Nicol David At The 2016 Hong Kong Open

I wrote a couple of blog posts a while back on Nicol David and I thought it was time for a new one. She's such an icon in squash that she deserves much more than 1 post! David just lost in the semis of the Hong Kong Open, but won a number of tight matches prior to this. She's such a feisty competitor and always comes prepared to leave it all on the court. I felt she was a bit lucky to come out on top against Joelle King and also went 5 in her 1st round match against Tesni Evans. The previous year of Davids career reminds me a bit of Roger Federer now in tennis. Federer still gets consistently close, but hasn't won a big event in quite some time. Is David facing similar fate? Can she get back her world #1 or is she just hanging on as high as she can for as long as she can? Has everyone else caught up or has she fallen back to the pack? Should she change her game? What can she learn from the other top ladies on tour? How has she tweaked her style and has it helped? These are some of the questions I thought would make for an interesting post so let's get to it.

A lot has been made of Nicol David holding her racquet higher up on the grip. I heard one of the commentators at the HK Open mention that Jahangir Khan suggested this and apparently he  to do this himself. Back when Khan was dominating the squash tour the racquets weighed twice as much as they do now so I don't see the relevance or similarities. Moving your grip up makes the racquet a bit lighter, allows you to be closer to your shot with a smaller swing so you should be a little more exact. While moving your grip down to the bottom of the handle gives you more leverage for power and a greater reach allowing you to get a few more balls back in play and stay a tad more central through each shot.

I assume these change were made because she feels like she has better control and touch. I watched most of her matches from this event and I don't see any obvious change in her short game. I see some good drops, but also a lot that sit up for her opponent. I feel like the style of play most of the women she struggles with are very attacking and hard hitters so I would think the extra reach would suit her well. I've played around with the height of my grip over the years and when I did hold it higher I would still be able to lower it when I felt some pressure developing in a point. Now I just hold the racquet at the bottom because I'm not very tall and I need that extra reach. I really feel like I have to run that much further from the T when I choke up on my grip so personally I don't like it. So I don't see this change helping David, unless she believes it does. Yes, the placebo effect. Wether it helps or hinders her game is irrelevant, it's how she believes it impacts her that matters. If she feels her short game is better like this it probably will be because she believes it is and confidence is a must for this area of the game. Do you think her short game was more accurate in this event? I'm sure she has a nice cushy contract with Prince, but do you think she would benefit from experimenting with some other models or even other companies if she wants to make her racquet a tad lighter Or do you think it's more about lowering her target and looking for winners as opposed to working shots?

What else could Nicol David do to try and get back her world #1 ranking? Should she play with more power and more attacking like some of the other top ladies? That's not really her game and her opponents do that better so I don't think she can completely change her style of play and do it better than people that have practiced this style their entire careers. I felt like the way Annie Au played at this event against Nour El Sherbini could teach David a thing or two. Au is very petite, but plays tactically sound squash and uses her strengths and knows how to avoid her weaknesses. She has a tremendous forehand counter drop and volley drop and relies on her accuracy to win. She lifts the ball consistently, but can also hit with a lot of pace when there's an opening. I really think continuing to polish David's volley drop and counter drop would help her immensely. I feel Au's short game was much stronger. It doesn't mean David needs to use her short game more it just has to be more accurate when she does. Currently I feel like she isn't as ruthless or fearless when she attacks short and with the lowered tin this is an area she could still improve. She doesn't use much deception compared to the Egyptian women so if you're easy to read and you're not overpowering you better be pin point accurate.

One thing that was very evident in her loss to Nour Gohar was how defensive she was playing from the back of the court. Rightly so she didn't want to get into a slugfest with Gohar. It was quite obvious how high and deep she was aiming for her length as she was intentionally overhitting all of her drives, while Gohar was letting it rip on most shots and applying pressure consistently. Maybe David felt like she needed to lift the ball and hit it that deep to give her time to get up on the T or perhaps she was trying to slowly wear Gohar down by letting the Egyptian punch herself out. I felt like later in the match there were signs of Gohar's pace slowing slightly, but I still believe the best defence is a good offence. This doesn't mean I think David should begin hitting everything harder, but simply focusing more on the depth of her drives so Gohar doesn't have so much time to set up and transfer her weight into the ball and hit it 1,000 miles per hour. from the back corners; as soon as this begins to happen you are always going to be reacting and on your heels. There were so few dying drives from David and her drops were still generally a bit too passive and sat up so I thought tactically it wasn't a good matchup for her.

Really when it comes down to it it's tough to change your game more than minor bits when you are in the later stages of your career. If there's any chance of David getting her #1 ranking back I feel she's going to have to really focus on being a bit more proactive and attacking. How much she can change is unclear, but I wouldn't make any drastic changes just subtle refinements. I think there are so many hard hitting and strong attacking players it's tough to win by lifting the ball consistently. I can see on 1 hand that David would be difficult for the other women to beat because she is very consistent with what she does and doesn't make many unforced errors, but I also get the feeling her opponents also feel quite comfortable in the rallies as they are able to dictate a large portion of the points.

Nicold David has definitely brought a large group of players up to her level and now some appear to be just slightly ahead of her. She has won the Hong Kong Open 10 times straight until this one so it's not fair to say her play has declined much or at all, but she isn't winning 90% of her events anymore so it's only normal to ask some questions and analyze why.

I love watching the clash of style when she plays an attacking player. She is in excellent condition and stays very focused, but will that be enough to win more titles? In the next couple of years she will start to slow down and her game will have to evolve if she is going to continue to stay near the top of the game. Does this mean she will play at an even slower pace, become more proficient at attacking or maybe more sneaky and wise? Time will tell. I'll always cheer for her as she's done so much for our sport and to improve the standard of the women's game, I just hope we get to see her win a few more big titles and have an opportunity to get the world #1 spot back! Jonathon Power did this at the end of his career, so it can happen in the later stages of your career. She definitely still has a shot at every event she enters, it's just the increased depth means it's only getting tougher. Good luck Nicol!

By the way I'm taking Amanda Sobhy in 5 and Ramy Ashour in 4 tonight! Don't forget to check out my new squash merch store at SeriousSquashShop.com

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.

If I Coached Nicol David Part 2

Today I'm going to talk about Nicol Davd yet again. In my last post I discussed what I would work on if I were coaching this current legend of our game. And for the record, I know this isn't going to happen! It's just fun to discuss. Nicol is only human after all and can still get better at her craft. 

My last post got me thinking further about all of the things that I would learn from Nicol if I did happen to coach her. I also started making a list of  many questions I would like to ash her. Without a doubt getting to work with a top player like Nicol would be extremely motivating and inspiring for a coach. Certainly she would be teaching the coach as much or more than we would in return. So here's a little list of what I would love to find out about Nicol.

Her training schedule: I think everyone wants to know the ingredients for the top players. What are they doing that allows them to become so great? How much of what is she doing and how has this changes throughout the years? How does Nicol stay fresh and hungry day in and day out?

Her mental training program and ability: without a doubt Nicol is one of the most mentally tough and consistent players. It seems like she never loses her focus and doesn't get involved with the ref. her psychological skill set is as good or better than any other area of her game. So how did she get to this point? Was it how she was brought up by her parents or coaching? How much time does she spend working on these areas of her game nowadays?

Solo hitting routine: anyone who watches Nicol in the knock up for one of her matches can tell that she has done a lot of solo hitting. She is so strong on the volley and hits such a clean ball. I think solo hitting is essential to becoming a great player. How much does Nicol do and what area does she focus on when she's doing this?

How has she been able to stay healthy: having a run like Nicol is at the top of the women's game is amazing. Not only because of her ability to stay so consistent with her form, but also because she's been able to stay healthy and on court. We all know the troubles that Ramy and many other top pros have dealt with. Does Nicol play through small nagging injuries or does she have an unbelievable physio and conditioning team to keep her on court and raking up ranking points?

What drives her: all top players have had long stretches of time where they were very motivated, but things change over time. It appears that Nicol has stayed hungry (and extremely hungry) and had an insatiable appetite for success. How has she dealt with low motivation? What keeps her working hard and wanting to be the best? Maybe if she writes a book when she retires we'll get to learn more about this side of her.

Her future goals and aspirations: what does someone want that had already done everything? If squash gets into the Olympics there's no doubt that would be her #1 goal, but what else does Nicol want to do on tour? And I'm also curious how much better she thinks she can get.

Her plans for post professional squash life: I'm sure Nicol will continue being involved with squash in some way after she retires. Does she know I'm what capacity yet? Does she already have some offers on the table? Maybe we'll all just have to wait until this day comes to find out. Hopefully it won't be anytime soon!

Her most memorable tournament and match: even someone as decorated as Nicol must have a favourite squash memory and a best performance. When did Nicole fee she played her most

complete match? What was her best victory? What is her favourite court? How much does Nicol feel her game fluctuates tournament to tournament?

What was your support like as a child: growing up a small girl there must be times when adults were trying to keep your dreams in check. What was her support like? Did people ever tell Nicol that she was too small? That she couldn't do what she's done?

When did she realize she could become a world champion: what age or at what poky did Nicol realize she could become world #1? Did she always believe this as she was growing up or is this something she only realized after she began getting some results? I'm sure she didn't get to where she is by accident!

Who is her favourite player to watch (past or current): who does Nicol learn from watching play? Or who did she grow up idolizing? I wonder if this person plays or played at all like Nicol does.

How has her game progressed since she was a junior: how did Nicol play as a junior compare to now. Mess she always so disciplined? Did she always win? Was she always so in control of her emotions?

Who is her favourite player to compete against: Nicol has a few good rivalries in the sport. Which player does she enjoy playing against the most? And which is the most challenging to play?

How does she keep balance in her life off the court: what does Nicol do outside of squats training and tournaments? Does she have any balance in her life? Does she play other sports? How much time off does she take to keep her fresh?

How long does it take for her to get over a loss: Nicol doesn't lose often, but when she does how long does it take for her to get over it? Does she dissect the matches she loses more than the others?

I'd also be curious about how many matches Nicol plays outside of completions? And does Nicol play men or strictly women since that's who she competes against? What are her favourite drills and condition games? What shot is she working on most these days?

As I mentioned above it would great if Nicol could just write a biography and answer a lot of these questions. She's such an asset to our sport that I hope she isn't going to give up her squash racquet for book writing for a long time to come.

To become the best in the world at anything requires a complete dedication. Certainly Nicol doesn't have some unbelievable genetic athletic quality to explain her success. It's more about her drive and what's between her ears. This is why Nicol is an excellent role model for all of us. If we really want something and commit to it fully we can do anything we want and be successful. There will always be tough times where we doubt our own ability or desire. I'm sure Nicol has had to deal with these challenges along the way. Yet somehow Nicol has managed to overcome the odds and become the most successful player of all time.

It's easy to tell that Nicol would be the ultimate athlete to coach. She always gives 100%, is extremely driven, mentally tough, and of course has all the skills to be able to do anything you

ask. Undoubtably her supporting cast is extremely important to her success, but I'm sure Nicol is in control of her daily training routine. It also appears that Nicol is humble and grateful which is a unique trait for someone that's had so much success; this is likely why Nicol David has so many fans all over the world. 

I think the biggest thing if you got to work with someone like Nicol David is that she would make you better at what you do. It's not often you get to work with an athlete who is as or even more driven than the coach! Besides all of the questions I'd have about her training it would be her daily routine and personality that would be the most fascinating. Just as I've learned from other top coaches, it's by being around them on a daily basis that you pick up little tidbits here and there that set them apart from the pack; I think there would be a lot of these moments in Nicol's camp. 

If I Coached Nicol David

Today I am going to discuss what I would work on if I coached Nicol David. It seems like a fitting topic since I'm heading to Malaysia soon. Obviously she is doing almost everything at the absolute highest quality, but even for one of the greatest players there are things that can be improved. I'm sure this is what keeps her motivated year after year. Many people want to find out just how good they can be? Not very many of us actually achieve our true potential. It takes not just many years of hard work, but a dedication to your craft for a major potion of your life.

I could go on and on about what Nicol David does so well. Her consistency, focus, mental toughness, work ethic, determination, her length and fitness are the major qualities that I really admire. Not to mention that she is a brilliant role model not just for young girls, but any squash player. She also appears to be extremely humble and has a great smile :-) It makes you wonder where her will and determination come from. David is proof that you can be small and succeed in squash. But this post is heading in a different direction. It's time to talk about how David can become an even better squash player.

David has been on the tour for a long time and is getting near the twilight of her career, but has yet to shows signs of slowing down. I believe that David can continue improving her game for years to come. When you get to an elite level as David has, what she can improve is much less obvious than any amateur, but after watching most of her matches at the recent British Open you could see some of her opponents were able to really work her around the court. I don't remember her opponents looking so comfortable against her a few years ago. I guess this is naturally what happens when you're on the top. Everyone has a team strategizing on how to take you down.

Although David is extremely fit and fast, she is still relatively small in stature. So when someone holds the ball or attacks well with a boast she has trouble covering. I thought Laura Massaro had a lot of success with her forehand attacking boast on David. I think David is well aware of this fact and is why she really concentrates on keeping her opponent behind her until she has a golden opening. If her opponents are stuck in the back they won't be hitting many winners from there. David has such great length on the glass court that this almost always works, but if her opponents equal her great length she's normally in trouble (yes, as we all are!). I think that David will never be easy to beat because she has such a solid base to her game. She makes very few mistakes and hits good width and length. But I do feel that she could be more aggressive and clinical on her volleys.

During the British Open I thought David let her opponents off the hook numerous occasions on the volley. There were plenty of times where her opponent was stuck behind her and she just hit it deep again. David appeared to be set up and in position to bring the ball in short. Of course if she goes short and the shot isn't high quality she puts herself in trouble as she again is not that big and many of the top women are deceptive when given time from the front. Obviously this isn't her style, but I'd like to see her play more aggressive on the volley. Not be afraid of making a couple of errors. This brings me to my next point.

Watching David play I feel that her opponents can read her very well. It's just a matter of wether David's shot execution is precise enough or not. If your opponent always knows where the ball is going you're looking at very long rallies. She does have a deceptive backhand trickle boast and I would like to see her work on one on the forehand side. I'd also like to see her try some more drives down the middle of the court. She hits such immaculate length that this is definitely something that would make her even tougher to play.

I think David could also improve her attacking boast. Some of the top women shape up and look like they are going to drive and then play a 2-wall boast. Some of these women have excellent delay on their swings. Since David has such great length and hits deep almost every time she's in the back if this shot was at all deceptive she would set herself up for a lot of easy points. But of course this leaves her exposed at the front and is a bit more risky than the style she normally plays.

The last area I think Nicol David could improve is her serve from the right service box. She does get the ball nice and high with her lob serve, but rarely hits the sidewall. If she hit the sidewall consistently on the 4-wall glad court this would set her up for a lot more quick points. Again, this may appear like a minor-adjustment, but I do think it would make a pretty significant impact to her game.

Nicole David is one of the greatest of all time. I almost feel unworthy to write an article about how she could improve. But I thought it would be a fascinating topic. I know one could ask, 'why fix what isn't broke?' And yes I get it and agree. But I believe this is how the greatest athletes think. Elite athletes are never satisfied with where they are and are constantly looking for ways to improve and add new dimensions to their craft. Nicol David isn't going to transform her game into an Egyptian stye. But if we look at Nick Matthew the past few years he has become much more attacking and clinical with his short game. As the competition get stronger I think you need to get them off court sooner so you can be fresher for the later rounds.

It would be interesting to know exactly what Nicol David thought of her own game at the moment and what she is currently working on. If she keeps on doing the same thing she should continue to do it slightly better and better. There is no doubt about her work ethic. But with everyone nipping at her heels I'm sure she is thinking of subtle adjustments she needs to continue to make so she can continue to stay at the top. As we saw at the British Open there are a number of women that are capable of beating Nicol on any given day. If feels like the tides are slowing changing. How much longer will David be able to be world #1? I think the one thing she has going for her is that there isn't another dominant person on tour. I think there are a few that are very strong, but the don't get the consistent results that David does. Until one of them do David should be safe at the top of the heap.

If I was coaching Nicol David it's safe to say that I would learn a lot more from her than she would from me.

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?

Analysis Of The British Open: Glass Court Issues

Watching the British Open this week, I've decided that today I'm going to discuss some of the great parts and not so great parts of the 4-wall glass show court. The glass court is much superior for viewing, both on TV and live. It is also incredibly unforgiving if you are missing your targets. While on the flip-side it can be equally rewarding for well executed shots.

As I've been watching the British Open this week, it's evident to see the difference of people with more experience on glass courts. Of course there have been a number of upsets on the women's side, but most of those have been on the traditional courts. I've watched at least parts of 5 or 6 women's matches on the glass court and this is what I've decided to discuss today.

As I mentioned above, the glass court is not very forgiving. If you're not hitting your targets the ball will be squirting out loose. And I've noticed that for the most part in the women's game that this has happened very early in the rallies; often after 2 or 3 shots. The challenge here is that once the court is opened up I find that in the women's game the rally is rarely ever reset. The women are too good at finishing off the points and in general the women aren't as explosive as the top men to make up for a poor shot. So I've found a number of the women's matches thus far to be one sided. I've felt embarrassed for some of the women out there. They are top 20 or 30 in the world and losing games in 5 minutes or less. It must be quite frustrating and a blow to their confidence.

In one first round match between Nicol David and Tesni Evans this trend seemed to be continuing, at least for the first 2 games. As Evans adjusted to the court she really played some excellent squash and pushed David to 4 games and it was highly entertaining. It demonstrated that the slightly lower ranked women can adjust and compete with the top ranked women and in the end entertain us; which of course is the objective for us watching. We don't care if it's men or women if we see good, hard fought rallies.

So how can the WSA improve the quality of their glass court matches? Obviously the biggest thing is experience. The women that are lower ranked have to battle through qualifying and rarely get a match on the glass court. I'd estimate under 10 matches on a glass court per year for women out of the top 15 or 20. If you compare that to David, she probably gets 50+ annually and also gets more practice on one back in Malaysia. Imagine if Evans has the same luxury? Imagine if all the women had that luxury? Certainly that's part of the experience that is so valuable on tour. The game is much different on a 4-wall glass show court.

In the end, the WSA, (well now joined with the PSA) is a business. If they want to improve their product they need to make glass courts more common place for all the women. This may mean making a push to have glass courts in countries where all the top women are from. This may mean not overlapping men's and women's events so that all of the matches (including qualifying) are played on glass courts. This could at least be done for major events. They could also have 2 glass courts at major events. I know it's getting expensive now. But I feel some of the matches so far on the glass courts have been pretty poor quality. I know the women are super talented, but they aren't able to play to the best of their abilities on the biggest stage (excluding the top few). It's a shame really.

You see this with the men as well. Canadian legend Shahier Razik is a perfect example of someone that as always struggled adapting his game on the glass court. The difference is that Razik can at least get more balls back and have some rallies even if he does go down.

I think glass courts are the future of the game. Hopefully we get more permanently built into squash clubs in the world. Surely if someone wanted to play professional, they would benefit from spending extra time on these types of courts. But of course they first have to make it through smaller tournaments to get a high enough ranking to play in the big events which have the glass courts setup.

I'd like to think the better player will win regardless of the court, but we can see from the first round upsets in the women's draw that the court does make a bid difference. I highly doubt there would have been as many upsets in the first round if all the matches were played on the glass court.

I think as we get further into the tournament the caliber of the women's matches not the glass court will dramatically increase. David and any top Egyptian is always an entertaining spectacle. I want pro squash to look like pro squash. I know it will improve with time and experience, I just hope it doesn't do more damage than good for some of the women that have been steamrolled thus far.