If you're thinking of taking up squash, you've undoubtedly asked yourself how it compares to tennis. I've played squash -- and ping pong, for that matter -- and had some thoughts about how these smaller racquet sports differ from tennis, but I first wanted to hear what some professional squash coaches had to say.

Though all racquet sports share the concept of controlling a ball with a racquet, they are about as different from one another as the different forms of martial arts are from one another in their emphasis, movements and required skills. Certain exercises -- which we will get to later -- will benefit performance in any racquet sports. But probably the greatest single difference between tennis and the smaller racquet sports (squash, racquetball, ping-pong) is the degree of wrist action needed to execute a shot.

In tennis, power comes predominantly from the shoulder, arm and the follow- through. In squash, power is also shared by the wrist. The shoulder and arm are used of course, but control and drive are dominated by the wrist. Therefore, when doing sports specific squash training, it is the wrist muscles that require the most conditioning and training, particularly since these muscles are almost always neglected in weight training programs.

Training the wrist muscle and the associated muscles of the forearm, is not difficult. It's best accomplished using rubber tubing, which is widely available in sporting goods stores. (DynaBand or Spri Products are two excellent brands).