Grafton Tennis and Squash Club
70A Thornton Road • London • SW12 0LF
Tel: 020 8673 2891
apologies that this important info was rather hidden away on Mondays Newsletter but herewith. Please read carefully
Return to Squash at the Grafton
Following the recent announcement by the government that indoor sports facilities can reopen from Saturday 25th July we are pleased to be able to confirm that our squash courts will once again be available. Squash England has issued some guidelines that we MUST stick to. They can be found at
https://www.englandsquash.com/backtosquash.
Below is a summary.
The courts are ONLY open to members and MUST be pre-booked. Squash membership is available so if you know non-members that want to play then please point them in the direction of our membership forms.
Squash England has allowed the following activities ONLY;
1. Games between two players from the same household or social bubble
2. Individual practice
3. Squash lesson with a qualified Squash England coach
4. Two players to do drills with each player staying on one side or part
(front-back) of the court, with only one player handling the ball to start the rally
It is frustrating that we cannot immediately commence playing competitive games but we must stick with these activities and if members do not then the committee will consider closing the facilities again.
Most of the other guidelines are quite obvious in this COVID world. Please bring your own water (ideally in a labelled bottle) and a towel (to wipe down sweat). You must arrive at the court already changed and ready to play. Always sanitise your hands on arrival and take all of your equipment onto court with you. You must stay on court for your entire playing period. Please do NOT wipe your hands on the walls of the courts or sit on the floor whilst having a break. Minimise contact with surfaces in the court building and be mindful of other players especially when in the corridor. The balcony is off limits to non- coaching staff other than at the start of the session to open windows for ventilation if necessary (see below). The clubhouse is accessible but the showers and changing facilities will not be.
Ventilation is a key part of our strategy and the more we can simulate an external environment the better. The following steps should be followed:
1. All windows to be left partially opened (approx 15cm) from the start of the session
2. Front door to be propped open from the start of the first session
3. A minimum of 15 minutes of free air movement must be left between
consecutive sessions
4. Squash court doors to be left/propped open during the 15 minute
ventilation period and all players must have left the squash building
5. The ventilation fans should not be adjusted or switched off -- these are
set to optimise humidity activation and air changes
To provide space for these ventilation periods, all games will start on the hour and last a maximum of 45 minutes; every 4th session, at 45 minutes past the hour, will be blocked out, so that you only need to take note of the first 2 numbers of your booked slot. This is illustrated in the table below:
Time on booking system
Actual time to play
1600. 1600
1645. Blocked
1730. 1700
1815. 1800
1900. 1900
1945. Blocked
2030. 2000
2115. 2100
2200. 2200
As you are hopefully aware, the club has agreed to extended memberships for the period when the courts were unavailable. This offer supersedes the free lights offer but as a gesture of good will and to get players back on court then the lights will be FREE until Monday August 3rd. To enable this, a lights key will be left. This must not go missing otherwise we will not be able to continue offering this service. The light key must be sanitised before and after it has been used.
Single player practice
Harry Parkes has drawn up guidelines on how best to carry out single player practice (posted on the noticeboard). There are also some really food videos on YouTube. It’s a really good thing to do and, if done properly, can lead to much enhanced technique and ball-racket control. It’s also hard work if you do it properly. I find that using a single dot ball is best, it’s faster and better replicates a real game. I also find that splitting sessions into 5 minute chunks and having a short rest between them helps with focus and concentration and enables the best outcomes. Harry has some new single yellow dot balls available for £2.50 per ball.
Sides and Front-Back play
For obvious reasons, Squash England has called having two players in the court, one on each side, as “Sides”. There is a video on their website explaining what they mean. You can play a game (for points) hitting crosscourt every shot or do classic coaching drills such as the well-known boast drive (one player at the back the other at the front). These can be played for points as well.
Coaching
Graeme Hogarth and Harry Parkes will both offer 1:1 coaching sessions at reduced rates of £15 per 45 min session. If you are interested then please contact then individually. (graeme.hogarth@kcl.ac.uk; hgparkes1@gmail.com)
Fitness and Stretching
While I am sure that some of you will have kept super-fit over the break, others (including me) may not have. Squash is hard on the body and muscles that you don’t normally used can take a battering. Please try and stretch out before and after play, ideally building up some muscle and tendon strength BEFORE you go back on court.
22/07/2020
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
May 2015
July 2014
June 2014
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
March 2013
January 2013
November 2012
September 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
Hotmail/Outlook Users
GMail Users
Other email service providers may have similar settings -- please follow their instructions. If not, contact their support desk and request delivery of messages from grafton@no-reply.mycourts.co.uk.
