RON LEON

A PERSONAL BIO

Hi! My name is Ron Leon. I’m a squash teaching professional in Orange County California. I’ve been playing and teaching squash for over 25 years.

Before I started playing squash I was an avid racquetball player, who ran over 100 racquetball tournaments while actively promoted the sport. At the time, I didn’t even know that squash existed, even though a good friend of mine often played racquetball with Heather MacKay, who, I later discovered, was the greatest female squash player of all time, and arguably the greatest female athlete of all time in any sport. To this day I am embarrassed to have been so ignorant of squash.

Back then, squash in the USA was almost exclusively “hardball” and the game was virtually unknown in the western United States. North American squash was almost wholly concentrated in the eastern part of the country … at that time there were approximately 8,000 hardball courts in the USA and less than 100 proper squash courts. In Southern California there were fewer than 20 hardball courts and not a single proper squash court existed.

After becoming exposed to squash, I immediately saw the potential to develop the game in Southern California by converting racquetball courts into squash courts and converting racquetball players into squash players. I began that process in 1984 as similar efforts were being undertaken in Seattle and Houston. At the time we were the renegades, and we met with a lot of resistance from the squash establishment in the eastern part of the country. But the results have spoken for themselves as hardball squash has pretty much vanished from the US scene.

Even then I understood the need to provide proper coaching to players for the proper game of squash, which at the time was unavailable anywhere in the USA. Fortunately our neighbours to the north had the resources we needed, so I worked within the coaching certification programs of Squash Canada and became certified in 1985. Within two years, I had earned my Level 3 Coaching Certification, which, at the time, was the highest level available to American coaches. I’ve never stopped developing my coaching skills and my understanding of the game. To this day, I spend many hours each week studying videos of pro squash, while constantly refining my coaching skills.

For more than twenty years, I have served in a technical advisory capacity to all the major manufacturers of squash equipment and many of the minor manufacturers. I’ve been involved in the design and development of eight squash clubs in Southern California. I’ve served as president and a member of the executive committees of all of the local squash associations and I’ve served our national association in a variety of ways. I love the game and continue to work hard to deserve the title of "squash expert."

Please feel free to contact me any time to discuss whatever’s on your mind.

Squash Racquet Reviews by Ron Leon

DUNLOP

Dunlop Aerogel Ultimate Amr Shabana Squash Racquet Review

HI-TEC

Hi-Tec Pro-Tec Squash Racquet Review

PRINCE

SAXON