The participation rate in squash has dropped considerably since the boom days of the '70s and unfortunately many of the traditional old clubs have closed. Some of the boom was due to the big characters that were in the sport then, like Jonah Barrington and the Khans, but that is not the case now.

However, I think that the low point was reached earlier this decade and there seems to be a bit of a recovery, which is good to see. Some of this is due to the game migrating to multi-purpose fitness centres which makes it easier for people to get access to courts and there is definitely an upswing in junior events around the country.

The demands on the body, especially on the joints, from squash are huge if you are not properly conditioned. Squash is multi-directional, you are turning all the time and this puts huge stress on the body. It's easy to pick up niggles and injuries and I spend a lot of time trying to convince players to strengthen their whole body by implementing a sports-specific strength and conditioning programme, no matter what their age.

I coach a lot of elite juniors and a lot of guys in their fifties that played during the boom and these are the ones that pick up the injuries. I get to see them in my work as a physio at Sports Med Ireland and I try to get them to use their time off through injury to focus on the strength and conditioning.

The state of the game at senior level in Ireland is mixed at the moment. We currently have Madeline Perry, who is ranked seven in the world, and we have three guys on the pro circuit striving to break into the top 30. However, this seems to be the decade of the Egyptians as there are three or four of them in world's top 10.

It is the third biggest participation sport in a country of over 80 million people and that is a lot of squash players. I remember when I was playing in professional tournaments over there I would come off court and there would be 30 or 40 kids from the age of six upwards standing there with rackets waiting to get in.

They have an excellent coaching infrastructure that I'd love to see here. Get squash back into the schools and get the game into public places, in front of people. When I was playing professionally I played competitive matches in glass courts in Grand Central Station and at the great pyramids in Egypt. We need to be more creative in finding ways to make the sport visible here again.

Derek Ryan is a chartered physiotherapist and a former squash world number seven

In conversation with Colm Greaves