From the start of work at nine o'clock in the morning to the end of the last sparring practice at five o'clock in the afternoon, Xiao Xu, the coach of Beijing Smart Squash Center, is basically full of time.
"There will be more people on weekends now, but this is not yet our 'peak' business state." A customer who was scheduled to come to play in the gym at 4 p.m. sent a WeChat message saying that he would be a little late, and Xiao Xu got a chance. Sit for a while and catch your breath.
She said that when she was the busiest, it was common for her to practice with her for eight or nine hours a day or even more.
Weekend by appointment on Wednesday.
After adding the WeChat account of the squash court, a parenthesis was added after the nickname of the venue, which contained these six words.
Literally, if you want to play on the weekend, you need to make an appointment on Wednesday.
A reporter from the Beijing News dialed the appointment numbers of many squash courts in Beijing, and almost all the staff gave such suggestions.
The difficulty of the booking process was a bit beyond imagination. After finally booking the venue for the weekend, the staff did not forget to remind you not to be late, because the later venues have also been booked, and you have to leave on time.
Why is this niche sport that many people have never experienced, or even seen or understood, so "hard to find in one venue"? Who are they playing squash?
Practitioner coaches work eight to ten hours a day on weekends
Beijing Smart Squash Center has a score of 4.8 points (out of 5 points) on the third-party consumer review website, and was also selected into the Chaoyang District ball sports hot list.
Many customers who come to the store come here after seeing recommendations when searching for squash courts.
The location of the venue is slightly off. After getting off at Maquanying Station of Metro Line 15, you have to ride a bicycle for 10 minutes to reach the industrial park where the venue is located.
In Beijing in early February, the sky was gloomy.
Walking into the industrial park, there are not many people on the road. Occasionally, there are delivery people riding electric bicycles in the park.
Enter from the gate of the park, go straight and turn right, and you will see the huge blue signboard on the outer wall of the squash hall.
Because it was Saturday, there were a lot of people coming to play. The glass doors of the arena kept being pushed open and closed automatically. The people who came in and out were mainly children and young people.
Push the door and enter, the front desk staff is busy answering the phone.
"Sorry, the venue is fully booked." As soon as I entered the door, I heard the receptionist say into the phone skillfully and slightly apologetically.
The girl sitting on the side looked up and smiled. Her name is Xiao Xu, and she is one of the full-time coaches of this squash court.
Xiaoxu introduced that on weekdays, she will take at least five class hours a day, that is, five hours.
It will be busy on weekends, and it is possible to practice for eight or nine hours.
There are five venues in the museum, which are lined up and can be seen through the glass wall. There are people swinging rackets on each venue.
Unlike the chilly spring outside, the temperature in the hall is suitable, and most players wear short-sleeved shorts.
At court No. 5 at the end of the corridor, Zhang Tian and his wife Cui Tian had just finished an hour of sparring. Having played squash seven or eight times, they could still play back and forth without hiring a coach.
The two originally planned to play squash at the East Lake Villa, but because they didn't make an appointment for the venue, they had to change the time and place.
"We made another appointment to go to East Lake next week, and sometimes we couldn't make an appointment even if we wanted to," Cui Tian said.
The squash court at East Lake Villa has only two courts, and it is more difficult to make an appointment than here.
In the squash court on Saturday afternoon, there were many people coming and going, and there were many young people like Zhang Tian and his wife.
The other part is children and parents.
These children who are going to school play squash at a relatively fixed time. Like the nine-to-five office workers, their appointment time is also concentrated on weekday evenings and statutory holidays.
Xiaoxu's colleague Zhong Jinqing is from Malaysia. The 34-year-old was a player of the Malaysian national squash team. Eight years ago, he turned from a professional player to a coach.
In the hall, he is mainly responsible for youth squash training.
"Now, there are 30 to 40 children who come to class here, and I alone have more than a dozen. I go to work almost every day, four or five hours in the middle of the week, and eight to ten hours on Saturday and Sunday." Zhong Jinqing said .
The experiencer's time "low investment" reaps "high return"
For a period of time, Cui Tian was not in a good mood because of acne on his face all the time, and he was very irritable.
Although she is not particularly busy in operation training, she will inevitably encounter some troubles in the workplace.
Sweating and decompressing through exercise, Cui Tian, who didn't like to move much before, came up with such an idea.
Before squash, she tried yoga, but failed to stick to it after applying for two cards.
Later, she planned to go to the gym to lift weights. After thinking about it, she didn't know how to use various equipment and had to hire a coach. She felt that strength exercises might not be suitable for her.
In order to find the favorite sports, the couple thought about it at home, and Zhang Tian also searched on various apps.
Searching and searching, he suddenly remembered the squash that his friend had played once before. Two people can play against each other. The interaction is strong, and it is not affected by seasons and weather.
Try it out, Zhang Tian and Cui Tian hit it off right away, went to the mall to buy two pairs of suitable shoes that day, and immediately asked the coach to try it out in the evening.
Very cool.
This is Cui Tian's feeling after playing squash for the first time. "After exercising, the whole person is in a very comfortable state. The coach will teach you how to exert force, and the moment you hit the ball vigorously is very decompressive."
For Zhang Tian and his wife, squash is a very cost-effective sport.
They calculated an account. Since they started playing squash, they had only invested a thousand yuan in equipment.
The first is two pairs of sports shoes, each pair of average price is about 200 yuan.
The second is the racket, an entry-level racket of 400 yuan, and they bought two.
The most of the investment is the cost of hiring coaches and renting venues.
At first, the couple would invite a coach to play with them to learn basic knowledge and standard movements.
In this way, the cost per hour is about 400 yuan.
After getting started, the two will occasionally fight, and they only need to rent a venue for an hour for two hundred yuan.
After suffering from the loss of yoga cards, they no longer store value, "one time is one time."
"Playing squash is very cost-effective." Fan Fan also agrees with this view.
However, in her mouth, "cost performance" does not refer to the investment and return in terms of cost.
Fan Fan, 30 years old this year, is engaged in work related to IP copyright operations. Affected by her work, she has very little time to go to the gym. "Busy, too busy." "Low investment", but "high return" in the sense of gain and satisfaction.
Fan Fan's first impression of squash came from the Korean movie "My Sassy Girl". Her focus is that squash can be played by one person compared to other ball sports.
This means that you can go it alone if you want to play squash, and don't waste time waiting for someone to form a team.
She found this squash court in Maquanying from the Internet, which is only a 10-minute drive from where she lives.
After trying squash last summer, Fan Fan "topped".
Because he used to play badminton and tennis, Fan Fan is very good at squash.
Not only can he fight by himself, but he can also fight against coaches and friends. Even if the strength of the two sides is very different, he can still fight back and forth.
And in the process of playing, you can also chat with friends, which makes Fan Fan feel more pleasure than other ball games.
Under her recommendation, many friends around me who want to keep fit have also come into contact with squash. "I told them that this is very fun and a relatively happy aerobic exercise."
Doudou, a friend who came with her this time, entered the squash court for the first time. They made an appointment with Xiaoxu in advance and rented the court for two hours.
"My friends and I are not at the same level, so we will hire a coach every time, so that we can take turns playing with the coach. It is still quite tiring to fight."
participant
It is a plus for students studying abroad
In the first ten days of February, many schools in Beijing hadn't started yet, and many parents came to play squash with their children, and Han Liping was one of them.
She and her husband made plans for their son Ningning to study abroad a long time ago, and learning squash was also arranged to complete this "main task".
"Knowing squash is a plus when applying to foreign schools. Taking a step back, there is no harm in letting children play sports." Han Liping said.
Ning Ning is the epitome of many teenagers practicing squash.
Compared with Zhang Tian and his wife, Fan Fan and Doudou, 80% of the young students that Zhong Jinqing often leads, like Ning Ning, learn squash purposefully and systematically.
"We will arrange for them to participate in some youth competitions at home or abroad, because now youth international competitions have points and rankings. If they get good grades, they will have the opportunity to be invited by foreign schools to study there." Zhong Jinqing said.
Just like culture class, if you want to get a higher score, you need to put in more effort.
The frequency of these teenagers coming to the arena tends to be higher and relatively fixed.
During the semester, you can usually see them in the squash court three to four days a week, and there are even those who "attend" all five days.
When the holidays come, they train almost every day.
At the Ivy Squash Center in Houshayu, Shunyi District, 10-year-old Liu Yuanxi arrived early in the morning. After changing his clothes, he started practicing. The black ball bounced against the wall and the ground, making rhythmic noises.
He started to play squash at the age of six. From December last year to January this year, he participated in four consecutive youth squash open tournaments.
In the first stop in Malaysia, Liu Yuanxi participated in the Asian Squash Federation Super Series Platinum Event - the Kuala Lumpur Junior Open and finished 7th.
In the subsequent U.S. Junior Open, he ranked 18th in the men's U11 group.
Liu Bin, Liu Yuanxi's father and coach, said that this is the best result achieved by Chinese teenagers, but Xiao Liu was a little dissatisfied. We played poorly in the Open." Liu Yuanxi pouted, showing an aggrieved expression.
After that, Liu Yuanxi went to Edinburgh, Scotland, and won the third place in the men's U11 competition of the European Squash Federation's youth event - the Scottish Youth Open.
Finally, he moved to the British Junior Open held in Birmingham, and he won the 11th place in the men's U11 group.
Liu Bin, who was the head coach of the Chinese National Squash Team, founded the Ivy Squash Center, which is mainly responsible for youth squash training.
As early as 2017, he organized students to go to the United States to participate in the Squash Open, but the results were not good, and all members "round tour".
Therefore, Liu Bin is quite proud of Liu Yuanxi's achievements this time.
After playing for more than ten minutes, Liu Yuanxi was sweating profusely.
Taking advantage of the break, he came over again and began to talk about his life, his hobbies, and the paintings he drew. The sweat on his forehead glistened under the light.
He turned over the little hand that was catching the beat, and a white callus appeared on the tiger's mouth of his right hand. "This is just a blister," Xiao Liu pointed with his left finger, and spoke calmly, as if the blister had grown on someone else's hand, "It doesn't hurt." , I'm used to it."
Regarding the way to go in the future, Liu Yuanxi has discussed with his parents many times, and he has not thought of giving up squash for the time being. "My mother hopes that I will take squash as a bonus item, and I will play squash from junior high school to high school, and then to university. In the future, I will I can choose to be a professional athlete, or I can choose to find a job that I like."
Promoter
There are five or six hundred squash fans in Beijing
Somewhat contradictory to the bustle of venue reservations, whether in the squash "circle" or "outside", everyone seems to have acquiesced in the statement that "squash is still a niche sport in Beijing".
Zhao Jun, president of the Beijing Squash Association, has followed the General Administration of Sport of China to promote squash all over the country since 2004. In his opinion, “There are few publicity, few venues, few technical personnel, and it is a non-Olympic event. Squash doesn't know enough."
Most of the squash courts in Beijing are concentrated in the northeast direction, mostly in Chaoyang and Shunyi.
The small number and remote location of arenas is one of the reasons why many people have a "little taste" of squash.
According to the standard size of squash courts stipulated by the World Squash Federation, the singles court is 9.75 meters long and 6.4 meters wide.
Compared with badminton, tennis, etc., the occupied area is not large, but squash courts have higher requirements on height. The height of the out-of-bounds line of the front wall is 4.57 meters, and the headroom height must be at least 5.64 meters.
"There are too few people who can play squash." Zhao Jun believes that it is difficult for novices to feel the fun of squash without professional guidance.
"In the beginning, you only find it fun when someone guides you. Therefore, when there is a venue, you must have a coach. In addition, someone organizes activities, so that these people can become hardcore fans and enthusiasts."
According to statistics from the association, at present, there are five to six squash clubs in Beijing that can regularly organize activities, and there are five to six hundred players with a relatively stable playing frequency.
"If you want to talk about experiencers, there are really many. Now basically all arenas are full until Saturday and Sunday." Zhao Jun said that after 2013, the development of squash in Beijing has changed every year. It is quite easy for people to accept, but how to transform these people into so-called enthusiasts requires more efforts.”
The good news is that schools large and small in Beijing have begun to pay attention to, accept and develop squash.
Peking University, which opened squash classes in 2012, has been with squash for 11 years. Tsinghua University has also built squash courts in the new gymnasium.
Among primary and secondary schools, the International Department of Beijing No. 11 School and Keystone School have squash courts, and Xizhong Street Primary School, which is opposite the East Lake Club, has recently expressed interest in squash.
"If all schools are mobilized, then our teenagers and young people may all be mobilized." Zhao Junchang thought with a smile on his face.
(Zhang Tian, Cui Tian, Fan Fan, Doudou, Han Liping, and Ning Ning are all pseudonyms in the text)
Featured writing / Beijing News reporter Zhao Xue
The Beijing News, February 23, 2023, page B02