"Til Doubles Do We Part" *

All

Tired of the grind of playing the brutal game of singles? Try doubles. It’ll give you a new lease on your squash life.

John

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My recollections take me back to the year 1975. As I entered this immense white room for the first time alongside fellow Bears Andre Naniche, Kris Surano, and Paul Gessling it was a breathtaking and disconcerting experience at the same time.

Thank goodness for the generousity of the members of the UClub of San Francisco to allow four scrubby undergraduates from Berkeley to play there. For me, it became the game that survived long past the rewarding singles days and had given me a leg up on my singles contemporaries. (There was one point when  I entertained the ambition of winning a so-called “Triple Crown” in squash: National Vets hardball singles title, National Vets singles softball title, and National Vets doubles title. I won two of the three - not to shabby, I must say. JL) 

Doubles is a great game and your partner can be as dear as your spouse.  He's someone you can discuss strategy with, dress together in the same corner of the locker room, wear matching outfits and above all, celebrate the victory as if you’re the Giants, Warriors, or the Forty Niners.

Choosing and keeping a partner is not unlike dating and marriage. I remember one time in the semi-final round of the Canadian Open Doubles, my partner and I, although unseeded, were tremendous on paper.  Up against the first seed and defending champs, Patrick Miller and Jamie Heldring, we played tough catch-up-ball to get to14-14 in the fourth. Set one was called. (Back in the day, a tied game was decided by playing an overtime set. - JL)

I had a few friends in the gallery and I was a good left wall player with a decent set of wheels who had done the homework. The rally at game point went hit for hit for an interminable period of time until a loose ball come up off the front wall to my partner - a “sitter”.  He did one of his famous “Steph Curry” jumps ready to smack that ball into the nick, setting us up to play the fifth game, and win or lose go straight to the bar!  That was the first and last doubles match I played with Canadian Bob Smart.  You know what he did?  He hit the ball into the CEILING!  I think I’m still upset he did that.  We are and shall be great drinking buddies.....but doubles, from that day onward, we were no longer a marriage.

One of the highlights of my squash career was winning the US National Doubles 40+ Championships in 1998 with one of the great right-wall players in the game, Buffalo's Gordie Anderson.  After that tremendous win, we earned the #1 Vet ranking as a team in the US (it'll say “World” in my obituary.) I took the place of his former partners, Philadelphian Scott Ryan and former Trinity coach, Paul Assaiante (Gordie won Veteran National titles with both players.) He dumped me the following year. I tell my friends that I dumped him. Good thing we didn’t have a big wedding ceremony! Who cares if they were national champs. Oh well, I guess it was time to get back together with former long-time partner and friend Ed Dold again.

Tempted to get into the game?

For you and your partner to win your division, here are a few thoughts that should be considered before you enter the Big One.  

- One player should be older and more experienced, who probably dropped serious singles awhile ago.  He or she will call the flip of the racquet, any overtime points, and will probably deliver the acceptance speech if you win. (Alas, overtime games are a thing of the past.)

- The younger partner will make or break the game with more winning shots, better coverage of the court, and probably has the inside track on the good bars to hit after the game.  

- At least one partner should be a non-drinker or late-nighter.  He or she then should have a good chance of influencing the naughty one to take it easy throughout the tournament. If both partners burn the candle at both ends, then you’ll be history by the second round.  

Hopefully you’ve chosen a partner with only one good stroke.  These players who say, “Oh, I can play either side”, think they are going to share a singles court! (I’m proud to say that I was the exception to the rule by earning titles on the left wall as well as the right wall. - JL)

The popularity of doubles is becoming more apparent……particularly as we enter our golden years  Take a look at The Buffalo Tennis and Squash Club, The Maryland Club, The Racquet Club of St. Louis, the Germantown Cricket Club, the Jonathan Club, the new four glass wall court in Toronto, and our very own University Club which can boast two doubles courts! (There’s now a doubles court in San Diego of all places! - JL)

Start the journey and while you gain experience remember to watch other matches in case you’re on the lookout for that future partner. 

John

*credit to my former partner in crime, Gordie Anderson, whose original story inspired me to write mine.

Related links:

The Triple Crown