With all of this excess spare time I've come up another Serious Squash side project. What I've created is a video series called, Story Time. The goal of Story Time is to share short informational videos on specific areas surrounding squash.
We are in a full lockdown so I can't access to the courts or the gym to film at this time. I only haver a few more on court clips to post, but I though that I could still create some useful content from home.
I'm going to have some fun with this and I'll keep the episodes coming as long as we are in lockdown. In the first episode I provide my 4 main tips for getting more out of your solo practice. If you haven't already seen it you can watch it here.
Episode 2 will be dropping tomorrow and it's about the future of squash. I basically discuss how challenging this pandemic is and is going to continue to be on all of us. Whether you're a casual player, a professional, a coach or a club owner, we are all in a really challenging position.
Are our numbers going to drop significantly? What does the future of tournaments looks like? How many professionals are going to retire in 2021? How many clubs will close down for good? I don't think we will fall completely off the map like racquetball did, but I do think things are going to be tough in our industry for a long time to come. I'm really interested to hear everyone's opinions so make sure you watch episode 2 and comment.
If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the Serious Squash YouTube channel so you can stay connected with all the latest content. YouTube will be the only place I'll be publishing episodes of Story Time. YouTube.com/SeriousSquash
The first Serious Squash video is almost complete. All of the video shooting has been completed and edited. Now it's just a matter of adding audio to the film and releasing it. Here's a short trailer which shows a few of the drills included in the film. It will be around 1 hour long and the estimated release date is set for April 1st. Play Better Squash. Here's the trailer:
Here's a short little video I pieced together with my new intro video on the benefits of using slow motion video to break down your swing. I discuss some key points on the backhand drive in particular and finish with a few slow motion drives to demonstrate. Want to improve your swing? Break it down and check out the key performance indicators. Is it accurate? Can you generate power? Can you hit it deep/high enough? Does it break down under pressure? Check out the video on my Youtube channel here:
Below is an example of the same shot hit both in regular speed followed by slow motion. You can see a lot more from slowing things down.
When I was a kid pretty much every single good player cocked their wrist. Cocking your wrist allowed for improved consistency and power. The open racquet face at contact helps keep the ball above the tin and allows you to hit with an open racquet face and slice the ball. Your racquet face would always be presented properly to the ball allowing for a more consistent strike of the ball, unlike those that break their wrist. The increased power is from the last split second wrist movement. To explain this try and take a swing keeping your wrist cocked the entire time. Without that wrist moving you are not going to be able to transfer weight though the kinetic link properly. My point being is that there were lots of important reasons for learning to cock your wrist and I remember it being a difficult concept to grasp.
Gawad with a short backswing, but a cocked wrist gives him lots of options from this setup
Nowadays you still see the top players cocking their wrist, but you also see some (like Ramy) play with a relaxed and uncocked wrist. The style and equipment has changed which has allowed for more variation in technique and how the game is played. I thought it would for an interesting post to discuss the pros and cons of cocking your wrist versus having a relaxed one. Clearly a top player with enough repetition can make either work, but even for a top pro there are pros and cons to having a more relaxed wrist vs a cocked one.
Ashour with almost no backswing whatsoever and a relaxed wrist
I should begin by saying that players who have this relaxed wrist don't actually break their wrist. By breaking their wrist I mean the back of their hand and arm making an angle larger than 180 degrees. Someone like Ramy has such a short swing from the mid and front court that he is incredibly deceptive and quick from the start of his 'down'swing to contact. If you watch this short video I filmed on backhand drops you will also see how this relaxed wrist position allows for less tension in the hand and forearm which allows a player like Ramy to fire the ball in short with superb precision. This changes the angle of the swing, contact point on the ball and therefore the amount of spin you can generate. For example, on the backhand Ramy just swings his arm and side of his palm directly to where he is aiming at meaning he hits the bottom part of the ball (an example pictured below). While dropping with a cocked wrist anabas you to hit more the back corner/side of the bal. In theory I can see how a relaxed wrist can allow Ramy to be more consistent because there is a shorter backswing and less tension in his arm because he doesn't need to hold the racquet head upwards. From a shorter backswing one can also begin their swing later so their opponent has less time to read what shot is coming next; that is assuming they are strong enough to still hit it deep from this position.
When a player cocks their wrist (as I do in the video above) you'll see my racquet head is above the ball and I can hit down more severely onto the ball. I always tried to think of the tin as a form of net and the higher above the tin the ball is when I strike it the better angle I have to spike the ball downwards, which means more pressure I can put on my opponent. I also like the feel of the ball on the strings when I cock my wrist for my drop shots. I feel like I can get more action on the ball when I have my wrist cocked. I haven't taken enough swings like Ramy does to feel the same control or touch that he does with his flatter swing with his relaxed wrist, so I will probably never be able to switch. If I was going to try and drop with a relaxed wrist the difficult part would be that I'd be 100% committing to the drop. With such a short backswing and a relaxed wrist there would be almost no power behind my setup meaning my opponent knows what's coming. Ramy is so strong on his forearm that he can still snap the ball with some pace with just about zero tension in his arm or backswing. This is something that was simply impossible 20+ years ago when the racquets were 200 grams. Now with the lighter frames and improved strings there are a lot more possibilities.
Ashour on the backhand side with again zero backswing. The racquet starts at his leading leg and he can still hit the ball to any part of the court
So now I've got you thinking. Should I try and cock or keep a relaxed wrist? That is something that a good coach will need to help you with. I think only a really top player could make the relaxed wrist position really effective. I still coach players to cock their wrist, but if I came across a very skilled player that already had this style I would not try and change it. I can see the benefit from this relaxed wrist if you also have the snap to go deep from that position too. If you don't have the snap your opponent will be running up to get your shot every time they see that relaxed wrist and short backswing. So unless you spend multiple hours each week working on your short game, that probably isn't going to work at a high level.
What I've discussed so far is the benefits of cocking or not cocking your wrist on drops, from attacking positions from the mid or front of the court. From the front under pressure when counter dropping you will have to break your wrist to one up your racquet face to the target and to play the ball in front of you. This is the only time I break my wrist when I play and it's really difficult for me. I found a picture of Alison Waters doing this on the backhand side.
Waters adapts her wrist position under pressure to line her racquet face up to the target
From the back of the court I do feel cocking your wrist is a big advantage because it's the best way to get the ball back deep and above the tin. If you don't have a lot of time to prepare at least when you cock your wrist your racquet will be aiming up and you will have a better chance of getting the ball back deep. Also, when digging the ball out of the back corners when you're space is limited it's also important to cock your wrist to use height on the shortened swing.
But when you have time (as Ramy does below) and you're prepared early and you're not trying to play defensive you can play with a cocked or relaxed wrist. You can imagine that from the set up below most people could not get enough of a whip from this setup to get power into their shot or it would take too long that they couldn't get away with it. Ramy has hit so many balls I believe everything is about feel and he doesn't focus on his technique at all. He knows by the feel of each swing if it was hit perfectly or not so for him he knows that he is set up exactly how he wants to be. This is the one thing I think is a huge benefit from the relaxed arm; you have less tension in your arm and you can feel the ball better against your strings.
One area from the back which I should mention is if you're trying to hit a hard and low attacking drive. This can be played a few different ways. Some people (mostly the Egyptians) still hit this shot with a very open racquet face and simply have a flatter or more sever swing path to hit the ball low.
Nouran Gohar has a lot of shoulder rotation in this shot, but still has a slightly cocked wrist and open racquet face
I like actually closing my racquet face or even using some top spin. When I close my racquet face or hit with a bit of top spin my wrist is still cocked, it's just about how I rotate my arm over. So if you can picture this it may help. On the backhand side if I want to hit with a closed racquet face I simply have a forehand open wrist and arm position. Can you imagine this? I found a pic of Karim Abdel Gawad doing this. See how if he kept everything the same and just brought his racquet to his forehand side it would be a nice open racquet face. His wrist is still cocked, but is just facing down.
Gawad keeping his wrist cocked even when he closes his racquet face
Hopefully I've expanded your knowledge on this subject. To me it's a really fascinating topic. It was such a keep fundamental and then to have the best player of our generation not always do it was pretty mind blowing. It definitely shows that technique is not universal and if you can make it work consistently even under pressure maybe it doesn't need to be changed. Maybe coaches and players focus too much on technique and less about feel and shot selection? Basically these types of things make me think more open minded about squash and the technique in general. Peter Marshall should have taught us all that, but we haven't see that style at that level again since. So just because Ramy can do what he does, it doesn't mean you should try and copy it. It works for him, but it probably won't work for you unless you have fantastic hand-eye and spend about a quarter of your life on a squash court! If you're tinkering with this I still recommend not going past the 180 degree point at any part of your swing (besides the counter drop under pressure at the front) from the back of your hand to your forearm. Remember the title is called cocking or relaxing the wrist, not breaking it! Hope this topic was as interesting to you as it was to me.
Be sure to like Serious Squash on Facebook and follow my Youtube channel (cchsquashpro) and also on Instagram at #SeriousSquash for daily updates. Serious Squash also has a new online squash merch store at SeriousSquashShop.com Use the code SSROCKS to get 15% off your order and yes, I do ship worldwide.
AS most of you already know, I recently signed a contract with Eye Rackets and I've been working on some skill challenges. I have put together a 1 minute trailer of some of the skill challenged I will be releasing shortly. Here's the video if you'd like to take a peak.
Until this Monday night at midnight there is a Thanksgiving sale on at SeriousSquashShop.com Use the code 'burntturkey' and receive 20% off your order! No better time to preorder the 2nd edition Serious Squash Tee or get a new hoodie!
Someone recently asked to post some counter drops in slow motion. He asked and I delivered. Below you will see a video of some different style of counter drops I recently filmed in slow mo. When I have time at the front of the court I get to the all early and in a match I could either play my short early or delay it (which I do frequently do in this clip). When I'm under more pressure at the front I don't worry about deception or disguising my intention and instead shorten my swing and try and play the ball earlier, meaning further out in front of me and of course the idea is to get the ball as tight and as soft as possible just in case your opponent does get there before the 2nd bounce.
When I was younger I didn't realize why the counter drop was such a difficult shot; you're right at the front of the court, you have a short swing, it should be easy, right? Well you're also running near full speed, lunging and you also have to stay towards the middle of the court so you don't give up a stroke. Most kids aren't strong enough yet to lunge properly to play this shot which means they won't be able to put a proper swing path to play this shot.
You see it's very challenging to play a delicate shot when moving quickly, trying to stay balanced and also having to clear quickly. If you pop up the ball just a bit you are toast, if you can't clear towards the middle you are also in big trouble. Think about how often you practice your drives or volleys compared to your counter drops...if you're not very consistent with this shot it's likely because you haven't grooved this swing yet. If it's a technical problem have a peak at my video and see what I do. FYI - you don't need to try the deceptive drops if you can't hit a regular drop yet, but play around with both. Here it is:
I did a short video blog on backhand counter drops today. I demonstrate and explain a large number of ways to play this shot effectively. I discuss how to take it early and and how to use deception. There are quite a few good examples in the video. Take a look at it here and let me know what you think:
And if you want to check out the video of just the drops without the analysis here it is:
That's it for today. Hope you enjoyed the post and the video quality was manageable! Please check out my new online squash merch store at SeriousSquash Shop.com where I have lots of shirts, tank tops, bandanas, sport psychology wristbands and hats all for sale!
Today I try my 2nd video blog! Some of it is better (the lighting and larger screen), but I don't like how Apple TV pauses the screen so I'll adjust again for the next one. I'm still learning how to do this so just like everything it will get better with practice. I hope that what I like in video and lighting skills I can make up for in content for the time being.
Anyways, I digress. Today I discuss when it's more ideal to hit it with pace and when it's better to take some pace off the ball. I also talk about what pace of play suits your athletic ability and body type. Here's the video. Let me know what you think.
Also, don't forget to check out my new store SeriousSquashShop.com. There's lots of cool gear and you can now also purchase video analysis and gift certificates so there's something for everyone!
Instead of writing a few hundred words trying to explain my point I decided to do a short video and explain my blog today. I should first apologize for the poor quality by the filming crew, but I hope the content is expressed well. Sit back and watch and listen.
What do you guys think? Did this make sense? How many of you are aware of these subtle changes you should make depending on the drive you're about to hit? It's not just about hitting it to the back corner and hoping for the best. Learn how to create pressure and why it happens.
Even if you miss your targets, but they are correct spots you are well ahead of the game. Think about this the next time you do some rotating drives or boost drive.
If you haven't done so yet, please check out my new online squash clothing store at SeriousSquashShop.com I'll be adding lots of product to it over the summer and it's only just getting going. Squash clothing doesn't need to be so bland anymore, am I right?
Today I reached a quarter of a million views on Serious Squash. I started this blog about 2 years ago just to give my students an additional resource for their learning. A couple of hundred posts later I've chatted with people from all around the globe, began a video analysis service and have started up a video addition to my online social media presence. I have so many ideas for both my blog and for my videos so I envision Serious Squash continuing to expand. I'd even like to get into a signature racquet one day. Wherever it goes I will enjoy this journey.
Writing this blog has made me a better coach. I've spent a lot more time thinking about the game and coaching. As much as I've helped other people I know I've helped myself just as much or even more. Although this doesn't pay my bills it has been a lot of fun and I hope one day that I can add some international coaching clinics, skill challenging exhibitions and professional writing to my current career of coaching some terrific kids. It's nice to have a voice out there and people who relate to it. I've always been a person that has thought outside the box and enjoyed being creative and was passionate about health, fitness and squash in particular. I have always loved hitting a squash ball, regardless if it was solo practice or a tournament match. It's nice to know that I've found another avenue that I truly enjoy on top of playing and coaching squash.
In 2 weeks I'm having surgery on my meniscus so I will have more free time to write soon new material. I have some great post ideas on the horizon and have been talking to some other companies about my videos and another about doing some writing for them. I'm looking forward to these next chapters and will update you as soon as things are finalized. Some of my upcoming topics that I'm most excited about are routines. The more I think about them the more critical I feel they are to elite performance. I'm also working on a post about keeping squash fun and I am also working on another professional athlete profile.
When I started coaching I thought I had to take the route of other coaches. Do your levels, work with professional players and work your way up the coaching ranks until you can coach a national team. And although working with a national team is something I'd still like to do, I'm not worried about what other coaches or people involved in squash think of my coaching skills. There may be more certified coaches, but I have some unique skills and I am creating a new and unique career path. I love coaching kids, working on skill challenges and writing. I just want to add in some world tours and then I'd be set. I'm confident that one day I will work with a national team. It probably won't be in Canada as they focus too much on what your coaching level and experience is, but you never know. If it doesn't happen I'd be fine with that as long as I get to keep coaching some competitive juniors.
Thanks again to those of you that have reached out to me and given me feedback on my blog (both positive and constructive). If you want to see some of the cool squash videos I've worked on check out my Instagram account at serioussquash or at Youtube at cchsquashpro. Keep an eye out for news and updates on Serious Squash.
Most people think they can hit the ball fairly straight, but a lot of the time we use the sidewall to help us keep our shot straights. Take away the sidewall and see how straight you really hit it. Here's how you find out how straight you can hit your drives.
Forehand Version
Backhand Version
You can see how much more challenging it is to keep your drives accurate when you take away the sidewall. If you want to learn how to really keep the ball perfectly straight try incorporating the drills above into your solo routine. I try and aim for the middle line and see how many drives I an hit into the backdoor in a row. If you're a lower level you could try and see how many times you can hit the door in a specified amount of time vs. consecutive.
#11: Forehand figure 8 volley to behind the back to the other corner. This is a tricky one and took me some time to master. The key is hitting the ball low for your behind the back shot!
#12: The Butterfly. This is the only skill challenge I've filmed that I have seen done before. I've tried this one a lot over the years so it's not too challenging for me anymore, but is essential to being able to do some of the other skill challenges I've completed.
#13: Between The Legs Figure 8's. Below I am hitting a forehand figure 8 and then through the legs into the opposite corner. Some of my skill challenges are designed to improve your ball control, while others are just for fun!
To stay up to date with my most recent skill challenges check out my Youtube channel at cchsquashpro and follow me on Instagram at serioussquash.
Today I posted a short video clip of me working on your short game. It's so vital to always work on your short game so you can hit the shots you want when they matter most. It's also important so you are confident in your ability to go short, especially on big points or after making an error!
As you get better in squash it becomes more difficult to go short because your opponents read the game better, are faster, hit it harder and tighter and the ball is usually warmer. This is why I spent a lot of time solo hitting working on my drops on the bounce and on the volley. I often practiced with a blue or red dot so the ball stays bouncy and even bouncier than it would be in competition. Here's the video clip of me playing some drops on the bounce. I'll post another one soon of me working on my volley drops and nicks. Enjoy!
I still make a few errors and my short game could still improve, but it has gotten stronger over the years. I remember about 15 years ago watching some top PSA players play and I noticed how much they cut their drop shots. The ball was so bouncy it was the only way they could get the ball to stay somewhat short on the court. I see many amateurs waste excellent opportunities because they have not spent the time grooving their short game swings. Don't be one of those players. Work on your short game all of the time and it will pay major dividends over the months and years.
On a closing note. I will be travelling to Europe in June (Belgium, France, Spain and maybe others). If your squash club is interested in setting up a clinic or an exhibition please contact me at info@serioussquash.com.
If you haven't already seen them here are my next 3 skill challenges. I have over 20 so far as the list continues to expand.
#8: I am doing double figure 8 butterfly drill. It's one of the toughest ones I've done to date. But I continue to challenge myself to come up with more challenging and unique skills.
#9: this one may seem tricky, but for a good player it's not really that difficulty. Most good players have hit a few balls over the years with their non-dominant arm and can hit a decent forehand. SO here I am doing right to left handed forehand figure 8 volleys.
#10: this is tougher than #9 by quite a bit. Here I am switching hands again between shots, but I am hitting only backhands. Needless to say the left-handed backhand figure 8 was pretty challenging and the technique is pretty, but I got a decent amount going. Good luck and enjoy!
Follow my Youtube channel (cchsquashpro) to keep up to date with new releases. I've also posted some other short video clips that are excellent solo hitting drills that most amateur players will be able to practice. Feel free to follow me on Instagram (serioussquash) too, where I've posted short sneak peak clips of some of the skill challenges I'm currently practicing.
I will continue posting articles from time to time. I actually have a lot lined up at the moment. But I have been doing a few more videos recently and have published some skill challenges along with some other drills that can help you improve various areas of your game. I won't be posting every video link on this site, so if you'd like to stay informed please follow my Youtube channel (cchsquashpro) or on Instagram (serioussquash). Hope you enjoy some of the videos and I welcome anyone who has a new challenge or can better me on one of my challenges! Please tag me in your video or send me the link so I can check it out. Cheers!
Here is my 7th skill challenge. This took me a few minutes to get the hang of it. I can do figure 8's and side wall volleys both pretty well, but mixing the two was pretty tricky. I give this a difficulty rating of 6 out of 10. Can you do this? Enjoy and good luck!
For the record, I think my next skill challenge is my best to date! Coming soon :)
Today I'm doing a relatively simple skill challenge. If you can do figure regular figure 8 volleys you shouldn't have too much trouble with these. It's just a nice little variation and keeps your feet moving. Here it is:
I give this skill challenge a difficulty rating of 4 out of 10. Enjoy and good luck!
Here is my 5th Skill Challenge. It's much more difficult than it looks. I've seen many people do the sidewalk version of this exercise, but this is more challenging. Have a look and see for yourself.
If you can't do this yet try the version using the sidewalls. Not only is this a good exercise for your hand-eye and improving your racquet skill, but it also forces you to keep your follow through high after the volley (which is key for a volley drive). Stay tuned for a new Skill Challenge release in the next few days. You can also find small sneak peak clips of me working on some new challenges at my new Instagram page at serioussquash.
