What’s The Best Squash Racket?

We’re so glad you asked! There’s no quick answer but of course, everyone has a strong opinion. It’s a frequently asked question at Open Squash, our nonprofit squash community in New York with a focus on broadening participation in the game for everyone.

The best squash racket is the one you love the most, and it can take trying out a few different rackets to find the one you do care for. We offer demonstration rackets at our front desk if you’d like to try a new one out, and recommend experimenting with string tensions and grips, too, until you land on something you’re happy with.

Everybody at Open Squash just happens to love a different racket.  

Our racket walls showcase the true diversity available, but there are a few brands emerging as the most popular amongst our community: Harrow, Technifibre, and Dunlop, as well as Head.  

Open Squash has branded Harrow rackets for sale at our front desk, and they’re a favorite of our Director of Squash Operations David Hughes for their light weight and large sweet-spot, making them slightly more forgiving for beginner and intermediate players. Open Squash affiliated Pro Hannah Craig also loves a Harrow racket, comparing them to playing squash with a mac, compared to a PC. Many of our members also favor Harrow rackets, particularly the ultra-light Vapor racket, although they can be a tad fragile when used in the back corners of the court, and members have said that it only takes a couple of stray hard knocks against a sidewall to require a replacement. So, watch out when you’re trying to dig the ball out of the back corners!

If a Harrow is a Mac, then Technifibre is often said to be the PC of squash rackets, with greater precision for more experienced players, but less forgiveness if your stroke is inconsistent. In other words, playing with a Technifibre racket might be a little more difficult and less rewarding at first, but it’s often said to help you develop your potential as a player by teaching you, essentially, how to play properly.  Assistant Coach Habiba Mohamad plays with a Technifibre racket. So does Director of Operations & Head of Marketing Ona Prokes, although her father, a racket stringer, often adjusts the rackets using a series of weights to make sure it’s playable for her style of squash. FiDi Director of Squash Amr Khalifa is also a Technifibre man, although he can also often be seen to pick up any racket that happens to be handy as he’s demonstrating a stroke to a player on court. Head of Fitness and Assistant coach Thaisa Serafini is also a Technifibre player. On the pro tour, Technifibre sponsors a host of top players including Nour El Sherbini, Mohamed El Shorbagy and his brother Marwan, not to mention Mostafa Asal. The favorite technifibre racket on the pro-tour seems to be the Technifibre Carboflex X-Top 125. The brand’s rackets also have a good reputation for their durability.

Open Squash Assistant Coach Jana Shiha has been sponsored by Dunlop since her teens and still swears by their rackets. Open Squash Ambassador Victor Crouin is sponsored by Dunlop. So is the Peruvian Puma, Diego Elias, Open Squash Senior Adviser Ali Farag and his wife, Nour El Tayeb. British player Sarah Jane Perry also uses Dunlop along with Belgian player Tinne Gilis and American Sabrina Sobhy. The young Egyptian Amina Orfi is also sponsored by Dunlop.

Bryant Park Director of Squash Peter Creed has been sponsored by Head since his teens and swears by their rackets, too. He can often be seen with the latest colorway and racket on display. Open Squash Ambassador Gina Kennedy can also be seen on tour playing with a Head racket, alongside New Zealander Paul Coll, Egyptian Hania El Hammamy, and American number one, Amanda Sobhy.

There are several other brands available. Some of our members have recommended Unsquashable rackets, which are based in England and inspired by the legacy of Pakistani great, Jahangir Khan. They’re less available in the United States, however, and there are fewer of them adorning our racket walls. Prince used to sponsor Egyptian savant, Ramy Ashour, and Prince rackets remain popular, particularly with beginners, perhaps for that reason. Wilson rackets, too, often show up in our community.

There are countless other brands available, from Black Knight to Grays to Karakal to Salming to Victor and Xamsa. While we see fewer of these in New York, they do crop up occasionally, particularly when PSA player Joel Makin came to practice at our Bryant Park location—he’s sponsored by Karakal. Their replacement grips are also very popular.

Even once you’ve decided on a brand of racket, there are countless varieties to choose from made by each manufacturer. Then, of course, there is also the question of how you want to string your squash racket. At Open Squash, we offer next day stringing with daily pickup during the week. Most players string at a tension of between 24 and 27 pounds, although some choose a higher tension of over 28 pounds for improved control, which can occasionally make it harder to hit more powerful shots and make you more likely to break strings. If you’re a beginner squash player we tend to recommend increasing and then decreasing the tension of your strings to find out what works best with your playing style as you’re improving.

The truth, of course, is that a bad workman always blames his tools, and if you really want to improve your squash game the quickest way to do it is probably to get on court and practice, play a round robin, or take a clinic or a lesson with one of our coaches. That said, there’s no harm in finding a racket you love, and once you do, then we recommend getting a spare for league matches just in case you break a string at a crucial point in the fifth game. Rally On!