Eight-week suspension for Dimitri Steinmann

PSA just announced that Dimitri Steinmann has been given an eight-week suspension by the PSA and a £2000.00 fine based on behavior during his round one match against Timothy Brownell at the US Open last October 7th, 2023.

Initially, he was charged with “above of racquet equipment” and “Dangerous play”. These charges were upgraded to “Aggravated Behaviour” by the PSA disciplinary Committee.

Dimitri Steinmann gets a “Conduct Game” meaning that he automatically lost the game based on his behavior.

Confusion around the rules on the Internet

Some comments around the internet show confusion about what the actual issue was which means there are plenty more players that are also confused:

“What exactly Steinmann did wrong? Where should he have moved after hitting the ball? (I’m new to squash and I’m trying to figure out how one has to move properly on court in order not to be a hindrance …”

ACCESS TO THE BALL RULE

The rule is that you must provide your opponent direct access to the ball.

However, some players are taught that they should always return to the T, (especially after a serve). Others have been taught by inexperienced coaches that you don’t have a right to call a “let” because you played a bad shot that caused you to be “out of position”.

Both are incorrect.

No Right to the “T”

You do not have the right to the “T” area. After you play a ball you must move out of your opponent’s direct line of access to the ball regardless of where you are or they are on the court.

It does not matter where you are on the court, what shot you just played, or whether or not your opponent is on the T, the player has the right to have a line directly to hit the ball even if this goes straight through the T area. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t know where your opponent is.

Player Awareness

Accidents happen and mistakes happen, especially at lower levels of play. But in the case of players at the level of Dimitri Steinmann, Steinmann would have had full awareness of exactly where Brownell was because he was returning a serve and moving to the T to prepare to retrieve Steinmann’s next shot. What the viewer doesn’t see quite as well is where Steinmann played the ball. Steinmann would have known to take a step back instead of across into Brownells’s path.

Behavior leading up to this incident

Although we might only see the actual behavior that leads to the “Conduct Game”, it’s important to realize that this kind of behavior rarely occurs in a vacuum. In this match, there had been strokes, and conduct warnings preceding this incident.

According to Timothy Brownell, there was some other passive-aggressive behavior leading up to this incident, as mentioned in the following interview.

Timmy Brownell on Dimitri Steinmann’s US Open Incident

DImitry Steinmann’s public apology

“I would like to take this moment to explain my view of how it all happen last night on court in my 1. round match at the US Open. My behavior on court at the end of the 5. game was nothing more than a disgrace. I suffered a complete mental breakdown and I let my emotions get the better over me. It‘s the result of many on going negative things in my personal life combined with the fear of losing. After watching the match back I was shocked seeing myself like this. This is NOT the way I wanna play and surely NOT the way I wanna present myself on and off the court. I want to sincerely apologize to Timmy, US Squash and the PSA World Tour for my unsportsmanlike behavior last night. This will never ever happen again! I deeply regret my actions and will have to adress those personal issues.
Yours truly, Dimi”

Dimitri Steinmann

Squash TV’s Highlights of the match

https://www.squash.tv/highlights/highlights-u-s-open-2023-round-1-west-court-dimitri-steinmann-v-timothy-brownell/

Squash is a Mental Game

It is often said that squash is a mental game. This typically means that your frame of mind is often the deciding factor on whether you win or lose a game to an opponent. Emotions can play a huge role in all sports and this is in part why we enjoy watching and participating in them so much. 

But at the end of the day, we are all human. Other factors in our lives can contribute to things that put us on the edge and push us to make decisions we might not ordinarily make if circumstances are different. If you find that you are becoming overly emotional or frustrated and it is affecting your game, it might help to look at what other areas of your life outside of squash you can work on.

Steinmann has been reported to accept the suspension and has displayed remorse. The suspension is from Dcc 21st, 2023 to February 14th, 2024.