RACKETBALL SESSION SPOTLIGHT - LAUGH & SMASH @ MARPLE SQUASH CLUB

As part of an attempt to start recognising those clubs, people and sessions that spread the game of Racketball across the UK, we will start doing a monthly feature highlighting the great work that is going on!

First up is Hannah Hodgson's Laugh & Smash sessions at Marple Squash Club in Stockport, aimed at making Racketball a fun, friendly and accessible sport for Women's players of all ages and abilities. In Hannah's words...

''Laugh and Smash connects wellness and fitness in a fun, social way. Our women’s only programme has transformed racketball at Marple Squash in Stockport and we hope to roll out the magic across more clubs… like laughter, it's certainly infectious! We’ve seen more women attend Laugh and Smash than any squash coaching programme we’ve put on. It’s quite astonishing! 

Laugh and Smash was created from chatting with women in a group about what we wanted from a fitness class. We wanted daytime, we wanted fitness and something new. We wanted indoors. We wanted opportunity to meet people and chat. And we wanted fun! We advertised a 6 week pilot and it sold out to 15 fabulous women within 2 hours. It had taken 6 years to grow the squash club by that many female members previously. 

So what is it and what’s the secret? 
We start off with a 20 minute warm up session of Laughter Yoga, courtesy of Claire Scott, a Laughter practitioner (yes, really!)  from Feel Good Communities CIC. If you’ve never tried it, do. Laughter and mindful breathwork for the body and soul. It’s a fantastic icebreaker, stress reliever and leveller. 

Then on to the racketball. Let’s face it, women like to be social. Our group is based on building a strong, connected community of women. We can’t do that by keeping quiet. My squash coach always told me I’d be much better if I stopped chatting. One of the great things about racketball is you don’t need to keep warming the ball up - so we have plenty of time for chatting AND playing. Racketball is a cool sport. 

We now have a regular Wednesday night session at Marple Squash Club funded by Sport England. The women can choose to join the regular Club night following the class. We ran a fantastic campaign in Women’s Squash Week in Sept to recruit new members to our group and to listen to why women want to connect and play. Overwhelmingly, this was about self care, mental health and connection. When you show up for yourself it feels great. Laugh and Smash makes you feel even better!

Here’s some pics too! If you take a look at my FB page and Insta you’ll find loads more

FB @Hannahhodgson
Insta @Hannah_Hodgson
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Awesome work Hannah and co! We would love to hear about more sessions and clubs doing fantstic things like this, please email in to [email protected] to highlight what goes on down your neck of the woods!