The Benefits Of Analyzing Your Swing In Slow Motion

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. 

Backhand Counter Drops In Slow Motion

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:

Serious Squash Skill Challenge #3: Backhand Figure 8 Volleys

Here is my 3rd skill challenge. It's the backhand version of #2 and it's quite a bit tougher. I would give this one a difficulty rating of 8 out of 10. How many can you do?

It takes a lot of forearm strength and control to do this skill challenge. As with many of the skill challenges I'm posting you also need to be able to adapt your swing with your wrist to hit a variety of targets when your body is often not in the ideal position. I will post challenge #4 over the weekend which is one of the most challenging exercises I can do. Good luck!

Serious Squash Elite Skill Challenge #1

Over the years I've spent so many hours hitting squash balls and in particular solo hitting that I have come up with a number of unique skill challenges. Some are for warming up while others are just incredibly challenging. When I was a boy I spent a lot of time trying to get to 100 figure 8 volleys. Most of us have also seen or attempted the 4 corner figure 8 volley drill which I first learned about 12-13 years ago. So today I am posting my first video of a skill challenge to Youtube. I will continue posting a new challenge every so often so follow my Youtube channel at cchsquashpro.

Here's my first skill challenge. Let me know how many you can do. I don't have a name for it, maybe I should come up with one..how about the backhand butterfly? I'm open to suggestions. You can only backhand volleys and you hit in the front right corner and then turn around and hit it into the back left corner (if you're a righty). And for the record I got dizzy after 7 or 8 of them! Stay tuned for the elite skill challenge #2.

If You Could Only Do One Thing Really Well

Today I'm going to talk about what I think is the most important part of the game. If you could do one thing amazingly well, what would it be? What shot or quality would allow you to be the most successful and cause problems for your opponents? Of course this may change depending on who you're playing against.

We would all love to be stronger, faster, fitter or maybe more mentally tough and disciplined. Would any single one of those traits be enough to beat most players? Not without the racquet skill or proper shot selection. So let's move on.

You see some people that make very good decision, but can't quite execute the shot. Making good choices is a big part of the game, maybe the biggest. I'd rather someone make good choices with bad technique than poor choices with a perfectly grooved swing. I'd pick the thinker any day. But still, I don't think making good choices in itself is the single skill quality that would allow you to play the best.

Now it's time to move on to shots. I know most kids want to say nicks or drops. But we all know nobody wins just because they can hit nicks. Pretty tough to hit 33 of them in a match, especially if you can't hit the shots to set up the openings to go for them.

If we look to some of the basic shots I believe we will start to see what is really crucial in the game. The serve and return of serve are high on this list. A great serve in itself is not going to be enough to win beyond the novice level, but it was still give you some free points each game. If you can't return a good serve you can lose very quickly. But of course once you get the serve back this skill isn't going to assist you much. So although I believe the serve and return of serves to be critical skills, they are not enough on their own to be successful.

Of course I know what you're thinking, 'it must be length.' Don't get ahead of yourself yet. If you could only perfect one length shot which would be the most beneficial to your game? Would it be a forehand or backhand? Would it be a straight or crosscourt drive? I believe that the straight drive on the left hand wall is the most crucial shot in squash. This is where much of the game is played and most of the shots are hit into. If you are more accurate over here and can get good drives back as good drives, you will probably be very successful. I consider a good drive on the left wall to not come off the back wall much (or any depending on your positioning and your opponents). We all know tighter is better, but the depth is equally or even more essential at a high level.

If you get the depth right on a straight drive on the left wall your opponent shouldn't be able to crosscourt drive or attack short well. There is very low risk hitting a backhand drive if you know you can hit it tight and apply pressure with it. Even though there is a lot more to the game than this I feel that if you have fantastic control and consistency on this shot you can win point after point over there. You can set up easy shots to attack of just keep someone pinned in the back level corner. This is likely my best shot (probably because I've hit it so much), and is the shot I feel most comfortable with. If I'm playing a big point I know I can keep it on this wall and I have an excellent chance of winning the point. And that's what squash is, giving yourself the best odds to win each rally.

You might have noticed that I kept mentioning the left side wall as opposed to backhand side. I think that this is also the same for lefties. Most lefties have much stronger forehands than backhands. I don't think I've ever met a lefty that was better on their backhand. Most righties aren't comfortable playing on the right side of the court so they tend to play lefties similar to other right handed opponents. For this reason I think that it is more important that left handed players have a better forehand straight drive than backhand. This of course in itself isn't enough to be successful though. If you can't hit a good straight drive on the right side of the court your opponent will just wait for you to boast or crosscourt to your strong side.

I remember Roger Federer once saying that he didn't spend much time focusing on his backhand (which was his weaker side) because he got so much repetition on it in matches. His opponents would always pick on it, so he decided to kept working on his strengths (his forehead). Was this right or wrong? Who knows. Clearly he's had an unbelievable career. But if we spend most of our practice time on one side than the other we will normally get stronger and tighter on that one side. This is why I find most people need to spend time working n the right wall; even though this isn't the shot that I deem to be most crucial to success. This is because more right handed players don't need much space to get the ball back over to the left side of the court.  On our forehand we are also stronger when the ball is slightly behind us as well.

Do you agree? Disagree? What single skill would allow you to have the most success? If it's your drive on the left side of the court do you spend your time working on it over and over? Or do you think like Federer and practice the other side which doesn't get as much practice time? If you do focus on the left wall remember there is a lot more than just constantly hitting the ball tight? Set up targets to keep your focus and concentrate on the depth. Footwork and racquet preparation is also extremely important into this corner. Do you lift the ball under pressure? Do you hit it flatter when you have some time and a bit of an opening? There are lots of subtle ways to put the ball into the same area of the court. This is what separates the elite players from the really good ones.

Resistance Band Training For Squash

Today I'm going to talk about exercise or resistance bands. There are many types of bands and just as many various ways to use them. I just ordered 2 sets of them today so I won't have any feedback on the quality of them until they arrive and I get to play around with them for a bit. The first one I ordered was a set of 3 from Black Mountain Therapy Exercise Bands (seen below). They have 3 different resistances/elasticity strength to them which will come in handy working with a large age range of kids.

This type of elastic bands can be used in a number of ways. I plan on using them mostly for kids to replicate their forehand and backhand swings. This is a good method for building up some strength training and improving their flexibility/rang of motion in their shoulders, trunk and core. Most people don't have very good core rotation and flexibility. This is a major role for maximizing power in your swing. Simply having your racquet back does not mean you are set. You still need to rotate your shoulders/core. For example, on the backhand your head doesn't move, but you rotate your shoulders so that your right shoulder is now facing the sidewall. This is the torque you need to produce power on the backhand side. If you're interested in this more go take a look at my previous post on the backhand slow motion drive here http://www.serioussquash.com/2014/12/slow-motion-backhand-straight-drive.html

I always see pitchers in the MLB use these bands to warmup in the bullpen before they start throwing. So you could also keep one of them in your bag and use them as part of your warm up routine. 

The second set of bands I ordered are loops (pictured below). These bands are like giant elastic bands and are used for different exercises. I used these once at the Pacific Sport Institute here in Victoria and I liked them. We used them more for warming up and getting hidden muscles (like the hip flexors) to fire. 

What I like so much about resistance bands is that you can reproduce squash specific motions. So you can work on technique along with moderate strength training. They are also extremely portable and you can use them at home or the office. Just a few minutes every second or third day and you'll feel the difference.

I do have just 2 concerns about this type of product. The first is if a band snaps or isn't fastened currently. Even though it seems like a harmless training tool, it requires proper precautions to ensure it's safe. I know some people pull or hold the resistance bands for one another as they do the exercises. This could be dangerous to do with kids as it can easily slip, so I won't use them this way. If you want to be extra cautious I recommend using this with your eye guards on. I know it may look silly at the office or at your house, but if a band does snap or come loose the last place you want to get hit is in the eye! Ok, have I scared you off them yet? Hopefully not, because I do believe these will be a great addition to the coaching tool box and can do a lot of good.

The second concern I have with resistance bands is the potential for muscle or joint strains. If someone is unfamiliar with the bands and overdoes it they are susceptible to a mild injury. Like every new exercise you begin you have to slowly build up your muscle endurance and the receptions. The good thing with ordering a set of variable textile strengths is that you can start with most elastic one and build your way up to the most resistance.

Make sure you tie the resistance band to something sturdy and be sure it's a good knot or two! These bands also come in handy during rehabilitation from a number of injuries. I've used them before when rehabbing a sprained ankle to increase the range of motion. You can also use them to stretch after your match. There's so much you can do. Pick one up online (I got mine at Amazon) or at a place like Sport Chek.

Do you use resistance bands or have you tried them before? Did you use them for squash specific movements?

Last thing..how are your resolutions coming along? Have you set or updated your goals for 2015? What are you going to do differently? A small subtle change adds up over time. Maybe it's adding a few reps with an exercise band to your weekly training that will get you that extra snap on your backhand!

Slow Motion Backhand Straight Drive

Today I'm going to show you something. Yes, that's right. I have a short video clip for you. I've been working on the same area with a few people recently, so I figure this would be w worthwhile post for many of you. As I mentioned before, I use my iPhone 6 for coaching quite a bit. You can film in slow motion and it provides great feedback. For a while I used this sow motion recording and I tried showing and explaining where a swing went wrong. Eventually I realized I needed to film myself in slow motion so they can see what I'm talking about and compare their swing.

Here are the most common areas I focus on when teaching a backhand drive to someone. 

Wrist Cocked: the main area that most people have difficulty with on their backhand is getting the wrist cocked and keeping it cocked during the initial part of their downswing. You'll see that I lead with y elbow and the butt of the racquet while my wrist stays cocked and the racquet face open. It isn't until later in the downswing that my wrist extends (not backwards though). This allows me to create extra racquet head speed. 

Racquet Preparation and Torque: you'll also notice that I generate a lot of torque. Even though I'm not trying to hit the ball very hard and the ball is cold. I start with my racquet back by my left shoulder. I like to focus on getting the top of my grip near my left shoulder. I then rotate at my trunk and shoulders to produce more torque in my core, all while keeping my wrist cocked. 

Posture: The last area that I want to point out is my poster. If I was warm and hitting in a game I would be a bit lower and the ball would be bouncier, but I want you to look at my back. I'm leaning out over to hit the ball but I still have good posture with my back. It takes a lot of core and leg strength to be able to hit like this. Because of my strength and posture I can keep my shoulder and hips more squared up to the sidewall through impact. 

Here's a Youtube link incase the video above doesn't work too well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXzwL4L9efE&feature=youtu.be

If you have a slow motion camera, film yourself hitting some drives and compare it with mine. At least look for the 3 areas I talked about above. How do you measure up? 

When I work with kids on getting their wrist cocked in their backswing I focus on getting set. Find the right position to start your swing from. Then lead with the elbow and the butt of the racquet. The wrist should stay cocked until later into the downswing. When I watched two of the top women play on the the weekend at the World Team Championships, I saw even some dramatic differences within the top players. Nour El Sherbini from Egypt has a very cocked wrist on her backhand. Whereas Low Wee Wern has a more relaxed wrist, still cocked, but not as pronounced as Sherbini's. If you get to watch these two players again look for this. There is more than 1 way to get a good result. But I prefer Sherwin's backhand. I think Wern has more of an open grip on her backhand, meaning she doesn't need to cock her wrist as much, but this gets her into trouble on her forehand drop because her racquet face is too closed. But this is just my opinion. If you can get a backhand that resembles either of these two ladies you're well on your way! 

I may look at doing more video, and in particular slow motion in the future. Let me know iyour thought and f you find it helpful.