In this short article, we will go over the squash balls used by professionals; the yellow dot and the double yellow dot ball.
To learn about blue dot and red dot squash balls, read this article. To learn about playing levels and effect of ball temperature, read that article.
Now, lets talk balls.
Single Yellow Dot Squash Ball
Things start getting serious when a yellow dot squash ball comes into play. These balls need a good whacking in order to get hot enough to bounce at a playable level. A single yellow dot is good for competitive players who want a good fun game with some meaningful rallies and not kill themselves trying to pick up low drops or dying lengths.
For intermediates, club level players, and pros, single yellow dot balls become too bouncy to kill and cause endless rallies. The only time it makes sense for a high level player to use a single yellow dot ball is when the ambient temperature is really low and a double yellow dot ball is impossible to warm up.
Single yellow balls bounce less than blue dot and red dot squash balls, even when hot.
Professionals use Double Yellow Dot Squash Balls
Double Yellow, or double dot squash balls are the standard ball for professional tournaments across the world. Therefore, all squash players end up using these for everyday play and training for the rest of their lives.
Double dot balls are the slowest of the lot, and bounce the least off the floor. A cold double yellow dot ball does not bounce at all, while a hot ball is still difficult to return when dropped.
For an amateur player, a double dot ball would be no fun to play with as it needs to be hit more than an amateur can in order to be warmed up. The pros however hit so hard and repetitively that a double dot ball starts behaving like how a single dot ball would behave for a seasoned amateur.
White Squash Ball
The white balls that we see being used in official PSA tournaments are all double yellow dot squash balls. They are only white because dark colored glass courts are used and that contrast is needed for seeing the ball.
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