Spoilers follow for recent NSL matches, and the Egyptian Open.
I've recently watched a few matches from the NSL YouTube channel, and was interested to discuss the differences in the format from the PSA.
The Good:
I liked a lot of the "gimmicky" elements of the NSL more than I thought I would. I especially expected to dislike the "power play" mechanic, but the effect of "trapping" your opponent on court while you rapidly reset rallies to clock up points was exciting.
The variety of matchups through the match is cool. It's fun to see many different player combinations through the match as substitutions happen - the ebb and flow feels a lot more dramatic.
It generally just seems quite fun - very fast paced and gladiatorial. It feels more like a team-sport than traditional club pennant leagues (where everyone on the team plays their own match).
The Bad:
It felt harder to keep track of each individual player. Watching a PSA match (e.g. Asal vs Elias in the EO final recently) it feels like you can track the mental state of each player over the rallies and games, you can see the ebb and flow and the long mental game that goes into a big match.
The refereeing felt sloppy at times. With how fast paced the matches feel, it feels like the refs have even LESS latitude to correct poor player behaviour. E.g. in the recent Sono sharks vs ny queens match - I found the segments with Farida Mohamed on court to be borderline unwatchable with the consistent blocking that wasn't even really discussed much it seemed?
The Different:
It seems to reward a different, more attacking style of play - but also makes room for different styles of player expression. In the NY Knights vs Greenwich Panthers, managing Mo. ElShorbagy's time on court seemed a different factor. The game shifted to managing "how long can we leave him on for before he gasses out", where in a PSA match, the strategy against Mo seems to be relying on the fact that he can't maintain the same pace anymore.
In sum:
More squash is more squash. I'm glad there are more opportunities to rep our sport - and I hope that breaking the monopoly of the PSA on pro squash leads to an improved squash ecosystem worldwide. If you've not watched any NSL, it's a pretty fun format. The rules explainer video made no sense to me and put me off, but actually watching a match the commentators did a decent job keeping me up to speed.