Exponent of ‘hard ball’ squash

Press, 17 March 1982, Page 32

Exponent of ‘hard ball’ squash

Squash players complaining about court fees or inflated subscriptions this year might do well to talk to a fellow by the name of Barry Taylor, recently arrived in Christchurch.

Mr Taylor, the manager and first squash professional to be appointed at the Squashways complex in Riccarton. is back in New Zealand after 17 years in Europe and Canada. '

For the last 13 years of that time, he has been teaching a wide variety of sports at the Badminton and Rackets Club of Toronto. That club he described as "old, established, and fairly well-to-do” with a lot of wealthy clientele. There are 3000 members with a waiting list of eight years. Fat wallets are virtually regulation wear for members there. They have to part with an initial joining fee of about 2500 Canadian dollars and annual dues amount to a further sCan7oo to sCanBoo per member. Bars and lounges are fairly elaborate, it seems, and attentive waiters are very much evident in the dining room. “Members are pretty well waited on hand and foot,” said Mr Taylor.

Patrons of the club also get a good deal in the choice of racket sports offered.

There are four outdoor tennis courts (three of which can be used in winter with an inflated bubble over the top, seven badminton courts, five American squash courts, two platform tennis courts (a combination of squash and tennis played outside), and one doubles squash court.

two and a half times bigger than the normal size. To the amazement of many, Mr Taylor taught the lot — tennis, squash, badminton, and platform tennis. “People thought that versatility was most unusual," he said. “There were very few pros who taught multi sports: the others were just tennis or squash."

The man who certainly now answers a description as “rackets specialist” was primarily known’ as a tennis player when he left New Zealand in 1965 to tour the European circuit. He was among the top 10 in the national rankings from 1963 to 1965 and played Wilding Shield for Wellington.

Mr Taylor, how 38, did not start to play squash until he arrived in Canada in 1969. But he has made up for lost time since.

The expatriate New Zealander had success in his first big tournament year

playing the hard ball American game. He made the quarter-finals of the 1972 North American open championship (now called the world open), losing only 3-1 to Sharif Khan, then the best in the world and son of the legendary Hashim. “I met Sharif seven years out of eight, and always he was a little better,” said Mr Taylor.

From then until 1980, Mr Taylor played in all the major hard ball tournaments and was ranked about eighth in North America. “That made me about eighth in the world with that ball, I guess,” he laughed.

Unfortunately for his pocket the influx of big prize money into the professional hard ball circuit did not come until he had stopped contesting it. “Now there’s a tour with total prize money between $150,000 and $200,000."

His experience is not limited' to the/ hard balf game though. He has played a lot of soft ball tournaments and was ranked among the “top half-dozen” in North America.

On a few occasions he has been involved in soft ball exhibition matches with the Australian, Geoff Hunt, who has now won what are considered to be the world championships of both squash balls.

The main differences between the North American hard ball game and the international soft ball game are the size of the courts (75cm narrower), the nature of the ball (harder), and the method of scoring (up to 15

with all rallies counting). Mr Taylor is a great advocate of the hard ball, but has to concede a great change in popularity.

“In the last five or six years the game has really turned to softball," he said. “Ninety-nine per cent play softball in North America, the remaining one per cent are just the professional group that have a tour."

Members of his own club have generally resorted to playing the soft ball game on the American courts while another club is going through the expensive business of pulling down their old courts and changing them to comply with the international version.

Those seeking lessons with the new Squashways pro will be instructed purely in the standard soft ball game. “There'll be no hard ball here; it’s the players who have taken the game to the soft ball."

He does contend, however, that the hard ball is more exciting from the spectators’ point of view. “The ball travels a lot faster and is played off the walls more, rather than directly up and down. It's more of a shot-

maker’s game as opposed to a marathon on the squash court." Why the move back to New Zealand after all these years? “I’ve always had a desire to be here, and do what I've been doing in Canada," said Mr Taylor. He has always been well aware of the need “to have money to live by." but regards New Zealand as a much better place to live. “Canada is very much a material sort of existence. Everything is push button.” The rackets man had his first look at the Squashways centre last week and his initial impressions were good ones. "It has a warm feeling. It is a commercial venture, but is still orientated to the public and offers them a fairly cheap way of playing squash." And squash, he says, is a healthy discipline — “not just for the body, but the mind as well,” Mr Taylor would love to coach tennis as well and has already been in touch with a few people. “I'll see if I have time. A lot of things will happen if they're meant to happen,” he philosophised. TIM DUNBAR