A first squash kit: eye protection first, then the racket and ball.

Lessons come before kit

We suggest a first squash season starts with lessons from a qualified coach, and this guide recommends no club, coach or shop. England Squash's coaching pathway, as summarised in search results, starts with a Level 1 Participation Coach Award for coaching beginners, and the RSPA (formerly the USPTA) has certified squash instructors since 2024, also per search summaries. See how people learn; the game itself is on squash.

Eye protection: what the rules require

The World Squash Singles Rules 2025, effective 1 September 2025, deal with eyewear in Appendix 4. World Squash recommends that all players wear protective eyewear made to an appropriate national standard, over the eyes at all times in play including the warm-up, and makes it mandatory for all doubles and junior events it sanctions. It keeps a list of certified eyewear, which could not be read for this site, and it says the player is responsible for the quality of the eyewear worn. National bodies set their own rules:

How far the junior rule reaches is disputed. World Squash's April 2014 guidance tied compulsory junior eyewear (under 19 on the last scheduled day) to its own team and junior championships. A Khel Now report of 29 September 2026, citing World Squash rules, describes a rule for juniors at all times in play, including senior events; that report is not the rule text, so it is unconfirmed. England Squash's equipment page, seen only in a search extract, says juniors must wear it at all its "competitions and activities", wider than its support article. England Squash also says spectacle wearers need squash eye protection over their glasses, or prescription squash eye protection.

Eye protection: which standard

The sources do not agree, so both sides are given with dates.

• F3164. In 2019 ASTM moved racket-sport eye protectors out of the general sports standard F803 into F3164; the Vision Council said that year that F803 protectors were no longer appropriate for racket sports and advised asking for documented compliance with the sport-specific standard and its revision date. The current edition, F3164-24, names squash among its four sports.
• F803. Squash policies still name F803: World Squash's 2014 list, Squash Ontario (2017), Squash Canada (2018) and Scottish Squash (2023). The Finnish Standards Association's listing of ASTM F803-25 (1 September 2025) gives an abstract that names racket sports again; the F803-25 text was not read.
• ISO and national standards. ISO 18527-2:2021 covers eye protectors for squash, according to a standards retailer's listing, and does not apply to protectors worn over spectacles. England Squash advises buyers to look for the British Standard it writes as "BS EN 18527-2:2021". Squash bodies also name CSA P400 (Canada), BS 7930-1 (Britain) and AS/NZS 4066 (Australia and New Zealand).

Squash Ontario warns that many protectors on sale do not meet these standards and are in effect clear sunglasses. No eyewear is presented here as preventing injury: the standard, the product's documented compliance and the body's rule decide. A 1981 BMJ study (Barrell and colleagues) concluded that an eye injury is very unlikely for a squash player but can have serious consequences; the studies are on eye injuries and eyewear rules, and an eye injury needs medical care.

The racket: no figures given

Rule 1.1 says the racket must meet World Squash specifications, and Appendix 5 says those are published as separate pages on the World Squash website. Those pages could not be opened, and the measurements found elsewhere could not be traced to a World Squash document, so this guide gives no squash racket dimensions, and squash is not in the racket size checker. No World Squash racket approval list was found. No squash rule on strings or grips was recorded; stringing, tension and grip sizing are not covered.

The ball: dots

Search results name a World Squash "Approved Balls" page, but it was not read. Squash Canada reproduces the Professional Squash Association's explanation of ball dots: the double yellow is the professional and tournament ball and needs sustained hard hitting to stay at playing temperature, while the single yellow, red and blue balls are described as hanging progressively longer. Those are the PSA's descriptions, not a World Squash specification; the table is on squash rackets and balls.

Shoes

No World Squash shoe rule was recorded. Squash Canada says players should wear clean shoes with non-marking soles, not street shoes. That is a national body's guidance; no shoe is presented here as preventing injury, and fitting is not described.

No US CPSC, Health Canada or EU Safety Gate recall of a squash racket or ball was found in web searches on 26 October 2026. Squash 57 (formerly racketball) is a related game under World Squash and is not covered on this site.

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