in squash can you serve overhead tennis style?

Question

i played a bit in the uk where i never saw it, however, i have seen it twice now in australia. is it legal?

Answer 1

Yes but you leave yourself in a bad position for the return, like a boxer throwing a roundhouse punch

Answer 2

Sharon, Yes, they both are better the more powerful you hit them---same motion but different amounts of force applied meaning you might have a more powerful overhead than serve, or vice versa. I always loved watching Connors' skyhook overhead smashes. Hope this answered your question.

Answer 3

Yes it is and likewise it is legal to serve underarm in tennis.

Answer 4

Yes as long as it stays within the legal court markings.

Answer 5

yes

Answer 6

I think it is legal. Or at least nowhere there is a mention that it is not legal. And I have not been stopped either whenever I have played squash.

The expectation in a squash serve is to ensure that the ball is played above the net line in the opposite wall, one leg is within the service box, the balls falls across into the opponents court without going outside of the outline and it is not a dangerous play!

As simple as that !! Ha, I wish it was as simple as that. It is easily said than done.

Actually, in tennis one tends to throw the ball to give enough time to complete the swing of the racquet from down behind to all the way up to meet the ball at an angle and the follow-thru to ensure that one does not come anywhere in the path of the racquet. The focus is on transfering the waist rotation and the shoulder power thru the swing of the racquet to the ball so it converts itself into speed and spin of the ball.

In Squash, I observe that one tends to use a lot more elbow power and less of shoulder (squash-elbow or tennis-elbow ... the pain is the same). The path of the racquet in squash is shorter.

Therefore, I would like to analyse as under:
a. It is not the tennis serve vs squash serve.
b. It is the characteristics of the ball in play. In tennis the ball travels with less force while in squash one has to hit it hard. In tennis the ball spins, in squash it rarely spins. In tennis the ball bounces a lot, in squash it is restricted (of course subject to the dot color and the heat the ball is in etc); the bounce is still lower. In tennis the ball travels faster and in squash the ball travels slower. In tennis, the impact of the ball can be felt, in squash not as much.
c. In tennis, one attempts to make it tough to receive by either speed of serve or the bounce thru topspin in addition to the line of serve while in squash one attempts to serve close to wall and keep the ball low to make it difficult to return or at least work towards a weak return.