Report From The 2016 Canadian Junior Nationals

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I've been busy working with the kids leading up to Junior Nationals and doing some skill challenges. You can find them on my Youtube channel at cchsquashpro or on Instagram at serioussquash. Okay, so today I'm going to discuss the level of play I saw at the Canadian Junior Nationals this year. I did a recap last year you can find here: http://www.serioussquash.com/2015/04/2015-canadian-junior-nationals.html

The challenge with the Junior Nationals this year is the venue. The NSA in Toronto was scheduled to host the event, but has since closed their doors. So the Mayfair Parkway stepped up and did a good job with little time to prepare. Since the last time I was at the Parkway they have take down 2 or 3 courts and put in a mini basketball gym. So unfortunately this meant that this event now needed a 2nd facility which was closely at the Mayfair East club. The challenge with the East club was that there was often nobody at that club to organize anything and the courts were much different. At the East club the courts were panel and quite warm and bound. The kids had to adapt their tactics, be patient and fit if they were going to do well on these courts.

Back to the host club, the Parkway. For anyone that has been there knows the challenge of trying to coach on any court besides the 2 show courts. I brought 9 kids to nationals but only had 2 of the kids ever play on the show courts, so I watched a lot of the matches through a tiny 1 foot window at the backdoor of the courts. Less than ideal for watching, but the only other option was to go upstairs and then come down between games (which wasn't very close). So this was a challenge for us as coaches. Another problem with the viewing is that this means I didn't get to watch much of the other matches. But today I'm going to write about the bit that I did see.

 I watched many of the finals on Sunday. There was some contrast of styles between attacking players and retrievers. I felt that the caliber and depth was reasonably high for the boys and in the lower divisions for the girls. Watching the boys play it always amazes me how they can cover the court and hit with such a consistent high pace. There are some good athletes on the boys side. It's funny how players develop as either retrievers if they're fast or attacking players if they don't move quite as well; it's quite rare to be highly skilled in both areas. What I didn't see from most of these top boys was changing the pace and angles of their length. They all liked to hit the ball so low and hard and it just wasn't putting pressure because it wasn't tight or deep enough. A few of the boys had good shots and were very attacking, while some of the other ones showed an amazing amount of patience and just kept the ball in play trying to extend points and wait for mistakes.

There are definitely some kids that have loads of potential here in Canada, but are still quite unpolished when it comes to tactics, attacking and their mental game. There was still too many discussions between the refs for my liking. I just felt like the top boys in some of the top squash countries around the world would be more polished, more clinical with their attacking shots, more focused mentally and would be better able to adjust their tactics within a match. I feel like most of the top boys have the ability and desire, have good swings, are physically fit and hit with good pace, but there is a lot more to squash than this. I really believe that the mental game and advanced tactics are crucial for continuing to improve your game. We have some great coaches in Canada, but maybe it's the lack of competition the top boys are getting. It will be interesting to see how they do when they go to the worlds this summer. They will probably be underrated, but I do feel they have good potential yet still a long ways to go!

One bright spot for me was seeing how many great young 10 and 11 year old boys were playing. I still don't get why Squash Canada doesn't have an under 11 division. I bet some of the 11 and 12 year olds wish the younger kids had their own age group. The depth of talent at this age is way stronger than when I was that age, but it's the next few years that will shape their squash careers. Are they dreaming of becoming world champions or will those dreams be pushed aside by those closest to them and will they settle for making a strong varsity squash team? I think these young kids need to get some exposure internationally. When I was in Penang last year the size of the under 11 draws were huge and their skills were generally amazing for their size and experience. I feel like the Long Term Athlete Development program may work for keeping more kids in the game, but not for producing professional word class level players. I wonder if Canada will ever see another Jonathon Power?

On the girls side I was again quite impressed with most divisions. I feel like there was less depth in the under 19 than in previous years, but that is likely because some girls are away at university at 18 and can't make it back to compete. One of the girls from the school I coach at came 2nd (pictured above) and is probably mentally the toughest most focused junior player I've ever seen. She had been sick and not able to prepare properly, but still made the finals and for awhile I thought was going to win it!

The younger age groups showed great promise and the best depth I've ever seen for the girls game. Even some of the under 13 girls could really crack the ball, made good decisions and were quite accurate. Each age group up the girls began hitting the ball with more pace and they all seemed quite strong mentally. I felt like they handled adversity well and stayed pretty positive even when the pressure was on. There were many extremely tight semis and finals on the girls side. I just wish there was a step for them after juniors. That's really the biggest challenge. College squash works for some, but I don't see many of them going through that and then trying to compete professional. Maybe many of them are only focused on making it to a good college program.

I'm sure like there are some Canadian kids dreaming of pro squash, but much less than other countries. I imagine thousands of kids in Egypt wanting to grow up and be the next Ramy Ashour or Nour Elsherbini. I know Nicol David has had a huge impact on the growth of the game in Malaysia. So who do we look up to? It's still JP, but now the young kids don't know who he was and have never seen him play. We need a role model to help motivate our youth and give them hope that they too can achieve their dream if they work hard enough.

The challenge here is that I don't think it's possible for a top world player to make it in Canada. They won't get the competition or the funding. Canada isn't cheap and flights are expensive. How can they afford proper coaching? How can our top players get access to important resources like sport psychologists, personal trainers, physiotherapists, massage therapists, nutritionists and so on? If I was going to try and do it I would go to Europe and play in some of the pro leagues to get the matches and make a bit of money and get better competition. I also know a lot of people have been travelling down to Florida to work with David Palmer. Hopefully one day we can have something set up in Canada that will allow top world class players to be based here. That's what the NSA was supposed to be, but that didn't work. Until we make some changes and improve our high performance pathway I'm afraid that we will continue to perform at a mediocre level internationally.

Creativity vs. Discipline

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but it's been a busy time of year. I have a few interesting topics on the horizon, as I believe this one will be. I can't believe that today is my 200th post! I'm going to talk about the importance and challenges of both discipline and creativity in squash. In squash we have players that are very basic, but extremely effective. There are others that look as though they are creating poetry with their creativity and flare and are some of the most enjoyable people to watch. As a coach the challenge is knowing how much creativity to allow and foster in the development of an athlete. For some coaches it may be cut and dry, but I'm somewhere in the middle. You'll hear why shortly.

When it comes down to it, almost every player would perform better and will improve their chances of winning if they play disciplined and basic. Most kids like to play tricky shots, but are unable to play the basic and more effective shot, which makes their tricky shot even less effective! This is why that when I'm working with kids I like to ask them if they want to be Globetrotter or a professional NBA player? I don't know the stats, but I doubt there are many or any Globetrotters that would be able to make the NBA, but I'm certain they all would like to if they could. This is an analogy that I like to use because many kids like to play flashy and normally ineffective shots. But not the other side of this argument if we look at the NBA there are plenty of basketball players that are creative and do things that are beyond the basics of basketball. These moves were practiced more than likely on the street rather than in a team practice structure and have learned how to play them effectively at the highest level; so tricky and fancy shots can work. So how should you practice your squash game? Basic and disciplined or creative and fancy?

Although from the previous paragraph it may sound like the answer is quite simple, that discipline and hard work is the way to go, it isn't quite that straightforward to me. Both a basic disciplined player and a creative one can be equally effective and have a passion for squash. I believe the main issues with this have to do with individual differences. Although I feel that most kids likely need more discipline to become a top level competitive squash player. It takes a lot of time on court and repetition to be able to hit your targets consistently.

Also learned while working on your shot repetition and disciplined practice is the training of your concentration. Every squash player knows the importance yet challenge of maintaining their focus for the entirety of a match. I believe that players that have been well disciplined will be better able to maintain their focus during practices and matches. Being in the zone is something that any level of athlete can attain, but takes time to be able to learn how get into it quickly and stay in it for the duration of a match. Simply put, concentration and the zone are skills that have to be developed and I believe they are better learned through a disciplined practice structure.

So back to creativity. I think some kids are more engaged when they are allowed to be creative as they initiate more areas of the brain. If these same kids were forced to practice a basic repetitive drill it does not engage them as deeply and I find many will just go through the motions because they find this boring. Finding a balance of both is the key here. Nowadays with so many distractions and stimulation around us (video games, computers, tvs and cell phones) people crave constant stimuli. So I believe the key is to give the kids challenging goals/targets when they practice blocked drills to try and keep them engaged. At a certain skill level most kids will learn to enjoy the simple challenge of hitting 1 shot over and over again as they finely calibrate their swing. Also crucial is setting up practices which foster creativity. Even for the basic disciplined player, some extra thinking within a practice can help them practice out of their comfort zone; which can happen in competition.

As a coach I don't like to say 'don't do this or that.' I believe there is a time and place for any shot to be played. But I also realize that making the same mistakes over and over is Einstein's version of insanity! I like a balance of these two. Is the shot something that could become a weapon when it's executed better? Or is the shot just an extremely low percentage and the wrong play? It can be difficult to play creative and potentially risky shots in competition until they are very well rehearsed. Players like Jonathon Power and Ramy Ashour are some of the most iconic and exciting players to watch of all time; they were able to play creative squash, but also did the basics extremely well. What would have happened to Jonathon or Ramy if they had never been allowed to explore their creative sides of their squash game? I think player like Jonathon and Ramy had an understanding of the basics and also knew there was a part of squash that had not been explored before. If I had to guess I would say that they both liked creating a new style all their own as much as they did winning!

I think the best way for kids to explore new swings or shots is while they are solo hitting. This doesn't impact anyone else and will not upset the coach. Also, the athlete can attempt a certain shot as many times as they like trying to perfect it. Similar to a skateboarder trying to do a certain trick for the first time and failing over and over. Once the skateboarder gets it they spend hours, days, weeks, months or even years learning how to perfect it. It's one thing to be able to do something in practice and another to be able to do it in competition.

Squash is more than just serves, volleys, lengths, boasts and drops. Finding the balance of the basics and the creative ways you can make your own game unique is what makes squash so fun to play and to watch. If we all played the same and only played shot x from position y squash could get pretty boring! Even though shot x might be the right shot almost all of the time, knowing when to play shot z is what makes squash so dynamic and unpredictable. When I went to watch some international tournaments (Penang Junior Open and the Canadian Junior Open) I see a lot of similarities among the kids. Most of the top kids are fast and hit the ball hard, but I see very little variation of pace or deception and a general lack of volleying. I get that pace and speed are two of the biggest weapons in squash, but I'd still like to see more variety from different players. This makes me feel like most kids are being taught and trained the same way these days, but certainly this will only favour some players and not others.

I've always been one that's enjoyed finding alternative ways to do things. I also now understand that if your basics aren't top notch it won't matter how creative you can be because you will never have the time to express yourself. At least for people like me, I believe there is a balance between the two. As a coach it is our job to teach the fundamentals, but I believe it is also our job to give some slack and encourage our players to try new things while learning how to play the game. So are you practicing to become a squash Globetrotter or an NBA player?? Don't forget that a Globetrotter still has to be able to sink a free throw :)

Delaying And Varying The Timing Of Your Shot

Today I'm going to talk about an advanced and rarely used skill set used by most players. Today I'm going to discuss varying the timing of your shot. There are a number of benefits to doing this, but first I'll get into some of the reasons why most people don't do this.

Most people just hit the ball when they get to the ball. This seems like an obvious way to play your shot. You get to it so you should hit it! A lot of the times people are happy just to get the ball back. You could do very well playing like this. Even some top players (more so women) do this. The difference when these top players set up to hit a shot is that they don't look rushed. They are balanced and look like they could hit a number of various shots. The reason I said above that more women just get to the ball and hit it is because to delay your shot it takes two things; first you have to be at the ball early and second you have to be able to delay your shot/swing. Some women are able to do this on the forehand side and it is equally challenging for anyone to do this on the backhand.

So what exactly is holding the ball? It's getting to the ball early and set up as if you were going to hit your shot before you actually do. Can you tell which shot Shabana (below) is about to hit and when exactly he is going to strike the ball? Is he going to just hit the ball normally or is he going to use a late rapid racquet head acceleration to flick the ball into a drive or a trickle boast? If you can do this well you will cause your opponent some  major headaches.

Why the headaches you ask? Holding the ball messes with a persons natural movement and split step at the T. If this person splits too early or has their weight shifted to one direction before you hit they are in a vulnerable state. In this fragile state their centre go gravity is not between their legs and slightly in front of them. The person may become flatfooted or leaning to one side and will have a lot of trouble if the ball is hit in the other direction. Basically you take the person out of their athletic stance and make them move like an amateur would with no anticipatory skills. That is if you do it well!

I started playing with the timing of my shots when I was a kid as I idolized Jonathan Power. I began to realize that there were a lot more options and ways to be creative and deceptive if I learned how to do this. Here are a few key points I leaned about this skill along over the years.

1) When you play a stronger player you don't have enough time to delay your shots
2) #1 leads to this points. That you need to hit high quality shots (namely length) to set up these opportunities
3) You can really tire out someones legs quickly with a few holds
4) You should take the ball early sometimes (like volleying a back wall boast) or a half volley as they call it in tennis (where the ball is rising) so that when you decide to delay your stroke it is deceptive
5) It takes a lot of solo hitting to strengthen up your forearm to be able to do this extremely well (shorter swing with greater power means more deceptive and possibilities).
6) You need to shape up like you are intending to hit the ball for a delay to be most effective
7) Most people who can hold the ball well do it too much and use the same hold(s) too often
8) A hold will work best when you've set your opponent up for it and when they are fatigued
9) A hold can make the court play much bigger for your opponent
10) It's a lot of fun to 'taxi' someone!

If you want to work on your holds and varying the timing you hit the ball here are some of my favourite drills and pointers.

Tips
- try changing the velocity of your swing (speed it up or slow it down part way). slowing it down I find to be much more challenging.
- learn to get onto loose shots at the front as quick as possible, shaped up and ready to hit
- be creative
- watch for this from some of the creative players on psasquashtv.com
- it's all in the timing
- try changing your pattern of when you step and hit (can you make them closer together and further apart)? This creates delay
- most people show tension in their arm when they intend to hit it hard as the approach a ball at the front. think about this tension and how you can minimize it so you can disguise when you want to drop.

Drills
1. boast and drive (players driving has the option to drop to themselves first and then drive)
2. Same as #1 but the back player has to retrieve the drop with a counter drop
3. Same as #1 but the players switch front to back when a drop has been played (so the back player plays a straight drive off the drop)
5. A boasts, b has the option to hit a straight drop of crosscourt drive, if B drops A crosscourts and you switch, if B hits crosscourt then you boast. You can also tweak this drill by adding a switch on a volley on the crosscourt drive to make it more challenging).
4. A game serving with a back wall boast/or a high boast from the back. You can play a whole game with one person starting in the front or switch so the winner starts in the front in the attacking position.
5. Solo hit from the front of the court to shorten your swing and strengthen your forearm.

That's it for today. This is one of my favourite subjects. You need to be patient with it, but it can be a big weapon if you master the art of the delay. Have fun changing the timing and rhythm of your swing; hit the ball early, other times delay it and you will be adding an advanced skill to your bag of tricks.

Who's The Best Squash Player Of All Time?

Today I'm going to talk about a hypothetical situations. After watching the British Open and seeing Jahangir Khan in attendance it gets me thinking. Every sport tries to compare their current stars with previous legends of the game. Tiger Woods has always been compared to Jack Nicklaus and is chasing his total majors and now that same spotlight is shining on Rory Mcilroy. While people in baseball are often compared to the likes Ted Williams or Babe Ruth. In hockey many compare Bobby Orr or Wayne Gretzky to current top stars. How would these record holds stack up against the current crop of stars? Certainly to be mentioned and compared to one of the all time greats in your sport you are doing something right.

Today I want to talk about two of the best when I was young; well Jahangir (pictured below) was at the end of his career when I was beginning to play and Jansher was just beginning to dominate. Both Khans were very steady and made very few unforced errors. They were extremely fit and I've heard that Jahangir just walloped the ball. Clearly the equipment advances and the glass courts with the lowered tins have changed the style of play that is successful at the highest level. But even now we see top players that are very traditional and conservative while others are much more attacking and aggressive. How would the Khan's have played in the modern game against the current crop of stars?

Who wouldn't like to see a healthy Ramy against either one of them?

It's hard to guess how the Khan's would develop as squash stars in today's game, but the one thing that wouldn't change is that thy would be two of the fittest and mentally toughest of any era. I'm sure they would still have immaculate length, but would they be more attacking? Would the Khan's have been able to dominate in today's game as they did back in the day? I can't think of any reason to think why they wouldn't.

Jansher Khan

I'm more curious as to how the Khan's would play. I assume the success of these players had a big part in how future generations of people were taught and played. We learn by watching the top players and see what makes them successful. But as equipment changed allowing the players to be ore deceptive, have a shorter swing and hit the ball harder it's interesting to think how these legends would play with them.

I do have a couple of old school small frame squash racquets that I use once in a while. What I notice when I use these racquets is that they provide excellent training tools for your swing. You need to have your racquet prepared early to hit it to the back, while the racquets nowadays you can flick your wrist and hit it down the wall if the ball is warm. Another thing I notice right away is that you cannot be as attacking. With the older racquets you learn when a shot is really on and when you may get away with forcing it a bit with modern equipment. I feel that most top players think they can attack almost anything from anywhere which of course may be true, but there are still better times and situations to attack short. I think it is more clear cut with the older frames. If you try and force it when it's not on with a heavy, small head frame you are going to make an error or pop it out loose more times than not.

From everything I heard it was the Khan's discipline and work ethic which enabled them to be so successful. I have no doubt that they would adapt and still be the best in today's game. Ramy in recent years went an entire year without losing a match, but that doesn't come close to the 5+ years that Jahanagir did the same. You could always argue that the depth of the competition is stiffer now, but I think that would only have made them even stronger.

So I haven't really answered my proposed question yet. I don't really know, but I'll take a few guess. I think the Khan's would play very attritional as well. Jansher was so efficient with his movement that he could play long matches without slowing down unlike any of his competitors. I don't think this would change. I think Jansher would still have extremely long rallies and wouldn't shoot from behind his opponent, or if he did it would be so random that it would almost always work. It's been awhile since I've seen Jansher play, but I also remember how well he volleyed and counter attacked. I think this style would still win today. So I guess I don't think either of them would play like the top attacking Egyptian players.

I could also speculate about how Ramy would have matched up 20 or 30 years ago with the old equipment on the standard court with the standard height tin? Maybe the game wouldn't have caught the interest of a young Ramy if he grew up with a small wooden racquet. I don't know. All we can do is speculate. But one thing I know for sure, is that I at least find it way more enjoyable to watch attacking and open squash. So although this sorts some players game more than others, you can attacking or neutralizing if your length, fitness and mental toughness is top quality.

I should also note here how much the change in the scoring has changed how the game is played. Up until about 9 or 10 years ago we used hand in, hand out scoring to 9. This means you had to be serving to be able to get a point. It made matches much longer and physical which likely played into the strengths of both Khans.

What matchup would you have liked to seen? Maybe Goeff Hunt, the late Hashim Khan, Jonah Barrington or Chris Dittmar versus Gaultier, Elshorbagy or Matthew? Or more recently Peter Nicol or Jonathan Power? Who would be the best of all of them at their peak? Does your winner change depending on the scoring, court or equipment they used? Who's the best of all time?

For those that haven't seen either Khan play here's a link of them playing one another https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtzhAcmgVvY, but this is near the end of Jahangir's career. You can see that here the scoring was actually point a rally to 15 and the 2 are actually playing on a glass court. When looking back on footage of them the first thing you notice is the extremely poor quality of the video. It's hard to follow the ball. I remember back in the early 90's having to wait months after a tournament to finish to get a copy of the finals and it would be on VHS and the quality extremely low.

This also gets me thinking what squash will look like in 20 or 30 years time. Will it continue evolving as quickly as it has? What style will the top players play? What will the equipment be like? Will the racquets become heavier again or even lighter? I feel that string and grip shape may change the most. Will the scoring method change again? Will the tin be lowered even further? Is there a kid out there now who will transcend our sport? Will it be a version of one of the Khan's? Or more like Power? Ramy? Or perhaps a mix or something completely altogether?

Squash Lacks Controversy For Olympic Inclusion

It's amazing how much more active I am on my blog when I'm home sick! Anyways, today will be one of my more subjective topics to date. I'm going to talk about the Olympics and a major reason why squash is not included. This reasoning will never be verbally acknowledged by the International Olympic Committee, but the more I think about it the more I agree.

Growing up watching the Olympics there are a few things that have stood out; Jamaica sent a bobsled team, the figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan story, while Canadian figure skating pairs Jamie Sale and Davide Pelletier were temporarily robbed of gold medals by a corrupt French judge; who can forget the Ben Johnson (pictured below) scandal or more recently the American runner Tyson Gay who just got his entire teams relay race silver medals taken away because he was later found to be doping. Furthermore, I recall a Chinese gymnast lost her medal because they lied about her age and was too young to compete. While I also remember badminton teams being kicked out for not playing to their ability. I also remember some controversy with the Canadian women's soccer team, but of course there is controversy in soccer. Could that be why it's so popular?

These are just a few of the stories, and like for most of you, these are the most memorable Olympic moments of my lifetime. Of course there are always other controversies when you have judging involved. And I can't go on without saying that I do recall Canada winning a couple of gold medals in hockey, but that was just because I'm Canadian. I'm sure globally those accomplishments have long been forgotten.

So what is the point of all this? Well where does squash fit in? I don't remember hearing any controversy in squash since Jonathon Power retired. Not that I condone how Power carried himself on court, but he definitely spiced things up a bit. In tennis there was controversy about Nikolay Davydenko potentially gambling on tennis. Not that this makes the sport better for tennis players, but it sure does shine the spotlight on a sport in the American culture. Same when Serena verbally abused a line judged who called her for a foot fault. And I'm sure many of you have seen the video clip of Mikhail Youzhny who smashed his racquet on his head repeatedly until he started bleeding.

For people not involved in squash, nobody cares who wins and what country they are from. Maybe if there was someone having an affair it would make a sportscenter. The video of Cameron Pilley hitting his brother in the back with a squash ball probably garnered more interest from those outside the squash community than any single accomplishment from a player on tour. Beyond that squash doesn't have a bad rap for cheating or controversy. As a squash player this wouldn't make me enjoy the sport more, I certainly am not hoping for it. But this does make me wonder how this would grow the game we all love.

How badly do you want squash to become more popular and make it into the Olympics? Do we need corrupt officials and people caught doping to get capture a bit of the spotlight and gain some public interest? Honestly, this would probably all do wonder. For those that have never played or heard of squash, watching a few rallies of the top players in the world likely wouldn't impress them. The same goes for if I watched biathlon, figure skating, gymnastics, diving or so on. But when we hear that a judge was paid off or someone cheated somehow we all want to watch and see what happened. We want to see for ourselves how someone was corrupted, likely by money or fame. This allows us to think about how much better of a person we are. Of course we would never do that type of thing, which is exactly why we want to watch it. Just like a good action movie or book, the more laws and rules broken the more entertaining the story.

So do we need to sell out the sport we love somehow so it gets the recognition it needs? Or would this just be unwarranted attention? I know in Canada there would be a lot more funding for players and coaching if squash made the Olympics. It's hard to argue against that being a good thing.

Well there you have it. I'm sure one day squash will have someone or a few that will stir up the pot. Will we have a Josh Hamilton that constantly relapses? Will we have someone tamper with equipment like the Patriots did? Will someone bribe an official like in the figure skating scandal? Will someone have an affair like Tiger Woods? Will a player gamble large sums on squash like maybe Davydenko in tennis or Pete Rose in baseball? In North America most of the MBL season discussions have revolved around Alex Rodriguez. Who doesn't want to watch know? Probably most hoping he fails.

Will a top squash player get caught doping like Ben Johnson or a zillion other baseball and football players? Will someone date a celebrity like most of the pro sporting athletes? Is the reason this isn't already happening because there is no money in professional squash? Or is some of it already happening and it just doesn't get investigated and reported on a mainstream media outlet like all of the other scenarios I've just mentioned? So do we need ore money in the sport to have more scandal? It feels like the chicken and egg dilemma.

I like the fact that our sport is about the love of the game and that we haven't had people like Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire or Jose Canseco (pictured below). These people are famous for the wrong reasons and while chasing bigger paycheques tarnished their reputations. I believe that in doing so these athletes have helped increase interest in their sport. If some of these things do begin happening in squash, it would likely increase our exposure and improve our chances of getting into the Olympics.

Do you want to see this type of behaviour and scenarios on the PSA tour? If we have unbelievable ambassadors like Ramy Ashour and Nicol David at this time and still can't get into the Olympics, what chance to have with future generations?

Would cheaters and controversy taint our sport? Of course. But would this grow our sport? Without a doubt. Would this give squash the drama piece that many other sports have? Likely. Perhaps this would give people on sporting shows something to debate and potentially get squash into the Olympics. In closing it leaves me with a difficult question; how badly do we want squash to increase in popularity and be included in the Olympic Games?