February 24, 2014

Lack of Drama in TV Squash Part of the Problem

by Aubrey Waddy

I loved John Branston's "What’s On My Mind" piece this week, and it’s set me thinking. Of course, no revelations, no conclusions! For Memphis, gosh, John paints a sad picture of sports desertification. 

With squash, firstly we need to inspire kids. That achieved, we need the facilities for them to play and the enthusiasts to organise and coach them. Sometime soon I’m going to revisit my plea for more imaginative televising of squash. Youngsters will never be inspired by a succession of inch perfect backhand rails, filmed from behind. It looks easy and where’s the drama?

And re sports in the UK, to go with the central funding, you have to have the best management. In a reverse way, Squash England has demonstrated that.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:55 AM

    That is a good point, that it is difficult to appreciate the skill level. Some recent British Nationals videos that were posted are filmed through the front wall. They appear to be low tech but you get much more of the sense of the players moving and working.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous7:10 PM

    And we also have to figure out why it is that most university players don't seem to continue the sport.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12:02 PM

    Agree with Branston. Jogging and treadmills are dumb. Folks need to chase a ball. Outdoor paddleball courts on So Cal beaches overflowing on weekends demonstrate right direction.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Aubrey,

    That is an interesting point that you make. May I suggest though that there is plenty of drama (I think you mean action) in Squash. Its just not explicit i.e. Serve/Volley, Knockouts, Goals, Drives down the Fairway, etc... unlike in televisual sports. Its more subtle, nuanced moves occur at the terminus of long rallies And so Squash has many more special challenges to Communicating it in built into the game. Until we solve those challenges and they are easily solved, and gravitate to network TV which is the source of clout and revenue, we are destined to the 60 year hiatus to which we've been consigned. For more please visit the links below as well as the website.
    Kind regards,
    Ferez


    ReplyDelete
  5. For relevant links see articles 9, 10a, 10b, 10c on our website,

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Aubrey,

    That is an interesting point that you make. May I suggest though that there is plenty of drama (I think you mean action) in Squash. Its just not explicit i.e. Serve/Volley, Knockouts, Goals, Drives down the Fairway, etc... unlike in televisual sports. Its more subtle, nuanced moves occur at the terminus of long rallies And so Squash has many more special challenges to Communicating it in built into the game. Until we solve those challenges and they are easily solved, and gravitate to network TV which is the source of clout and revenue, we are destined to the 60 year hiatus to which we've been consigned. For more please visit copy and paste the links below into your browser as well as visiting the website Ferez'nSquashDocs.
    Kind regards,
    Ferez

    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxmZXJlem5zcXVhc2hkb2NzfGd4OjcxNjczNTFlZTc1YzY1ZTM

    ReplyDelete