Selecting the Right Squash Camp For You
by Ron Beck © SquashTalk, 2006  Updated: March 7, 2007

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Which Camp?
So you want to improve your squash this summer. The 2005 season boasts a wider range of top-quality squash camps than ever with a diversity of approaches - relaxed to intense, small to large, short to long. Research the camps - some boast unique, exciting approaches to coaching and improvement. Here are some guides to selecting the right camp:

Selection of Camps:
The number and variety of squash camps continues to explode! This is great for you as the student trying to improve your game. It's also a great sign of the health of the sport of squash. Some of the NEW developments in squash camps for 2006: The Power Squash Academy expands with Jonathon Power making a stronger commitment to developing a new generation.

Coaching Staff: The coach who will interact with the camper every day is the key ingredient of a squash camp. Inquire about the coaching staff who will be ACTIVELY coaching all day during THE SPECIFIC PERIOD that your child will attend the camp. Squash camps advertise marquis coaches who often are used in a limited way for only one week or only limited time during the sessions.

Ask for references about the key coaches. Individual students match up well with particular coaches based on individual personalities, learning styles, and some intangiables. Sometimes the only way to learn who relates best to your child is to try several different camps.

Staff/Student Ratio: This is another critical ingredient. Some popular camps are large. ALMOST ALL of the US-based squash camps have EXCELLENT staff/student ratios. Pay strong attention to this and do some digging with prior attendees to validate the camp's advertised ratios. Ratios of 4:1 or 5:1 are good. This is a camp management issue. Camps with the longest track records, such as the Princeton, Westchester, Talbott, and Power Squash camps have the best handle on making sure that the staff/student ratio is achieved.

Private coaching sessions: Camps that offer significant private one-on-one coaching session are providing a more individualized experience than a solely group-experience camp. There are different philosophies on this, but in many cases this is a big advantage. For instance, the Westchester Squash personal program is famous for this.

Camp Philosophy: The biggest divergence among squash camps has to do with the different philosophies about teaching squash and about running a camp. For example, the Princeton Squash Camps uses a tried-and-true structured approach, which gives the campers responsbility for setting goals, and keeps the instruction and recreation structured. The Talbott Squash Academy, reflects the personality of founder Mark Talbott, who puts strong emphasis on values such as enjoying the game and sportsmanship. The Westchester squash philolosophy is very closely aligned to the views of the director, Richard Millman's views on the best approaches and strategies to squash, which are a component-driven approach. Complete Squash Camp run by Satinder Bajwa, holds to his very unique philosophies in which he attempts to use a wholistic approach, heavily integrating Yoga and non-squash activities, and also tries to foster players abilities to think for themselves.

Try to learn about a camp director's squash philosophy in selecting a camp.

Non-Squash Activities: As a parent, you are used to traditional camps where the entire day is very programmed. Because of the intense nature of squash training (at any level) campers in a squash camp require signficant unprogrammed downtime in order to recuperate. But you will find a wide range of approaches here. Some camps only focus on the squash side of things, and leave the rest unprogrammed, some have more or less focus on supervision outside of the squash training itself. Some, such as Fortson's camp at Bowdoin, can take unique advantage of the camp setting to offer some interesting complementary activities.

Other Campers Attending: LAST BUT NOT LEAST! It is extremely important to understand that at a squash camp, the camper's experience is heavily driven by the other campers in attendance. Whatever your camper's squash level and experience, he/she needs other campers to be present with similar levels of experience. Camp directors understand this well. Query the camp director as to how well the other attendees match up with your camper for the specific session you are envisioning enrolling in. THIS IS A KEY ELEMENT!

About this directory:

SquashTalk.com is providing a complete directory of squash camps available for the summer of 2005. We provide some explanatory information about camps to help you navigate this directory. This is YOUR directory. We encourage you to CONTRIBUTE COMMENTS about camps you have attended - we will post those comments.

PLEASE RECHECK THESE PAGES! We are getting new information on a daily basis!

We also encourage you to CONTRIBUTE LISTINGS of camps missing from the list. We believe these pages to be comprehensive, but are continuing to update them. For those camps without websites, we will provide FREE WEB PAGES FOR YOUR CAMP. Simply E-Mail SquashTalk your information.