2015 Penang Junior Open

I'm finally back and ready to write a bunch of new posts. I know it's been a long time since my last one. In fact while I was away Serious Squash surpassed 100,000 views! Cool, glad people are reading, even if they disagree with some of my remarks.

I was in Malaysia for the Penang Junior Open at the beginning of June and then took a 3 week vacation in Thailand. I figured my first post should be about my impression of the tournament and compare it to what I see back here in Canada. So let's get right into it..

Straight away I realized how difficult it would be for anyone from here to go to this event and do well. Not that we don't have some players here that are of a similar standard, but because of hot and humid the weather was and the courts were. I was sweating just walking around the city, even when sitting in the squash club. Yes, they had an air conditioner, but this thing (pictured below) did nothing to cool down the place. It must have been 30+ degrees in the club.

The hot weather and humidity made the ball super bouncy and it's certainly a major advantage for the kids from hot areas that are use to playing in these conditions. I talked to some people from Hong Kong and they said there court are kept extremely cold so although the climate is hot and humid, the playing conditions are not similar at all.

The other thing I noticed early was how difficult it would be for people from Canada to eat similar food that they do back home. Many people I know in Canada (some would include myself in this category) are quite picky eaters. Here the ingredients are clearly lined out. In Penang, not so much. There are also many people back here in Canada that are vegans, gluten free or have food allergies. If you are one of these people you will have great difficulty finding something to eat in Malaysia. I began my trip wondering what I could possibly eat, until I finally changed my mindset and just ate whatever they were selling. But again if you're body isn't use to digesting noodles for every meal you may not feel the same on the court.

And of course this doesn't mention the 30+ hours of travel it took me to reach Penang. I felt pretty jet legged; light headed and dizzy for a few days. It definitely made me appreciate how tough it must be being a professional athlete travelling the globe.















Alright, time to get to the squash side of things. The draws for all of the ages were much very big. The tournament ran over the course of 6 days! You can see from an example of the boys under 11 draw why a facility with 12 courts needed 6 days to finish their tournament.

I tried to watch all the top kids in each division. I felt that overall there were a couple of noticeable differences in style and ability. I thought that the kids at this event generally hit the ball much harder then the kids here do and the girls and a very deceptive attacking boast from the back of the court. I didn't see much volleying which the warm courts may have attributed to. But even with the bouncy ball I thought the top kids were extremely precise at finishing off loose balls at the front of the court. Basically I think that most of the kids I watched have just played more squash then our kids have. On top of that they get the benefit of more high quality opponents. Here in Canada we have some strong kids, but they live too far apart to benefit from one another. Even if 2 or 3 strong kids are at the same club or school, it's just not the same. In Penang there were lots of different styles of play and so many strong competitors.

So if there was one thing I would recommend for juniors here it would be to get some international exposure at a young age if possible. You need to get a consistent high level of competition to become the best you can be. As for the game itself, it's simply about repetition and hitting more balls. The more squash balls you hit the more grooved your swing becomes which means you will become more accurate and you will also learn to hit with more power.

Overall I thought my trip to Penang was an excellent learning experience. I filmed a bunch of games to show some of the kids I coach. It also gave me some ideas on preparing kids to play overseas. If I took a group to this event in the future I would crank the heat up in the courts while we practice here at home and use a bouncier ball. I would also have team dinners where we would eat something similar to what we expect to eat overseas. Generally I feel we baby and overprotect our children here (like animals in a zoo) and they would have great difficulty adapting to the wild. Still I think the more we do ahead of time to prepare our bodies for what's in store the better we'll perform. But I also believe that nothing will help prepare you better than experience. I don't expect many (or any) kids would do well in their first tournament overseas. For all of the reasons I've stated, plus you would likely have no ranking and a tough draw.

I remember when I was 12 I went to the British and Scottish Junior Open. At the time I was the defending national champion back here in Canada. But when I got there I was one of many great players. I wasn't prepared for having a tough match each and every round. Although I came 5th at the Scottish I didn't do well in the British. Since I'm on the topic of Malaysia I have to take this opportunity to mention that yes, when I was 12 I beat Iskandar in the cons finals! I still reminder trading shirts with him after. I gave him a Bellville Junior Open shirt while I got some cool Malaysian team shirt. Afterwards he went one way (to the top 10 in the world) and I went another. Makes me wonder how much of that has to do with ones environment.

The week after at the BJO I lost first round, won a few matches and then lost another. But when you normally win every tournament here (and you're a kid), you're not exactly pumped up to play the consolation matches. It's something all top young juniors should experience. How they handle it will help prepare them for future tournaments and is crucial for their long term success.

It's a big world out there. There are lots of strong juniors all over the world. Don't measure yourself on a small scale within your province or even your country. If you really want to be great you need to experience squash on a  global scale.

That's it for today, but I've made lots of notes and have plenty of ideas for future posts. Glad to be back and hope you enjoyed today's post!

Does a Slow or Bouncy Ball Suit Your Game?

Today I'm going to talk about how the ball changes the game. I discuss this a little in a previous post about controlling the weight of shot http://www.serioussquash.com/2015/01/controlling-weight-of-shot.html. Clearly the ball makes a big difference with this. A new ball is normally much bouncier. Does a hot and bouncy ball suit your game or does a cold ball? This probably also depends on who you're playing. Let's take a look at it in more detail.

I remember one time in college playing Colin West who hit the ball so hard it was bouncing like a racquet ball. This was the first time I noticed how much this could change the game. Of course, Colin always hits the ball this hard and was used to controlling the ball flying around super fast. I on the other hand had trouble just finding any type of length or even getting my racquet prepared on time. I noticed that if I got used to practicing with such a bouncy ball it would eliminate most of my competition. I started solo hitting a lot more and strengthened up my forearm and started getting comfortable controlling and cutting in drops shots with a very hot ball. This wasn't always easy to do as the courts I practiced on in London, Ontario were frigid in the winter months. Basically if the ball got to the back wall the player was lucky to dig it out straight. For this reason I also started practicing with blue dot balls on occasion. 

You can see from the above description that the ball temperature and what you're accustomed to makes a huge impact on your performance. If you're used to playing with a super hot and bouncy ball, or say at altitude and then you went and played at my freezing courts in London surely you would also have trouble adapting. So how can you prepare for this? Practicing with a bouncier ball is a good example, but it's difficult to go the other way. If you play at altitude or at a high level normally the ball will move quicker and you will be hitting the ball higher off the floor. How can you prepare for those frigid conditions? I have a couple of ideas you could try. 

First, you could play a match with 2 squash balls. You alternate after every rally and keep the other in your pocket. The balls will both stay warm, but not as bouncy as normal. Secondly, you can try playing some high games, so no pace is allowed. The issue with this idea is that yes the ball may not be as bouncy, but your also not hitting the ball like you would have to on a cold court. Of course you can also try and use some old squash balls, maybe even ones that have tiny breaks in the seam starting. You can also try playing or doing drills with someone that hits without any pace. This may be one of the older people at your club that play the old lob drop game. Finally, you could string your racquet tighter so you get more touch and less power. Other that that it's just helpful getting experience on playing in different climates and with different types of temperature or bounce of squash balls. 

So do you like playing with a hot ball? I do, because I'm used to it. I also find that it allows me to get most balls back, get to the ball early and is easier to delay and flick the ball. If you are a retriever, fit, or are deceptive you may prefer a hotter ball. With a colder ball or on a cover court, the ball bounces lower, the court plays bigger and you generally have less time to play your shot. This type of game is more about volleying and hitting dying length. A slow ball or court suits the lob and drop player and less so the fast and super fit one. If you have great control you will do well on colder courts, but on the flipped of this will not be able to cover the court as well as if the ball was warmer. When I see older or less mobile people play on colder courts or with a slow ball they often attack short on the return of serve and guess a lot. Of course with short rallies like this the ball stays freezing and it suits their games even more. But if these same people played with a bouncier ball they may enjoy the longer rallies and improved cardiovascular workout. 

So what suits your game? A bouncy or cold ball or court? Or is it likely somewhere in between? If you get on court with a really bouncy ball can you adjust the height and plane of your swing? How do you tactics change? If you play with a colder ball can you move your T position up as the court will play longer and with a hotter ball do you settle a little deeper into the T? If you've played a lot of squash you likely do some of these things instinctively. 

With the racquet and string technology, there almost needs to be an even slower ball then the double yellow dot. The low tin doesn't seem to be enough for top open level players on traditional courts. Even on the glass courts at the TOC last week some of the top players couldn't make it through a single game at the Motor City Open. This isn't good for squash or for the athletes. On a standard squash court with two hard hitting open level players the rallies are still often won or lost on mistakes. If you've ever seen pros play on a traditional panel or plaster court you'll know exactly what I mean. I'm sure this will be a change at some point in the professional and maybe even the top junior game. While at the amateur level many would be better off playing with a single yellow or blue dot. This is part of the reason it takes so long to hit a drive off of the back wall as someone progresses in squash; they just can't get the ball warm enough.

In closing, at the beginning of any match I focus on finding my weight of shot. This may take time if you're playing against a hard hitter, a lob and dropper or on a different court. it gets really tricky with a super hot ball as most lengths tend to be well overhit; cause if they're not you don't have time to get to the T. If you find yourself in this situation I recommend taking a bit of pace off of your drives to find the weight. Taking that little bit of pace off the ball will make you slightly more accurate and give you a fraction of a second more time to get back to the T. Maybe because I'm shorter than some men I've played (I'm 5 foot 7) that I can't play the super hard low drives with them. That may suit some peoples game, but not mine. What type of bounce, pace and weight of drives suit your game and stature?