Two players with identical fitness and technique can have completely different results on court, and the reason is often invisible: one of them reads the game half a second earlier than the other. Anticipation — knowing where the ball is going before it is hit — is a skill you can build, and it is one of the cheapest ways to get faster without getting fitter.
Anticipation is not guessing
People often confuse anticipation with gambling — committing early and hoping. Real anticipation is the opposite of a gamble. It is reading genuine cues in your opponent's setup and narrowing down the likely shots, so that when the ball is struck you are already leaning the right way. You are not guessing; you are collecting information.
The cues that give shots away
Most players telegraph more than they realise. The cues are there if you know where to look:
- Racket preparation. A high, early backswing often means power and length. A shorter, softer preparation can signal a drop or a boast. The setup happens before the swing, and it leaks information.
- Body position relative to the ball. A player cramped in the back corner has limited options — often just a straight drive or a boast. A player with time and space in the front has the full menu. Read the position and the possible shots shrink.
- Contact height and where they are on court. The deeper and lower the ball, the fewer attacking options exist. Knowing the position tells you which replies are even possible.
Position first, then reading
None of this reading matters if you are out of position. Anticipation works from the T, because from the middle you can move to any part of the court with equal speed. If you are stranded, reading the shot correctly does not help — you still cannot get there.
So the first layer of anticipation is simply good court position: recover to the T after every shot, face the play, and be balanced and ready. From there, the cues you read actually translate into an earlier first step.
The split-step: turning reading into movement
The bridge between reading a cue and moving is the split-step — a small hop that lands you balanced on the balls of your feet just as your opponent strikes the ball. It primes your legs to push off in any direction. Players who stand flat-footed react late no matter how well they read; players who split-step convert their reading into an explosive first move.
Timing is everything: the split-step should land at the moment of contact, not before and not after. Practise syncing that little hop to your opponent's swing until it becomes automatic.
Building anticipation in practice
- Watch the setup, not the ball. In practice games, deliberately shift your focus to your opponent's racket preparation and body position. It feels strange at first, but it trains you to gather cues earlier.
- Play the percentages. From each position on court, learn the two or three most likely replies. You are rarely certain, but tilting toward the probable shot is enough to gain a step.
- Rehearse the movement. Anticipation is only useful if your body responds. Ghosting and reaction drills train the first step so that the moment you read the shot, you are already moving.
Why reaction time is trainable
The gap between seeing a cue and moving is your reaction time, and it responds to training like any other skill. This is one of the metrics SquashRT tracks directly — reaction time and recovery to the T — because they are the measurable side of anticipation. When you can see those numbers improving, the invisible skill of reading the game becomes something concrete you can work on, rep by rep.
The takeaway
You do not need to be quicker than your opponent if you start moving earlier. Hold the T, watch the setup instead of the ball, learn the likely replies from each position, and sync a split-step to the moment of contact. Do that, and you will feel like you have more time on court — not because you got faster, but because you started reading the game a beat sooner.