By Rod Symington, W.S.F. International Referee

Let’s begin with the fundamental principle: a call of “Let” stops play. What happens after the call of “Let” is irrelevant to the outcome of the rally. A player should never hit the ball after a call of “Let” (because of the danger of injury), but if he or she does, what happens to the ball has no bearing at all on the decision-making process – play ceased when “Let” was called.

So at the moment “Let” was called, what was the situation? Where was the opponent? Where was the ball? Was the striker in a position to hit a winning shot, i.e., hit the opponent with the ball on its way directly to the front wall? Or, was the opponent clear of the entire front wall? Or, was the ball nowhere near the striker’s racquet?

This last situation is very common on the squash court: players constantly expect to be awarded a Stroke when the ball is nowhere near their racquet. You cannot get a Stroke if the ball is nowhere near your racquet.

A common situation is the following: a player hits a drop shot; the opponent runs up to the front of the court and puts up a high lob. The player, anticipating the lob, leaps across immediately and calls “Let,” expecting to be awarded the Stroke. But where is the ball at the moment “Let” is called? It is still fifteen feet in the air and only Plastic Man could reach it. Since “Let” stops play and since the ball was not hittable at that moment, the player cannot expect to receive the Stroke. It is then a “No Let?” No, in most cases a Let will be the correct outcome, because although the player was fishing for a Stroke, he or she also had a reasonable fear of injuring the opponent. (A second later, the ball would have been within reach of the player’s racquet)

Similarly, if you anticipate that your opponent is going to hit a loose rail shot and you are standing waiting for the ball with your racquet ready, you can only expect the Stroke if you call “Let” when you can hit the ball. If you call “Let” while the ball is just rebounding off the front wall, you must time your call so that you make it at the precise moment you could hit the ball. (Of course, by then opponent might just be out of the way…)

So you can see that the timing of the call of “Let” is crucial. If you call it too soon, you cannot expect the Stroke. If you leave it until the proper moment (as you should), the opponent may be out of the way - which is just as it should be.

This brings up an often overlooked procedural point – you must request a “Let.” The referee isn’t supposed to guess that you might want a Let or Stroke.