Data shows fascinating contrast in physical demands of squash and tennis
“Fitter, healthier, more productive: the data that shows squash is in good nick” says former squash world number one James Willstrop, writing in The Guardian.
He comments that research commissioned by The Professional Squash Association illustrates exactly how exacting squash really is.
James Willstrop
Comparing Tarek Momen’s first-round match against Mathieu Castagnet at the Swedish Open earlier this year to the longest match at Wimbledon 2017 (Nadal v Müller) the research uncovered:
• In 97 minutes Momen covered 5km on the court, struck the ball almost 1,000 times, contested 100 points and covered an average of 48 metres per point. Most of his movement consisted of three-six meter sprints, almost half of which were backwards. Momen spent over 60% of the match – more than an hour – in play.
• By comparison Nadal’s match lasted 288 minutes, but Nadal only covered 3.645km, was only in play 15% of the match and only ran 9.4 metres per point.
Willstop adds: “Put simply, Momen ran further in less time with less rest, while covering more distance per point. The data is not intended to decry either sport but to show the fascinating contrast in their physical demands.
Read full article from The Guardian
PHOTO: By Dacoucou [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
