Should I Continue Playing Squash When I Am Injured?

Ideally, you should visit a medical professional as soon as possible, but that is very easy for me to type and a LOT harder (and expensive!) for some people to do. I am certainly NOT going to give you any advice for any particular injury, even the much repeated R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) is not always the best thing to follow.

Wearing the wrong sorts of shoes can lead to foot and ankle issues.

That’s why seeing a medical professional is your best option. I can tell you though that I have NEVER heard of an injury becoming worse by resting!

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that a lot depends on how you injured yourself and sometimes that injury can come from training too hard or not using the correct technique. Becoming the best squash player you can, requires you to do the things that YOUR game needs, not what everybody else is doing or advises. For example, your game might require improved skill and control, not just improved fitness, so your time is better spent doing solo drills or conditioned games.

I am not saying that you don’t need to work hard to become a better squash player, because you do, you really do, but you need to work hard on the things that matter.

A well-balanced training programme never puts too much stress on one aspect of your body or mind. It includes injury prevention exercises and always uses a proper heat up routine.

One of the hardest things for sports people to do is NOT do the thing they love, so resting is particularly frustrating for active people. However, that self-control and patience is a reflection of a strong mind, a mind that thinks long-term not just a few weeks away, and that is how you must approach these situations.

There could be other types of training you could do, visualisation for example, or maybe some strength and conditioning work that doesn’t aggravate your injured area. resting doesn’t mean doing nothing, it means not stressing the injury.

Final Thoughts

When injured, rest and see a medical professional if you can. Try to use the time to improve other aspects of your performance.