BetterSquash / Thought Experiments / Experiment 01

If you could play like any professional player either technically or tactically, who would it be?

Reddit Squash Thought Experiment 01

This thought experiment was originally posted to r/squash on 1 June 2026 and is summarised here, with the original thread still open for comment.

The Question

Not who you admire most. Not who has won the most titles. Not even your favourite to watch. Who would you actually want to play like, given your body, your game, and the opponents you face every week?

A technical choice usually means cleaner, more reliable ball striking — you know what you want to do, you just can't always do it. A tactical choice means something different: you already hit the ball well enough, and what's missing is the chess — the patterns, the patience, the ability to construct a point rather than just play it.

The Results

13Upvotes 68Comments

Notes

Ramy Ashour and Karim Abdel Gawad came up more than anyone else. Ashour mostly for sportsmanship and comeback wins rather than a specific stroke, Gawad almost always for his drop shot and deceptive footwork. Mohamed Elshorbagy, Mostafa Asal, Amr Shabana and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez each had their own smaller camp.

The technical/tactical split people were asked to make mostly held: technical answers clustered around footwork and swing mechanics (Gawad, Shabana, Ali Farag's movement), while tactical answers clustered around mental toughness and point construction — Nick Matthew came up repeatedly here, almost entirely for grit rather than shot-making. A few players picked someone whose game looks nothing like their own, which was its own kind of honest answer.

What People Said

A selection of replies from the thread, lightly trimmed for length.

"Amr Shabana had a great mix. Outrageous shot making, textbook swing, brilliant mover."
DufflessMoe · 1 June 2026
"Technically — I feel that current folks like Dessouky, Abouelghar have clean beautiful swings... Tactically — Miguel Rodriguez. Seems to have a way to understand your split step pattern and keep throwing you off balance. Ramy, Shabana too. Farag for always putting pressure without hitting insane shots and always volleying."
paulipe91 · 1 June 2026
"Simon Rösner, because of his backhand volley and the accuracy of his play."
pmurk01 · 1 June 2026 — the only reply to name one specific shot rather than a whole game
"Ramy. For his sportsmanship, talent, insane shots, and determination — he never gave up and had some of the greatest comebacks ever."
Mindless_Clock9483 · 1 June 2026
"Miguel Ángel Rodríguez. Because he's flamboyant. Talented. A little past it, but stubborn enough to keep playing. A total entertainer who is always generous to his opponents. Plays hard. Wins hard. Goes down fighting hard."
damienlaughton · 1 June 2026
"Tactically, Nick Matthew — his mental strength, grit, fierce competitiveness, never gave up a point no matter how far behind... kept things very simple, very reliable, hard to break down, consistent in his movement and striking."
AmphibianOrganic9228 · 1 June 2026
"Alex Lau or Annie Au — I just love a lob-drop game. I struggle to transfer weight through my shot and my game has never been about power. I also admire their unwavering sportsmanship even when they have to deal with cheating opponents and refs who fail to recognise it."
Own_Water8681 · 1 June 2026
"I always thought Farag was an excellent tactician, and as a possibly controversial answer I would say the same about Mo Elshorbagy."
manswos · 1 June 2026

Read the full thread — all 68 replies — on r/squash ↗

My Take

Phillip Marlowe · BetterSquash

It's not surprising that nearly all the names were current, modern players except Ramy and Nick. Both World Champions. It's shame that more people didn't pick previous generation players, but it's understandable.

What struck me most wasn't who people picked, it was how few people picked the same player for the same reason. Gawad shows up for a footwork pattern and for a drop shot in the same thread, which are two completely different things to actually practise.

That's really the point of asking "technically or tactically": the answer tells you far more about where a player thinks their game is weak than the name itself does.

Nick Matthew coming up so often for grit rather than technique was the one pattern I didn't expect going in. It's good that club players are reaching for a role model on mentality rather than shot-making. It's an often under-valued characteristic.

THINK.
ABOUT.
SQUASH.

This page recaps one entry in the Reddit Squash Thought Experiments series — a monthly question I post to the squash subreddit. These aren't trick questions or coaching lectures. They're designed to get club players thinking differently about their game, spark honest discussion, and occasionally reveal something surprising about your own squash.

There are no right answers, nor wrong ones. Just squash players thinking about squash.