Unpacking the unreturnable squash nick shot

Unpacking the unreturnable squash nick shot

Author: PNAS September 1, 2025 Duration: 10:07

The physics of the squash nick shot

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, Roberto Zenit explains the physics behind the unanswerable nick shot in the game of squash.

In this episode, we cover:
•[00:00] Introduction.
•[00:56] Engineer Roberto Zenit introduces the game of squash, including his participation in the sport, and introduces the nick shot.
•[02:11] He talks about the background and methods of the study. 
•[04:50] Zenit describes the mechanics of a nick shot.
•[06:01] He talks about the implications of the study for squash players and for other applications.
•[08:52] Zenit recounts the caveats and limitations of the study.
•[09:41] Conclusion.

About Our Guests:

Roberto Zenit
Professor
Brown University

View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2505715122 

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Tune into PNAS Science Sessions for a direct line to the people shaping modern science. Produced by PNAS, this podcast offers more than just summaries of published research; it’s where you hear the candid, often personal stories behind the headlines. Each episode features concise conversations with the researchers themselves-from emerging voices to established Academy members-alongside the policymakers whose decisions are informed by this work. You’ll get a genuine sense of the questions that drive these experts, the unexpected hurdles they face in their labs and field studies, and why their findings matter right now. The scope is deliberately wide, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of science itself, covering discoveries that range from microscopic processes to planetary-scale phenomena. This isn't about dry lectures, but about capturing the human endeavor of investigation. For anyone curious about how science actually unfolds and wants to understand the context of breakthroughs as they happen, this podcast serves as an essential, engaging resource. It connects the dots between a published paper in a prestigious journal and the real-world implications that ripple out from it.
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