a chain of contacts — side wall, then front wall — and small changes early in that chain move the finish a long way. This is exactly where being able to visualise the full path helps. In SquashRT's Court View and Tactics Board, a boast is drawn as its real multi-wall trajectory, so you can see how the side-wall contact point changes where the ball finishes at the front. Seeing the whole path makes the shot far less mysterious to reproduce on court.
The takeaway
Treat the boast as a tool with a specific job, not a habit. Defensively, it is your escape from the back corners when nothing else is on. Offensively, it is an occasional surprise to stretch a tired opponent. Use it when the position demands it, keep it low and dying, and recover to the T — and the shot that frustrates so many players becomes one of the most useful in your game.