Fire and Ice
When is it necessary, or appropriate to use the ball heater?
Fire and Ice
Occasionally, I play this guy who is the human equivalent of a ball heater. He strikes the ball so hard during pre game warm-up, it trials smoke. I hit my first warm-up shot and the ball sinks into my strings and flies to the front wall. Yet, as efficient as the human ball heater is at heating the ball up, I am equally as good at cooling it off - probably better. Within four or five shots, I can turn the ball into an ice cube.
Before ball heaters, players ran the balls under hot water to warm them up. Not a bad idea if the balls where stored in the trunk of your car in January. But now we have the ball heater. So when is it necessary, or appropriate to use the ball heater?
Many times my opponents play mostly outdoors in Alaska and the ball never gets above warm. Other times, I play with the human ball heater. In either case, I have to make adjustments. Part of the ritual of warm-ups is heating up the ball. It doesn’t help to heat the ball up with the ball heater, only to have it cool off for the match. The ball heater sometimes just makes the warm-ups unrealistic for the players’ ability; especially younger players who don’t hit the ball hard.
Many times, good players will hit repeated short, hard shots to the corner, heating up the ball prior to the first serve. Sometimes they’re just trying to intimidate their opponent with their rapid fire skills. In any case, if the rallies are short and players hit mostly soft rails, it doesn’t take long for the ball to cool down. Every match will fine a different ball temperature.
Between games the ball needs warmed up again along with the players. It is usually poor practice to go to the ball heater. However, for consistency, it is standard practice to use the same ball for the entire match. Once again, one of the players will take some rapid fire shots right above the tin; usually the player who lost because he or she is trying to release some anger. When I do it, I inevitably hit the tin lip and the ball sails out of the court which means we have to warm it up all over again.
The ball will find its own best temperature for you particular match. If the ball cools off too much for your taste, hit a few hard shots to the front wall or shoot the ball a few times into the floor before your serve. My least favorite is stomping on the ball and rolling it under your foot. I’m not sure where that started, but the ball usually takes a weird bounce till it finds its sphere shape again and I’m not sure how warm the ball gets.
I’m always envious how hot the ball gets when two exceptionally good players are on the court. But let’s face it, squash is a game of accuracy and changing pace; at least that’s what I’ve been told. The best use for the ball heater is practice or when you’re feeding for drills; no for everyday match play. More importantly, real mean don’t need the ball heater.
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