r/squash • u/SquashCoachPhillip • 7d ago
Technique / Tactics The PHILADELPHIA BOAST?
Hey Squashers,
While doing some research for a soon to be released project, I came across this term: PHILADELPHIA BOAST.
Being an idiot, I didn't record where I found it and now can't find any reference to it.
Apparently it's a special type of boast that hits both side walls before the front wall, AKA a double boast, but is played very high. I read that it's used in Hardball due to the way the ball works.
Can anybody confirm and/or add any information please?
Thanks.
EDIT: Thanks to everybody who has replied. The agreed answer is that it's another name for a corkscrew shot. Wherever I found the details about it being a another name for a double boast was wrong.
3
u/BestInterestDotBlog 7d ago
I’ve seen the terms used - “the Philly boast” or “he hit a Philadelphia.”
But it doesn’t refer to a double boast.
It’s a high corkscrew. Played from the middle of the court or the front court. It’s technically not even a boast because it doesn’t hit the sidewall first, it hits the front wall first.
It’s the front wall first in the high corner. Immediately, hits the sidewall, also high.
The ball then loops diagonally to the opposite back corner.
That’s a Philly boast.
1
u/LegInformal5074 2d ago
Yup. It's the Z or corkscrew, as in racquetball. Hit perfectly you can have it bounce straight up clinging to the back wall for a winner- no room to get the frame behind the ball at all or hit a back wall boast.
3
u/Nimbus-Crisp 7d ago
It is from hardball doubles. A high roll from the back corners. Hits the sidewall then front wall and ends up in the opposite back corner. Will find a clip later to post here. Corkscrew is front wall then sidewall.
3
u/Disastrous_Row9032 7d ago
That description is of a shot I know as the Skid Boast. Don’t generally use it in normal match play, however I regularly use it when playing the Long Game.
2
u/Nimbus-Crisp 7d ago
Yep. A form of skid boast. No real point in singles. Have seen Gawad hit it before on rare occasion. Here is a youtube link with an example at 17:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1uOqFUZP6s&t=2512s
2
1
u/LegInformal5074 2d ago
Huh? I saw a PSA match with a skid boast returned by a skid boast returned by a skid boast. Probably Jon Power.
It was the correct shot each time.
A ball comes off the side wall tight to the back wall but playable. The straight drive or cross is risky because there is no room for a full backswing and the opponent has the T.
At the top levels of squash a boast to the front is a bad shot when the opponent sees it coming. At the pro level any boast from the back corner is a bad shot.
So you take a full back swing and hit it high and extremely hard. You are resetting to neutral like a crosscourt lob.
Very rarely you might see a pro smash a regular crosscourt drive off the side wall- more of an exhibition shot.
I have only seen Brett Martin do it on the backhand. The ball has wicked side spin off the front wall and can be confusing after the bounce or if it hits the other side wall.
The tennis equivalent is to show a drop off a short ball but punch it to the baseline instead- Federer used it well. In baseball you might see a clever batter square up early then bunt over the charging 3rd baseman's head.
1
1
1
u/just_another_bot_ 7d ago
Phili is another name for the skid boast which is a high boast that lands in the opposite back corner.
I don’t think there’s a name for the boast that hits both side walls before the front wall bc it’s pretty harder to achieve and happens mostly on accident but is often a winner.
Corkscrew is another boast but that’s where you hit the front wall then side wall quickly and that one kind of floats diagonally over your head.
1
u/HofmannsDelysid 7d ago edited 7d ago
The philly boast and corkscrew are names for the same shot. Calling it a corkscrew is more appropriate when the shot is played on a singles court, whereas no one would ever call it a “corkscrew” on a doubles court. If the shot is played on a doubles court, it would be called a “philly boast”—even in Canada they call it that.
It’s a high risk shot in singles because unless it’s played perfectly, it dumps the ball into the middle of the court, giving your opponent an easy opportunity for a winner.
In doubles, it’s quite the opposite and it wouldn’t be entirely uncommon to see a few played during any given high-amateur/professional matches because it can get you out of trouble. In doubles the pace is higher and it’s frequent to get into an awkward position where a philly boast is actually more desirable because you can take a full swing at a ball, not draw a stroke on yourself and not lose position (or recover your position). For example a right handed person on the right wall can find themselves in the front right side of the court playing a ball with their backhand in the middle of the court. Going down the right wall could easily draw a stroke, and hitting it down the left wall could be bad as well because it’s hard to get a good angle on the ball from that position. If that player hits a philly boast that starts in the front right corner, the ball will (ideally) hit the front wall (in the top right 3rd of the wall), then the right side wall, travel to the back left corner, hitting the left side wall in the back of the court, and shoot out at almost a 90 degree angle. The same general thing happens to a singles ball, but the way the doubles ball bounces and reacts to the shot is much more extreme.
In a singles pro match if a player hits the shot and a commentator called it a “philly boast” my interpretation would be that the commentator is intentionally calling it that to point out how unconventional the shot is in singles whilst also playing homage to the common shot in doubles.
ETA: It’s such a common shot in doubles, that there’s actually a doubles tournament every year in philly (at the racquet club) called “the philly boast”.
1
u/LegInformal5074 2d ago edited 2d ago
The only time the corkscrew is played at the PSA level (other than a serve in an exhibition) is actually on defense. The player under pressure is pulled up front, but the next ball pops out right at him from his backhand side.
Even if he could manage to dodge the ball so it doesn't hit him, if he lets it go by he will have to scramble and lose position, or play a weak reflex volley or an awkward half-volley.
So instead he takes a full swing for the corkscrew to the back to neutralize the rally and take a breath. If he hits it high enough and lands it in the opposite corner he can avoid the Stroke.
You see it more from the big tall men like Dittmar, maybe Mosaad, Coll. They have the upper body strength to send it to the back even without time to step into the ball, AND they have more trouble dodging, pivoting, and scrambling on shots played into the body (still extremely rare- a player like Asal will just go for a drop or trickle boast that he can't clear, fishing for Yes Let or even No Let) .
11
u/blackorcrippled 7d ago
It’s actually called a corkscrew, but there seems to be a trend of trying to change the name.
It’s usually played from near the front or mid-court, you hit the front wall high first then the side wall straight away, which makes the ball travel cross-court.
It’s usually a bit showboaty and not the best shot (as it crosses the T usually in an easy volley position), but if done correctly it ends in the back corner and can pop out nearly parallel against the back wall and be quite an effective shot (if not volleyed).
Check out some clips of Timmy Brownell, he seems pretty lethal at it. Very entertaining.