Pace

We all know that pace is an important part of squash. If you hit the ball consistently hard it will move faster and get by your opponent faster. It's also just fun when you crush a ball and the sound it makes off the front wall. When you're in the back of the court hitting with pace can help  ensure your opponent cannot volley your length. When you're in the front, hitting with pace can again keep your opponent from cutting off your shot. Not only can pace make it harder for your opponent to volley, it can also make the ball bouncier which many people struggle with. As the ball heats up many of us have more difficulty controlling the ball and can't bring the ball short well.

Back at university I played a boy who later went on to win the CSA Individuals and he hit the ball so hard and the ball got so warm that I struggled to hit a regular serve. It was to this day the bounciest ball I've ever had to use in match and it felt like I was playing a game of racquetball. He of course was used to this pace of the ball and the bounce and was much better equipped of controlling it. If you've ever experienced something like this you know that nothing else really matters if the pace 1 player is playing at is much higher than the other person can handle or is used to.

The big question here is do you need to be able to play pace or simply handle pace? Handling pace is perhaps more important than being able to apply pace yourself. I've seen many times where someone plays at such a high pace they eventually tire themselves out as their opponent just continues to chip the ball and waits for the right time to deliver the knockout blow. See it can be quite tiring to constantly be hitting the ball hard. Just hitting the ball hard in itself is not enough of a weapon if you are playing someone who moves well and can handle/control the pace you are hitting with.

If you however play a very slow pace you will find it difficult to apply consistent pressure on someone. When you get your opponent out of position you will have trouble hitting say a low hard attacking drive before your opponent can catch up to the ball. So yes, even if your opponent can play at a higher pace than you, you still have to be able to inject pace at the right times.

Again, back at university I remember hitting with an alumni who was still quite a strong player. Back at this time I didn't get a lot of feedback on my game so I was happy to receive some from him. He told me I could do everything well, but I needed to be able to play with more pace. I'm not a big guy, about 150lbs and 5 '7. So before I did lots of solo hitting I had trouble playing against bigger and stronger men. I also remember a good drill I was told to practice to improve my pace. I was told at the end of every practice to play a game or 5 minutes of rallies where I just try to hit every ball as hard as I can. Obviously there are times where I'd be late to a shot and I couldn't' hit it very hard, but the idea is to learn how much physical and mental energy and effort it takes to play a high pace. If you are going to try this I recommend you don't swing hard when the ball is tight to the sidewall and you also need to have reasonably sound biomechanics or you could injure yourself.

So what other tricks are there for learning to generate more pace? I don't have a long lever (arm) or a lot of mass to put into my shot, but I can hit the ball with a good amount of pace pretty consistently these days. A lot of solo drills helped me a lot. I really liked midcourt short hitting drills which helped strengthen my forearm and groove my swing. Hitting with pace also has a lot to do with timing. You can have a great swing, but if your footwork is off or you can't lunge properly you are going to have trouble playing at pace within a rally.

Pace really starts from the ground up. You need to have a solid base of support and if possible being able to transfer your weight from your back hip to front hip is really key. Also learning to rotate your shoulders to connect your core makes a big difference too. When you do this it makes your backswing bigger and it engages your larger muscles. When most people try and hit the ball with more pace they use their arm to swing harder and their arm gets straighter or further from their body. But really it's about weight transfer and rotational core strength. When you link these things together into the swing it becomes part of a biomechanical link which allows small people to hit the ball hard.

Here's a clip from the Serious Squash Youtube channel demonstrating the weight transfer from back to front hip. Notice the solid foundation/base of support. 

If you are simply trying to get adjusted to handling pace and less interested in hitting with more pace you could also try and practice with a bouncer ball (red or blue dot). Doing this will allow you to learn how to control a bouncier ball. You will need to cut your drop shots more and the ball will be higher when you strike it.

Some other tips for increasing your pace: try looser strings. Some strings also are more springy and produce more natural power. Improving your rotational core strength and range of motion. Footwork to get behind the ball. Working on your lunging and squatting will help you get lower and stay balanced when you hit the ball hard even if it's low or you're slightly late to the ball. If you're not athletic and you haven't been doing any strength training you won't be able to play pace under any bit of pressure in a match. Play around weight and balance of the racquet and find which gives you more pace. Hitting a LOT of balls/solo: the more you hit the more you will improve your timing. Do some feeding drills or finish with a condition game like I mentioned above where injecting pace is the priority. Rotate your shoulders, but your racquet shoulder should lower under your chin (your shoulders don't rotate parallel to the floor). You can also play around with the angle of the racquet face; slightly closing it will allow you to hit it harder as spin from an open racquet face takes pace off of the ball.

If you want more information on solo drills to improve both your accuracy and pace, check out The Secrets Of Solo Hitting. This was the 1st Serious Squash instructional film which was released almost a year ago and has already sold close to 300 copies. It comes with a no questions asked money back guarantee. Here is the trailer and you can purchase a digital copy here: SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/coaching-videos

Mobility and The Aging Squash Player

When I was a kid I vividly remember a a sign hanging up in the pro shop that read 'don't play squash to get fit, get fit to play squash.' That sign is becoming more and more prevalent as I'm getting older. I can't train the same way or the same amount or as hard. I've had to deal with more injuries. I've had a couple of MRI's over the past 2 years which resulted in my first knee surgery. I can still play at a decent level, but the amount I can play at this level is quite limited. It's not that I'm so sore that I can't play again the next day, it's becoming more about the mobility issues. I can only speak from personal experience how my mobility has challenged my competitive squash ability. I'm going to share my recent personal experiences with you today and perhaps you will learn how this can help or hinder your squash game.

As we get older, simply being able to play injury free is the top priority. We never had to worry about this as kids, yet I still never see people stretch around the squash club and even fewer warming up before they get on court. I see very few people in their 30's or older that swing properly and most never will simply because they have lost mobility in a number of joints or are injured from poor biomechanics. The first step would be introducing proper warm up exercises to improve the range of motions and also doing proper post match cool downs. Squash is a very dynamic and fast sport so I have no clue how middle aged people can go straight into a rally without any warmup and likely right out of their office chair.

Some of our limited mobility is of course genetics, but a lot of this is the lack of knowledge or will to do proper preventative care. Things slowly disintegrate and we barely notice them as they subtly get worse until eventually we just admit that we are indeed pretty old and that's the reason we swing or play the way we do; we also just think we are stuck with the hand we have and that's that, we can't make things better. It's kind of like trying to stick to some kind of diet or new years resolution you dislike so no wonder we don't see (m)any older players who have good mobility. I'm here to tell you that things can change, but you have to make time for them and realize it is essential and something you just have to suck it up and do it and add it into your daily routine.

There are a number of challenges with limited mobility, the first is that we are more prone to getting injured. When one thing is out of place or lacking the proper and necessary range of motion, it's a chain and we are more likely to get inured in other connected areas. We also will be unable to move and swing with the proper mechanics which will hold back our improvement and enjoyment of squash. I certainly haven't got everything figured out yet, but I am working on it. Not being able to move or play a sport you've played your whole life sucks. It's hard to admit you can't do some things you once were able to do quite naturally, but father time has no pity.  If you are playing more than 3 times per week and have mobility or constant injury issues I recommend you cut back on your squash and do a physio and/or begin some off court training sessions.

When I was in university I never wanted to pay for physio and I had limited knowledge on what types of off court cross training I should do to stay healthy and improve mobility and strength. Since my recent knee problems I've gone to a lot of health care specialist; sport doctors, massage therapists, physiotherapists and chiropractors. Thankfully I'm on a health plan and can now afford to do some of these things more frequently. I'm at a point where if I want to continue to compete at all I have to do these things. My other option is to stop playing and lose mobility and that slope leads to more and more sedentary lifestyle

Currently I go to a personal trainer once per week (wish I could afford 2), 1 massage per month and 2 physio sessions per month. This is a start, but it's about what I do on these other days which will make the difference. I've learned more about my body and the areas I'm good at and the ones I struggle with and tend to avoid using. Squash is a very 1 sided sport so after 2+ decades of playing I've developed some imbalance and mobility problems. It's very challenging to offset the amount of torque and rotation from your swings and the amount of lunging done mostly on your dominant leg. I'm not expecting to be completely balanced and offset all of the damage done by squash, but it's improving it so the mobility and strength is good in all of my muscles and joints.

With my personal trainer we've been working mostly with kettle bells and I've noticed how effective they can be for strengthening my core and for working on 1 side of my body at a time. Recently I was doing some get ups with the kettle bell pointing up and I had a lot of trouble when I was holding the kettle bell with my left arm. The video and explanation is below if you're interested in what exactly I was doing and how to test it for yourself. My trainer filmed it in slow motion and he noticed that it was my right hip causing the problems, not my weaker left arm which I originally suspected. I had a lot of trouble with a certain hip movement and it was clear to me right away about how this is affecting my ability to lunge and get into the proper posture when I hit the ball. Because of my reduced mobility in my right hip it has lead to back pain and sometimes a sore shoulder. These symptoms come and go depending on how much I'm playing and pushing myself. I want to play more, but the more I play the more pronounced these symptoms become.

When I go in for my physio sessions he always works on my right hip and last time even my right ankle. He's trying to work backwards in the chain to find out where the problem is starting from. So your issue may not be a hip, but whatever it is it may likely be caused by poor mobility in another connected area. Instead of just dealing with it or not being able to play you should try and figure it out and work on improving your biomechanics and mobility. Maybe you need to do some yoga, maybe massage will help, a trainer or a physiotherapist. My physio recommended TRX to me and to do more core exercises. I really enjoy the kettle bell training I've been learning and I think that will help. But clearly a lot of improved mobility comes from daily stretching and rolling. Do you have a roller? A hard ball like a lacrosse ball? A theraband? Stretching doesn't quite get as deep as some of these other products can. I do believe it's possible to play better squash as you get older and not have your movement inhibited by injuries if you improve your knowledge on the topic and do the work. 

Sitting all day at work or doing too much of anything will break down your body over time. Learn how to take care of your body and keep it healthy. Want to move up a division or be competitive nationally in your age group? Improving your mobility and staying healthy is a huge step towards doing that. If you can't practice you can't get better. To practice you need to be healthy and be able to move. Movement is a key to playing at a high level of squash. Mobility is the key to quality movement, reduced risk of injuries and improved biomechanics. What's scary is how many kids have incredibly poor mobility. All the cell phones, video games and sedentary lifestyles have a lot of kids unable to lunge, squat or touch their toes. It's tough as a squash coach if a teen can't do any of these things properly at their young age and it makes you worry about the future generation. If you play a lot of squash and you can't do those you're probably going to have a poor swing and/or be at an increased risk of injury. So listen to my old club sign and 'get fit to play squash, don't play squash to get fit.' It becomes more and more essential as you get better and older. 

If you haven't already heard, there is a new Serious Squash full length instructional video out called The Secrets of Solo Hitting. Solo hitting was something I found really useful to break up the hard training days when I was younger so I could let my body recover while still working on my game. This video is now available at SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/coaching-videos and you can check out the trailer below. It covers 30+ of the best solo drills with plenty of tips on how to improve your solo practice. Pick up your copy today (HD stream and download available). Practice smarter, not harder. 

Drop It Like Shabana

Today I'm going to talk about furniture, a clock and Amr Shabana. I know strange combo, right? Well I'm going to use pictures of Shabana to demonstrate how to vary your swing path for different types of drop shots. The furniture and clock parts are things that I like to use for visualizing the swing paths of various drop shots. As you learn to do this your swing path will stay on line and your drops will become more consistent; perhaps even resembling the great Maestro!

Shabana hitting a forehand counter drop

The height you receive the ball is the main determining factor for your swing path.  The distance off the sidewall and pace of the ball are all factors as well, but today I will only get into the receiving height and how this influences your swing path. Let's get right into and use some examples for you.

Dropping From The Height You Want To Hit On The Front Wall

Below we have a low coffee table. I like to use this as an image when explaining how to hit drops that are hit just above the tin. You are hitting the ball at a height that is already at the target you want to hit on the front wall, so you simply swing right across the low coffee table. I find many people drop their follow through or start with their racquet to high for this shot. The length of the swing can greatly vary even at the highest level.

We can also look at this picture of Shabana and visualize how his swing would have been right along the above low coffee table. Basically the height of the ball is just about where he is aiming on the front wall so we will be swinging parallel to the floor and following through on this same line. Considering I don't see his opponent in sight, I think it's safe to assume he won this point!

Shabana swinging across the low coffee table with a relatively flat racquet face on this forehand drop.

Dropping From Above The Height Of The Tin

If you are going to hit a drop from higher on the bounce or the volley you want to aim down, meaning you will have to swing high to low. The amount you swing from high to low depends on the angle you have. The higher the ball is at contact the more severely you can cut down on the ball. You can either lift the back part of the coffee table, or think of a the hands on a clock as an example. For example if using the clock, you can swing from 2:00 to 8:00. In the example below you would swing from approximately 2:00 (high) to 8:00 (low). 

Shabana about to slot this into the nick swinging from high (2:00) to low (8:00) with an open racquet face.

Also important to note here is the angle of the racquet face. If your racquet face is closed and your swing path is from high to low you have a good chance of hitting the ball into the floor or the tin, or at least hitting the ball too hard. So having an open racquet is an important characteristic of a drop when making contact from higher than your target on the front wall. I don't want to get too complex here, but very skilled players will actually swing from high to low (like the clock above) and will finish up again, close to the height they initiated their swing from. This means their swing path is high to low, straightening up through contact and then back to high again. This allows them to put a lot of slice on the ball and also keep the ball above the tin as the follow through has a major influence over the direction of the shot.

Dropping From Below The Height Of The Tin

If we look at a drop which is struck from under the height of the tin it is easy to visualize how we need to start our swing low (under the ball) and finish higher then we started (see another great example of Shabana doing this below). You can tell Shabana had struck the ball below the height of the tin and because of this the ball is rising on the way to the front wall. This is how he can get the ball over the tin. The problem with this is that we are hitting up on the ball and that once the ball hits the front wall it is almost surely to still be rising slightly. If you also include that the swing preparation for hitting a drop lacks deception, you can tell why it isn't hit very often from below the height of the tin. If done it is almost only done so well from the very front of the court as counter attacks where deception doesn't matter and we are hitting the ball so softly it won't rise much (or at all) after contacting the front wall. 

Shabana swinging with an open racquet from low to high on a forehand counter drop.

Shabana playing an overspin forehand counter drop off of a low and tight receiving ball.

In the above picture you will see that Shabana has received a tight ball and it was pretty low to the floor. To get under the ball and keep it tight, Shabana used a slight overspin/topspin shot. You'll see the pros do this most of the time when the ball is really tight and once in a while from mid-court if they are really feeling it! It's a much easier to play on the forehand side.

I felt like it was fitting to pay some homage to the recently retired Maestro, Amr Shabana. I normally wouldn't use a lefty for examples, but he is one of the very few lefties that I've ever seen with an exceptionally smooth swing. If you want to have a smooth swing path and drop it like the Maestro, try visualizing a clock,  low coffee table, or some other piece of furniture you have in your house. It goes back to what an earlier post I wrote about the follow through. The ball 'usually' goes where our swing is aiming. If you want to ensure you hit your target, make sure that just prior and just after contact your swing is going towards your target and you will increase your accuracy. 

You can visualize different objects to help you with all types of shots. For some people the clock works, others like to use items. You could for example hit a lob from below your hip to above your head. Or to a kid you could say you want them to swing up along a slide. There are lots of ways that people learn. Find one that works for you. If you're good at billiards or geometry you will probably enjoy squash. If you've played any net game you should also have a decent understanding about angles and when the best opportunities are to attack vs. defend based on the reception height of your shot. 

Why The Follow Through Is Key

Today I'm going to talk about the follow through. You may notice in golf that when a professional hits a good drive they almost always hold their follow through and some twirl their club, while the wayward shots see a much different abbreviated follow through. Can't these golfers just keep their follow through in check to ensure they swing correctly? Clearly once you've made contact you can't control the ball anymore, but the follow through does reveal an awful lot about what just happened in your swing.

Today I'm going to discuss what exactly the follow through tells us in squash and why it can help us hit better shots when we focus on having the correct mechanics on our follow through. After all, if your follow through is correct there is a very good chance that what happened before that was good too!

1) Direction Of Follow Through
Follow through to the target: this determines how accurate the shot will be. The height and angle of the trajectory is determined by your swing path and you should finish your shot towards your target.  This holds true for any projectile sport. Things like wind or spin can interfere with where you are aiming and where you want the ball/object to finish up so in these instances you're follow through is not directly at where you envision the ball or object finishing up. This isn't a factor in squash so time to move on.

If you want to hit the ball high, such as a lob you should follow through high; whereas if you want to hit the ball low you want to keep your racquet low. What makes is challenging to keep your follow through low is that you want to keep the ball over the tin and if you're slicing a drop shot you're swing will be high to low, but you will have to flatten the swing out (when the ball is received low) at or just after contact to maximize slice, but keeping the ball over the tin.

In the picture below, Diego will continue his swing running right along the sidewall to ensure his drop stays on target, tight to the sidewall. The ball is low Diego is hitting the ball flatter, but if the ball was higher and tighter he would swing high to low as discussed above.

If you were balanced or not during your swing: if you were balanced and had a good base of support under you swing you should be able to hold your finish towards your target. If your follow through is too short or finishes low (even while aiming high) it can be caused by being off balanced while swinging. Maybe your spacing was incorrect, you could be under a lot of pressure of perhaps you were trying to swing too hard for the position you're in. You may also need to improve your strength endurance as your arm and shoulder could fatigue causing your racquet to drop at the end of your swing. 

Use your follow through to deceive your opponent: there is an exception to this rule and this is when we don't follow through to our target on purpose to deceive our opponent. Sometimes using shoulder fakes with a follow through in one direction can catch your opponent flat footed or even going the wrong way. Have fun trying to do this in practice and see if you can a swing path that is deceptive. You can see Amr Shabana below how he finishes quite open while his hips and his follow through is further towards the middle of the court. Shabana can use his wrist and forearm to adjust the racquet head to keep the ball straight even though the rest of his body looks as though he is going to hit the ball crosscourt. This also happens when someone plays a deceptive trickle boast.

2) Length and Path Of Follow Through
What type of shot you hit: each shot will have a different follow through. Your full drive should be a bigger swing then your volley drop and your counter drop will be shorter still.

The amount of spin (or lack of) put on the ball: the angle of your racquet face during and at the completion of your follow through tells you how much spin you put on the ball. If you want to cut the ball you will finish with your racquet face open; if you want to hit the ball flat you should finish with the same flat racquet face. Doing this means less variation of racquet angle during the contact phase and more consistent shots.

If you're spacing was correct: if you crowd the ball (as most of us do) when you hit a shot it will change your swing and also the length of your follow through. The circumference of your follow through will be shorter when you're too tight to the ball which means you will have to make contact with your elbow still bent or your shoulders open early to compensate. You can also tell if someone transferred their kinetic energy by extending their elbow or not. If you finish your drive and your elbow is still bent you were too close to the ball.

If your swing was excessive and dangerous: For many beginners this is known as the 'helicopter' swing. When someone tries to over swing and has no feel for where their opponent some people will continue spinning after contact, even doing a full 360 degree spin!

You'll notice watching the professional men play that on the forehand they have a very compact racquet preparation and follow through. In the warm up they take full swings and then during their matches they become much more compact. This compact swing is to maximize deception, consistency (shorter swing circumference) without giving up on power. They are strong enough that on the forehand side most top men can hit very hard with an extremely short swing. This wasn't possible 20+ years ago when the racquets were twice the weight.

3) Speed and Tempo Of Follow Through
Swing Speed/Acceleration and Deceleration: keep your swing speed up/consistent through contact. Some people decelerate or almost completely stop their swing as they make contact with the ball. This happens the most during drop shots. It's important to keep your swing speed and the momentum up through the contact and follow through towards your target.

The pace you want to hit should match your swing tempo: just as different shots have different lengths of swings, softer shots should have a slower swing and follow through. Examples of these are lobs and drops. As I just mentioned above you need to keep the swing speed steady through contact. If you're hitting a softer shot it should be steady at a slower speed. Although this will not be the case when someone wants to put a lot of slice on the ball. In this instance they will swing faster then the ball will travel because the backspin is slowing the ball down.

Using Your Follow Through To Clear: while on the topic of follow throughs it's important to discuss the balance of swinging through towards your target to be accurate and taking too long to clear your shot.  When you take a full swing you want to use your follow through to help you clear back towards the middle of the court. Clearing too early after contact will make your ball spray out into the middle. While standing over your shot and clearing too late will make you late back to the T and more susceptible to strokes. Learning to keep your follow through on target just long after after hitting the ball before you begin clearing will allow for the best combination of shot consistency with quick and efficient clearing.

Adapting Your Swing: I'd like to finish off by talking about how professional players can be out of position and still be accurate with their shots. Let's take a look at the below photo of Thierry Lincou. What shot is he going to hit? His hips and shoulders are open well before he's about to hit the ball so you would think a crosscourt drive, but he could decide to straighten up his swing path and follow through straight and hit a straight drive. Lincou could also hold the ball and play a little trickle boast. I would guess with the angle of his racquet face that a drop is now out of the question. Good players need to be able to adapt their swing even when their body is slightly out of position. Sometimes this will be because they are disguising their shots, while other times they do it because they are under pressure and don't have enough time to get set in an ideal position beside the ball. Luckily the racquets are so light now that they can adjust their swing speed and angle late, just prior to contact.

Even professional players aren't as accurate when they have to make so many adjustments because of poor positioning, so try your best to have good mechanics and a balanced swing/follow through as often as possible. 

Summary of the 3 Main Follow Through Tips
1. Following through to your target.
2. Shorter shots (e.g., drops) will have a shorter follow through.
3. Swing speed should match the pace you want to hit and keep this speed consistent through contact.

Focus on your follow through next time in practice and you'll start to hit the ball more accurately. You may just find that having a full, balanced follow through might clean up your swing!

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.

Controlling The Weight Of Shot

Today I'm going to discuss the challenges of hitting accurate depth. Even after playing for most of my life it is still a challenge to hit the right weight of shot; why is that? And how can we improve our ability to control the weight of our shot. Let's get started.

There are a lot of reasons why it is so difficult to control the weight of our shot. The first is that there is inconsistency in the bounce of the ball. A new ball is bouncier, so is it when you play on a warmer day, or against someone that hits the ball really hard. A ball also slows down the more you use it and our muscles fatigue, so over the course of the match you will need to slightly adjust your targets. Also the pace and angle of your receiving shots are quite variable. This isn't like hitting a golf ball off a tee, where you know your distances with each club within a few yards. Our string tension also slightly changes as we use our racquet. If we change racquets or use our backup this again will make the spring much different.

I also notice many people hold the squash racquet directly in their palm, as opposed to more towards the bottom of their fingers. Holding your racquet right in your palm or squeezing your grip very tight won't allow you to have that soft feel that you need to control the weight of different shots. This means you are probably more of a 1 pace ball basher. If your biomechanics aren't repeatable or are inefficient then you will also have difficulty controlling the weight of shot.

Another reason we have trouble weighting our shot is that we are rarely hitting from the exact same spot with an identical posture. We are under various amounts of pressure throughout a rally. As you well know squash is a fast paced sport played in an open environment. This makes it very difficult to get the repetitions required to fine tune your weight. Another golf example is if you never practiced the same length of putt twice in a row on the practice green. Hmm, put that may be onto something. How we set up practice in squash is normally blocked/repetitive. Even hitting boast and drive or drop - drive we slightly vary where we hit from, but we also are always hitting the same shots and trying to find the same target over and over. But I'll get back to this topic shortly.

I find another big reason most people struggle with the weight of there shot is because they never paid mush attention to it as they developed as a player. We focus most of our efforts on hitting it hard and/or tight. Until you've played a lot of squash you don't realize how importance the weight of your shots are. Knowing when you want to intentionally overhit your drive and when you get an opening and know you have to get the ball to bounce twice before the back wall. These are the subtleties you learn as you progress in the sport, but I feel you can enhance your skills by concentrating on the weight of shot in drills.

If you play a tournament or a league match at another court, the bounce on the court will vary from what you are familiar with. Going from panel to plaster is always a challenge. Whenever I'm in these positions I always focus on finding my weight of drives at the beginning of the match. Whoever can adjust to the conditions quicker has the best chance of winning.

Here are a few methods for practicing where you can concentrate on the weight of your shots.

1) Hit rotating drives or a length game, if a ball lands in the service box the other person can go short.
2) Player 1 cannot let the ball hit the back wall on the bounce or they lose the rally. Player 2 can hit anything.
3) You have to hit 3 shots behind the service boxes before you can go short.
4) You have to hit every other shot over the service line.
5) Player 1 hits straight or crosscourt length from the front, player 2 hits straight drop or boast. You can also make a switch if player 2 volley drives player 1's shot.
6) Practice with different types of balls (make, colour of dot, etc)
7) Change to a new ball between games
8) Practice with your backup racquet. Does it have the same type and tension of string? How long ago was it strung? The tension loosens up as you play with it.
9) Game with targets for bonus points placed along the sidewalls.
10) Get the ball really warm (after doing some figure 8 volleys) and then play a game or do some drives.

I also like doing drills with targets. Not just are you trying to hit the ball tight, but also find the right height and pace to get the ball to land at the appropriate depth. If you can get your drop or boast to sty a little shorter it means your opponent will be under that much more pressure. You can try just setting up a single target or you can make things more challenging but executing 2 or 3 different targets. The could all even be for variations of the same shot.

For example, you could set up various targets for your drops to bounce depending on the angle, depth, pace and height you hit them from. Instead of having the same target regardless of where you are hitting from, it should vary slightly.

This may be more obvious if I talk about drives. Here's an example during drop - drive. Set up a target in the middle of the service box, at the bottom of the service box and then midway between the back of the service box and the back wall. The idea here is that you go hard and low for the first target and then slightly raise or hit harder as you aim for the 2nd and then 3rd target. You can imagine how this goes from an attacking drive to an overhit, rallying length.

You can also focus on your weight of shot when you're solo hitting. See how many shots in a row you can hit in the service box. Then aim for the back line on the service box and then aim for 1 bounce and off the back wall. I truly believe that if you focus more on your weight of your shot in practice you will improve your ability to hit those invisible targets in your games. Not only this but you will increase your understanding of the importance of the weight of shot.

As mentioned, not only do you need to think about your weight of shot, but also about when to play which weight. Aiming for a 'perfect' dying length may not be ideal when your out of position and under pressure. I also find most amateurs generally hit their drives too short, especially on the forehand. And then when players get to a high level they have a tendency to miss out on opportunities and overhit all of their drives.

Hopefully you can now appreciate the importance of weight of shot. It's something that great players make look so simple, but now you know is anything but.

Getting The Ball Out Of The Back Corners

Today I'm going to talk about one of the more challenging skills for most squash players, digging the ball out of the back corner. For quite awhile when you start playing, any shot that makes it to the back wall wins the point. On top of the mechanics being an issue, the ball also doesn't get warm and bouncy enough to come off the back wall. Getting shots after they hit the back wall is a slow progression, but a skill that is very satisfying.

As you get to a higher standard, (for example, watch the pros this week at the Tournament Of Champions) you will rarely see a player have to boast. They will boast when they want to. At a high standard if you are limited to 1 option your opponent will be all over your shot. How do top players manage to get any shot out of the back corner and back down the wall? It's a long list, which is where I'm going to start.

Today I'm going to talk about how to hit a drive when the back corner is interfering with your normal swing. If you have difficulty timing the ball off the back wall when you have space you aren't quite ready for the following list. For those people I recommend working on your basic mechanics of your swing and your footwork into and out of the back corners. Many amateurs have swings that are rotational, which means they don't go directly to the ball, they go backwards and will end up hitting the back wall. I feel for the back wall with my racquet and know if my racquet is set I have room to swing. If I can't get into a regular racquet preparation then I shorten it accordingly.

You can also practice with a blue or single yellow dot, or even allow 2 bounces to learn how to time the ball off the back wall. When you start getting better at rotating drives you are now ready for the next step. What can you do to get a good drive out of the corner. Let's take a look.

Keys To Digging The Ball Out Of The Back Corners
1) Anticipation of the receiving shot- hitting the ball before or after it hits the back wall. Good players can tell when the ball isn't going to come off the back wall and get there early and play it before it is too late.

2) Footwork - is crucial under pressure. Average club players cheat and hang far back on the T because they don't have a proper split step or court movement from the T to the back corners. Top players can move from a high T position into the back corner and play drives under pressure on their back foot (open stance).

3) Shortening your backswing - when someone hits a near perfect length we can't take a full swing and contact the ball. Elite players can shorten up their backswing and use a flick of the wrist to get the ball back down the wall. The shorter the swing the more height the player will look to use on the front wall to get the ball all the way to tieback of the court.

4) Choke up on the racquet - same as shortening your backswing, players will also choke up their grip. Sometimes even slightly higher than the top of their grip. If you watch good players closely you will see them doing this from time to time.

5) Get low - again when limited for space you need to get low so you can get your racquet under the ball.

6) Open the racquet face - when your backswing is impeded you have to open up your racquet face to get the ball high enough on the front wall. This goes together with getting low, choking up on the grip and shortening the backswing. To dig out a near dead drive you will need to do all of these to get the ball back down the wall.

It was tricky to photograph my own hand, but you will see how I have my racquet head back by using my wrist, not my arm.  Most people will find this easier to do on the forehand than backhand. But remember, the warmer the ball the easier it will be to get this flick drive back down the wall.

Forehand setup (above) for digging out a dying length. Notice just my racquet head going back as I extend my wrist. I am also choked right up on the grip to reduce the circumference of my swing.

Backhand setup (above) for digging out a dying length. Notice the very open racquet face. As I won't be able to get as much power on the backhand side with the shorter swing I need to hit the ball higher to get it all the way to the back wall.

When you first start trying to implement some of the techniques, just try them on every drive, even if you don't need to. You can start with your grip choked up, your racquet face open and waiting in the back corner. You can slowly work your way up to starting at the T with you standard grip. 

The best method for not having to boast is to get the ball before it reaches the back wall. But we can't always do this, so to be a top level player you have to be able to hit a good shot under pressure. You can see forearm and wrist strength play important factors in this skill set. Also getting low and playing a drive open stance take a lot of lower body strength and balance. 

There's a reason why a well weighted drive is such a valuable shot. It's struck nowhere near the tin and most players can't get it back, let alone hit it back down the wall. 

Final tip to implement these skills: a good way to practice these skills during match play is by not hitting any boasts. 

That's all for today. Remember to boast because you want to, not because you have to!

Hit It Tighter: Using Your Body As A Frame Of Reference

It's been a few days since my last post. It's taken more extra time than normal to put this one together. It's an interesting topic and I was trying to find the best way to explain it. Today I'm going to talk about body alignment when setting up to hit the ball straight. I'm going to concentrate on the hips, torso and shoulders. If we want to hit the ball straight and tight, parallel to the sidewall we can best achieve this by using our own body as a frame of reference. Good players make it look so simple, but it takes thousands and thousands of hours to be able to read the receiving shot correctly and position your body optimally.

Let's start off by talking about how our feet, hips, torso and shoulders are used as a frame of reference. You can see a good example by James Wilstrop (below). His shoulders are slightly open to the front wall, but his feet and hips (and belly button) are pointing (squared up/parallel) to the sidewall. This means if Wilstrop hits the ball at the right moment (depth) he will hit the ball in a straight line, tight to the sidewall.

The feet: when you contact the ball, as often as possible you want to place the ball exactly where you want it. The right distance between you and the ball off of your foot your striking the ball with. Out of the back forehand corner you also often hit the ball between your feet, or just slightly more towards the lead foot. The reason why we can't rely on our feet to ensure the rest of our body is in an optimal hitting position is because you can rotate your hips and torso which can greatly change your setup I'm not going to go into too much detail about this because I've already written a post on this topic here http://www.serioussquash.com/2014/09/tee-it-up.html

The hips, shoulders and torso: your feet are important frames of references, but your hips, torso and shoulders is what allows a good player to hit the ball so consistently tight. The goal here is that during the setup the body is parallel to the side wall. On the forehand side, the shoulders should be parallel during the start of the downswing, but will be rotating open prior to contact. So if you strike the ball with this type of setup and on the 'tee' (as listed above), you have a great chance of hitting a very accurate and tight drive.

The challenge I find with most people is that the squash swing is rotational (along the transverse plane) and most of us have a tendency to pull off the ball meaning we don't finish our swing before hitting. It is challenging to lineup a rotating swing and hit the ball parallel to to a fixed object (the sidewall). Frequently we never get set up properly or we are trying to get out of the way and move back to the T prior to making contact with the ball. When we do this we hit the ball with our hips or shoulders too open to the front wall. If you place your racquet along your shoulders with the butt of the racquet facing the front wall, we can think of it as an arrow. The butt of the racquet then shows were you're aiming. The more your shoulders have rotated open prior to contact the more likely you will want to hit a crosscourt because that's what your setup for. The trick here is that if your shoulders and torso start rotating before you racquet begins moving forward you will be too open at contact. It is important that your shoulders are rotating open as your racquet is swinging forward (coincides with the downswing). Be sure you hit through the ball and avoid early excessive amounts of torso, hips and shoulder rotation.

What I've discussed above is most common on the forehand side. Most people hit the ball pretty squared up to the sidewall (with their shoulders) on the backhand, except for 1 shot; the straight volley drive return of serve.

The forehand is where most of us falter and is part of the reason we see so many loose drives both on the volley and the bounce. This is a big reason we tend to see more shots being hit crosscourt. If you hit the ball on your back foot (open stance) your shoulders and chest have a tendency to be open. Remember the racquet along your chest/shoulders. Where is it pointing when you're lining your shot up? Even if you have your lead foot pointing to the sidewall and you feel pretty squared up you may not be. Here's another way to check; where is your belly button pointing? If it's pointing towards the front wall you are too open to hit an accurate straight shot. If you can rotate your torso and get your belly button pointing to the sidewall you are now squared up to the sidewall and will likely be much more accurate with your straight drives and drops. Make sure you are lined up properly with your shoulders as you start your downswing.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, another issue many people have is that they begin their swing squared up to the sidewall but their shoulders open up too early as the pull off of their shot. Which again means the ball is more likely to pop out loose. When you pay more attention to this you may start to notice when you're shoulders are too open prior to contact, this doesn't always mean you have to hit crosscourt now, this just means maybe you should take a bit of pace off the ball and place the ball because your accuracy won't be there if you try and hit it hard when your setup ins't optimal.

How open should your shoulders be at contact? This is a tricky question. On the backhand you want to be squared up at the point of contact (like Wilstrop has done above). Even though Wilstrop is hitting his backhand moving slightly forward and off his back foot (open stance) he is still able to keep his hips and shoulders squared to the sidewall at the point of contact. In a fast moving sport like squash, it's easy to see why this is such a challenging feat. Anticipating where to move to get the body in the optimal hitting position. The more consistently you can do this the more accurate you will hit the ball.

How open your shoulders should be at contact on the forehand this depends if you're moving forwards, across or backwards to the ball and which foot you are hitting with. You also rotate your torso and shoulders more on drives then you do on drops. If you're hitting a forehand volley with an open stance and moving forward slightly into the shot your shoulders will be slightly open to the front wall. The key here is to make sure you turn and hit beside you. You can see below that Chris Simpson has turned for his forehand volley and is squared up beautifully to his shot, but as he starts to swing his torso will naturally rotate along the transverse/horizontal plane. Many amateurs here will have their chest and shoulders parallel to the front wall here and because of this they tend to hit a loose (straight?) shot or just hit it crosscourt. Just saying to hit the ball straighter will only be an effective strategy if the person is in a proper position to do so.

We have a nice example of Chris Simpson squaring up his hips, torso and shoulders on a forehand volley. Even though Chris is hitting from an open stance position his body is still squared up to the sidewall and this will allow him to hit the ball tighter by using his body as a frame of reference with the sidewall. An additional benefit from this is that Simpson is able to stay further from the ball and closer to the T. This means Simpson will be just a skip step and back in position.

I can't finish off this topic before mentioning that another reason people rotate too much prior to contact is that they are too close to the ball. If you are too close to the ball you have to open your torso and shoulders up to get your racquet squared up to the ball. This happens a lot under pressure off a good 2 wall boast and on volleys off of a crosscourt drive. Proper spacing will allow you to square up your hips and torso to the sidewall.

At a very high level players can use their forearm and wrist to get the racquet running parallel even when their bodies aren't squared up properly. Some people rely on this (especially ex-badminton players) as they have a strong wrist. Sure, they still may be able to hit a pretty decent shot slightly out of position, but they will be better off if they can get their body positioned properly to take a regular swing.

Advanced players can know that their opponents watch their shoulders for anticipation and this can be used against them with deception. For the average club player I wouldn't focus too much on deception with your shoulders until you can square up properly for straight drives and drops on both sides of the court. But as a strong player progresses this can be a method for deceiving your opponent. The accuracy won't be quite as high, but they get away with it if they deceived their opponent.

In conclusion, think about the angles of the body and the court. How can you get your racquet running parallel longer through the contact point? If you rotate your torso too early or don't set up squared up to the sidewall you will have a lot of difficulty hitting the ball tight. Do you hit crosscourt too much because you're out of position? Where's your belly button pointing during your setup and at contact? Are your torso and shoulders opening up before you start your downswing or are they synched effectively? Practice your body positioning the next time you're solo hitting or doing some basic repetitive drills (like drop-drive, or boast-drive).

The next time you watch the pros play watch their shoulders, hips and torso during their setup and at contact. See if you can pick up how they use them as frames of references to the sidewall to hit the ball so accurately. You may also notice how challenging it is even for the pros to hit the ball tight to the sidewall off of a very loose ball. They don't practice these shots very often and it is more difficult to time the ball and position themselves at this angle (because it isn't just completely parallel to the sidewall anymore). You may also notice when they use these parts of their body to disguise their shots.

Assessing And Nurturing Potential

Today I'm going to talk about seeing and judging potential for a person to become a good squash player. Google defines potential as 'having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future.' Even though I'm going to base my talk today on kids much of it also applies to adolescents and adults. I work with more kids than adults these days, but when I'm working with an adult who is newish to squash there are a few things on the below list that I look for before deciding how I'm going to approach the lesson and teaching this individual. When getting a look at someone hit the ball or play for the first time I'm always assessing them and looking at their potential and ways they can improve.

But let's get back to talk about potential in kids. This is what's really exciting as a coach. It takes a lot of time for someone to get to a decent level at squash and when someone has a lot of potential I feel it's my job to get them some extra coaching early on to learn the technical portion of the game. The balance here is to make sure they understand why you are doing some boring feeding and repetitive shots. If they are real new you want to make sure to mix in some fun stuff and rallies.

I've found that if we don't get a kid introduced into squash at a young age and they are moderately athletic they will likely be swept up by some other sport. We're lucky at the school where I work as kids begin learning squash in grade 1 and will be able to make a better choice on which sport or sports they want to play as they get older. When kids gets introduced to squash late and after they are already have some skills in another sport it is unlikely they will take up squash, unless of course they have some potential and enjoy the experience.

If kids get involved in squash late sometimes this means that they just didn't make it on some of the team sports. For a top tier squash team they may not be selected, but normally there are various levels of group practices and tournaments that almost any child can play. There isn't always a long list of kids wanting to get on court everywhere you go, so we take whoever shows some interest and commitment. Regardless of level you don't have to worry about not getting court time like in team sports where you're not a starting player. If you play squash you are on court playing the entire match. This makes it important to get the levels close when kids are participating in their first tournament or two.

Now back to judging potential in kids. If I see a young kid who is new or relatively new to the sport there are a few things that tell me right away that they have potential. Let's take a look at each one.

Solid Hand-Eye Coordination - some kids have played other sports and are good at getting the racquet head on the ball while others really struggle. A high level of hand-eye coordination is necessary to get good at squash. This is something that be practiced with kids by just throwing and catching.

Good Natural Biomechanics - if a kid has played another racquet sport you can normally tell right away. Even still some that haven't have nice natural biomechanics. The forehand is like throwing a ball sidearm or skipping a stone while the backhand is similar to skipping a rock. Some are just naturally better at this than others. Do the kids that have a nice natural backhand swing skip a lot of rocks when they were younger, I don't know. But some of these kids are visual learners and pick up just watching other good players. I believe this is why kids that hang out at the squash club when their parents play (depending on their biomechanics) will learn quicker how to hit the ball from watching.

Easily Coachable - every person new to squash is going to have to learn some of the fundamentals. Some kids can pick up and make a change instantly after they've been told while others you need to constantly repeat the same instruction over and over. This is where it's important to remember that some kids will learn better watching you demonstrate the skill or themselves on video and others learn well from verbal instruction.

Runs Down Everything/High Level Of Determination - if a kid has half decent biomechanics and hand-eye this is the trait that really excites me. Kids that get a lot of balls back and try really hard will become good players. Simply by putting a consistent high degree of effort they will improve. And of course from having these long points they will be fitter than most kids and will force a lot of unforced errors. The one area as they progress that is dangerous here is that they rely solely on their speed and retrieving and don't learn how to use their athleticism to attack.

Powerful - accuracy will come with practice and repetition, but sometimes you'll get a kid that hits the ball harder than anyone else. This is normally closely tied in with the hand-eye and biomechanics, but not always. Just like aerobic fitness is a key component for winning squash, powerful legs and arms and being able to generate pace on the ball is as well.

Has Fun - if a kid really enjoys squash and is smiling you know they are going to keep playing and will want to play more and more. This is why it's so crucial to keep squash fun for young kids. Some young kids take well to instruction, while others don't care and lose interest. Squash should be fun first and foremost.

Doesn't Want To Leave The Court - when I was a kid I would hit everyday, normally twice a day. It wasn't a fluke that I got good. I wasn't the most athletic or gifted kid. I just practiced more than everyone. You see kids like this at tournaments that run on between matches. Any kid that just wants to keep hitting whenever they can get on court will improve quickly. If someone has all the skill and potential but doesn't have the passion that these kids do probably won't end up being as successful. Kids just want to play and if they want to keep going let them. The more balls they hit and the more hours they spend on court the faster they improve.

Enjoys Competition - this is similar to determined. Some kids are just very competitive. Although I've seen a few that are too competitive that they cheat and have poor sportsmanship, even at a beginner level. The most important part of coaching young kids is not that they win, but that they improve. But it is important that a kid enjoys competition and doesn't shy away from it.

Once a kid becomes motivated and goes from being told they are going to squash to asking when can they go next, things change. Once this happens, you know they are hooked and often they will stick with the sport for a long time if not for good. It's a very satisfying feeling to get kids to this point. When they get to this stage you can work more on the process of how they improve and they enjoy learning and getting better; not everything has to be a fun game. This is when coaching kids of begins and you can really mould the kids and they can improve quite quick. Some will never get to this stage and that's fine, we don't need to push them. There's nothing wrong about just playing squash for fun.

As a coach I want to work with kids that want to improve and reach their potential. This is why I get excited when I see a young kid with a lot of potential. Maybe they have 2 or 3 of the traits I listed above, or once in a while you may come across someone that has most of them. If this happens I believe it's important to let them know that you think very highly of them. That they could become a good competitive player if they continue playing. At a real young age I may not bring this up, but if they were maybe 8/9 or older I normally would. If you show belief in their ability they will be more likely to believe in themselves and stick with squash as they learn how to play. Perhaps they don't know just how much potential they have and think they are doing terrible and playing poorly. If you can list off a few things they do well and then give them 1 thing to work on you may keep that kid in squash and who knows, maybe have a top competitive junior down the road.

So how much potential did you have when you started? Which of the skills on the list did you possess? Or were you the one who didn't make the basketball team? However you got into squash it doesn't matter, the important thing is that you did. Even if you weren't aware of it, I bet someone was watching you when you began and judging your potential. Sometimes someone gets really good and they didn't show any potential. They just stuck with it and slowly but surely kept improving. Some adolescents and adults lose interest when their priorities change to dating, university or work. It makes me wonder how many of people started when they were a young tot and played constantly all the way through their whole life.

That's it for today. I don't know how much this would have helped any of you with your squash games. But maybe it will help you get a friend into squash or somebody's kid. Give back to the sport you love. If you're reading this blog you must love squash. Do a good deed this holiday season and introduce squash to someone new young or old. Who knows, maybe they'll have some potential!