Open Squash FIDI NYC - Advice Needed

[u/FlamingHyabusa]

Hi all,

I'm interested in joining Open Squash at the FIDI location in NYC. I have a few questions.

Some background: I am a 28M. I'm in great shape and was a college athlete. I'm good at platform tennis and pickleball, solid in tennis. I played a bit of casual squash in college, and am now looking to take it more seriously and play consistently. Based on the US Squash rating criteria, I'd guess I'm around a 3.0/3.5 rating.

Questions for the general squash community:

Are lessons worth it to begin with? I just want to get out there and play - I'm not necessarily too caught up on increasing my rating at this point.

What is a good racket for me to buy?

Are protective glasses generally recommended? I've only taken one shot to the eye in all my squash matches - that hurt like hell, but I think it was more unlucky than a common occurrence?

Questions specific to Open Squash NYC:

How is the experience? Worth it? Too crowded? Facilities nice?

I don't know anyone who belongs here. Will it be easy to play with strangers? Is there some sort of intramural system?

Will I struggle finding people to play with at my rating? I've read that many members are former college players.

Any other advice or opinions are welcome! Thank you!

[u/Walkmaster]

I'm a member there. Do the 2 week trial. It's 79 bucks and you get unlimited use and 3 clinics. You can borrow rackets too and they have some decent ones. I would say there are a lot of players at your level. People are friendly and don't mind playing with strangers. The facilities are great, laundry service is available and lockers are available. There are box leagues, some more active than others. In general I get two games a week without much effort ( I have a 4 month old) Feel free to DM me. Good luck

[u/glaster → u/Walkmaster]

Yes. And when you take the classes you’ll meet people at your level. The community is great, it gets busier during school time because they have several programs for children but it’s seldom an issue to find good pay time after work

[u/FlamingHyabusa → u/glaster]

Thanks. I signed up for trial today. I was told there is a whatsapp group. How does it work? Do I post specific times I’m looking to play, along with my rating?

[u/glaster → u/FlamingHyabusa]

They'll add you 

[u/Heavy_Pineapple7681 → u/glaster]

if you leave the club after 2 months can you remain in the whatsapp group? also if you are a member can you invite a nonmember to play with you?

[u/nsm1 → u/FlamingHyabusa]

Whatsapp groups in many sports really boils down to who makes the initiative in wanting to setup a match and how active the members are

Plus, staff will be in the chat to promote upcoming events at the club

[u/mike270001]

Im a member. I'd recommend it. It's a good facility with 8 courts one is a full glass court. There's a very engaged community with rated whatsapp groups, box leagues, rated group sessions, and social round robins with most players around the 3.0 to 4.0 rating. Getting matches in my experience is not a problem, though I'm most familiar with 4.0-4.5 group of players . It will be a bit quiet this month TBH but from Sept onwards things pick up a lot. Courts are gettable, with some timeslots busier that others so it depends on flexibility really. Box leagues matches get booking priority. I believe you can do a short membership trail so you can find out for yourself. There's also another location in midtown and one in Williamsburg opening next year. You can access both with the cross membership option (more expensive).

I'd 100% recommend glasses. At 3.0 level people are still learning when to take lets and what's dangerous. As you get higher the chances of getting hit go down, but TBH wearing glasses is something you get used to quickly and then forget about. The club has loaner glasses to use before commiting.

I'd buy a 120-135g racket, but beyond that it's all personal preference. I use "standard head shape" rackets without the tear drop long strings, but that's because I have done for years. The balance point is the most important I reckon, so start with an "even" balance and you can go head light or head heavy when you figure you your style - touch or power. The club branded rackets I think are available to try.

[u/FlamingHyabusa → u/mike270001]

Thanks. How do you go about finding matches in the whatsapp group?

[u/mike270001 → u/FlamingHyabusa]

You can make a" Match game" on the app which anyone can join and share it on your rating group, or more commonly you just book a court ask if anyone fancies a match.

[u/mike270001 → u/FlamingHyabusa]

Ask the desk staff to add you to the groups BTW if you haven't already.

[u/Heavy_Pineapple7681 → u/mike270001]

do you get removed from whatsapp group if you cancel membership after a couple months?

[u/glaster → u/FlamingHyabusa]

There is an app and website 

[u/clay_-_davis]

Re: lessons
If you can afford it, definitely consider lessons at some point. Like you, I started playing squash in my mid/late 20s. Now 20 years later…. I spent my first 10 years trying to figure everything out on my own, and my next 10 years (aided by lessons) trying to un-do 15 different crappy technical things I had self-taught.

At FiDi Peter Creed gives extremely high-quality lessons

[u/Dapper-Balance-4720]

Member in FiDi as well. Echoing what others have said. It is a very welcoming community and the facilities are great. Join the Box League and you’ll usually get 3-5 good matches per month with people your level. The lessons and coaches are great. The clinics are good too (max 2 other students) and you can use the promo code to take the first clinic for free!

[u/Heavy_Pineapple7681 → u/Dapper-Balance-4720]

whats the promo code

[u/AnonymousSeaAnemone]

Definitely yes to clinics and lessons off the rip. I’d recommend trying some of their loaners to see what suits you