Maximizing The Dimensions Of The Court

The dimensions of a squash court are standard across the globe, but they are not used equally across all levels. The dimensions of a court are 32 feet long and 21 feet wide. The court boundary line at the front wall is 15 feet high. The square footage of the court is 1,207 and yet most of us don't come close to maximizing the full dimensions. Let's take a look into what shots make the court play biggest and how we can best practice this.

A drop shot can only land so short. Clearly a drop isn't going to land an inch from the front wall so we can't say we have 32 feet of length to hit int; it's probably more like 28-29 feet. If we think about the width of the court it is very difficult to optimize the courts width by hitting perfectly along the sidewall on our straight shots and superbly wide on our crosses. As we go up in levels this is something players are better able to do. Not only are you making your opponent do more work by having to get those few inches further from the T, but this can also mean a deeper lunge and less time or space allowed to play their next shot. 

For our first few years of playing most of our shots don't end up landing in either of the 4 corners. Many of our drives or loose, landing short or with poor width; we are also unable to keep the ball tight on a consistent basis. When we try and go short it takes unbelievable touch, especially as the ball gets warmer and bouncier and coming at you with some zip on it. This all being said if you can get your drops to land shorter, like Tarek Momen is so amazing at it does make the court play to its fullest dimensions. Below is a few attempts of me doing just this in a recent solo session. 

Also if you can hit dying length (second bounce in the very corner) this will make your opponent play the ball as far back into the court as possible. Below you can see a short clip where I was working on this in a recent session. I put my business card in the very corner and I was trying to hit it on the second bounce. It was quite challenging to hit, but it was very effective way to hone in your focus on the weight and angle of your drive. 

An area that we rarely hit and use on the court is the top portion. Most people don't use the top 5 feet of the front wall. If you think if the court as a 3 dimensional area there is a lot of unused space up there. That is also dangerous territory because good players are lethal on the volley so you when you do use height it has to be incredibly accurate. You see a lot of the top pros using the crosscourt lob from the back of the court nowadays which is an effective way of using the full dimension of the court and keeping their opponent off balanced. 

Having your drops and boasts land short, drives stay tight and die in the back corner with your widths unvolleyable and your lobs a perfect height, you will be maximizing the full dimensions of the court. How can you practice making the court play big?

Solo Drills

1) Use a target in the back corner for the second bounce for your attacking drives

2) Use a target for drops which is a couple of floorboards off of the sidewall so you focus on angling in your drops so it gets tighter after the first bounce

3) For your drop targets put them further up towards the front wall (around 2 racquets lengths) which will help you work on your floater drop (Tarek Momen special)

Condition Games

1. Use targets the same as above 

2.With masking tape section out the 4 corners and all shots must land within these 4 areas or the rally is over (as pictured below).

3. With masking tape section out the middle area of the court (front of the service box and 5 feet forwards) and ball aren't allowed to land in this area (as pictured below). 

4. All shots in the rally must be hit over the service line to get you to focus on using height effectively. You can also try and focus on hitting the panel (on panel courts) when under pressure. 

Of course there are shots that don't lie in the marked off areas above which can be quite effective, this is not the point of today's post. Today's post is to try and use the absolute edges of the court boundaries. Hitting our lobs higher, our crosses wider, our drive tighter without bouncing off the back wall. 

The angling in of drop shot is one that I'm going to have to really work at. I have a good short game, but my natural swing which is fluid and without thought angles is aiming for the nick and not angling in for tightness. You would think that this is simply a small adjustment of the target, but when you've practiced a certain swing so much it's quite difficult to adjust your posture and target to a point where it is a new and ingrained swing that will show itself in a match instead of my older more natural swing. I also find it quite difficult to get the ball to land super short, especially with a bouncy ball. I can take the ball short by cutting the ball and I rarely make unforced errors on this shot, but relaxing the arm and shortening the swing to let the ball stay further up the court is extremely challenging and takes unbelievable skill. 

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Hitting Straighter On A More Consistent Basis

One area that almost all squash players have in common is that we are always trying to hit the ball closer to the sidewall on a more consistent basis. Most people when they start playing just get the ball back ands a lot of their shots tend to end up in the middle of the court. With a lot of practice and patience we eventually start to get shots within the width of the service boxes and after a few more year ideally right along the sidewall.

There tighter we hit a shot the less likely it is that your opponent will be able to attack. The closer the ball is to the sidewall the further your opponent has to to go from the T to play their shot and it will also limit their ball control. When the ball is right on the sidewall only the top inch or two of the racquet will be making contact with the ball and this makes it quite challenging to get back let alone control. Even at the pro level there are countless points won every match because a ball was glued to the sidewall.

Even with this early understanding and relentless pursuit of hitting the ball tight, it's still something we can all improve upon. As we are under pressure the way we have to adapt our body and swing to play a shot makes it even less likely that our accuracy will hold up and we often pop out shots towards that dangerous middle area. This is where many swing break down because people don't have the correct swing mechanics or the they lack strength and mobility to get their body into the ideal hitting posture at top speed.

In the most recent episode of Squash Shots (episode 37) I demonstrate 3 solo drills which are geared towards intermediate players which focus on hitting the ball straighter and tighter. Below is the video of the episode and then I will follow it up with a brief description of each exercise.

In drill #1 I am trying to hit the ball into the service box without letting the ball hit the sidewall. For many years of playing squash I didn't pay attention to where my length was hitting the sidewall. Even at a pretty high level I was using the sidewall to help straighten my shots up, but as I now know this slows the ball down and it often won't get to the back wall against a top level player. You'll easily notice this if you play on a court with sticky sidewalls where the ball doesn't tend to slide down the wall like it does on some courts. A glass court is a good example of this where the ball just pops out towards the middle of the court.

In drill #2 I have a target (cone) around the short line. By doing this I don't have to worry about the back corner (which many people struggle with up to a certain point). So this is a drill that allows you to really concentrate on the direction you are hitting the ball and also focusing on the weight of shot. If your short drive clips the sidewall it will likely pop out and not hit the target so this simple drill can be very effective for keeping your swing going straight through during the contact part of the swing. When I do this drill with very new players I have them start up by the front wall and every time they hit a target I get them to move back their target by 1 racquet length.

In the third drill I am doing sidewall drives, but aiming to hit the short line with each of my drives. This another good way to work on technique and the angle of your shots without worrying about the back corners. This can be modified to hit into the widths of the services boxes too. It also doesn't allow the use of the sidewalls to subtlety straighten up your drives.

At the end of the video I demonstrate a couple of ways to practice hitting the ball to focus on your posture. Our alignment as we hit the shot will play a large factor in the accuracy of our shot. If we line up parallel to the sidewall as we hit and can maintain this posture throughout our swing we have the beast chance of hitting the ball straight. Many players crowd the ball and open their hips and shoulders when they swing, like a baseball player who pulls the ball when they want to hit for power. When you do this you tend to pull the ball out towards the middle of the court and this is a big reason many amateurs play more crosscourt shots than straight ones. If you practice hitting a shot balancing on 1 leg or on your knees you won't be able to spin with your swing making them ideal teaching tools for understanding and improving ones hitting posture.

There are a pile of drills and condition games which can also allow you to learn how to play straighter, and even begin to win by playing straight shots. The most common drills would have to be boast, drive or rotating drives. A lot of players do these drills regularly which bring the focus to hitting the ball tight on a more consistent basis. As for condition games I'd have to say the my favourite 2 are: alley games, where every shot of each rally has to be played on the same half of the court for both players. When I was in university I had a lot of difficulty playing straight and deep on the forehand side and this exercise really helped me. The second condition game is where 1 player has to hit only straight and the other player can hit anything. Sometimes when I do this in training the player who has to only hit straight can only hit to length and they 2 players don't switch until the player with the condition has won a rally. If you do this against a strong opponent this can take upwards of 1-2 minutes so it's also an excellent way to improve your physical conditioning.

Often times at the beginning of my matches I start off just playing straight drives knowing that if I can get a lead and create pressure with just this 1 shot everything else is going to fall into place once I decide to open up the court. It's also something I resort back to when I'm in a tough patch in the match and I need to get back on track. Even though I am an attacking style player, I still play best when I am hitting the ball tight and applying a lot of pressure with my straight drives, drops and kill shots.

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Squash Decision-Making Training Research Paper

If you follow the Serious Squash posts closely you'll know I just published a children's book last week. Five years ago I wrote a much different type of document as part of my master's degree and if you are reading this and find it interesting you are also very serious about your squash. My final comprehensive project was a lot of work and took many months to edit. My masters degree was in the education field with a specialization in Coaching Studies.

It was quite difficult finding research on squash and I had to transfer some research from other racquet sports. I even emailed back and forth with Roger Flynn who is the only person I could find that has published any literature on decision-making for squash. The title of my project is a mouthful and then some; Advanced Decision-Making Training From the Amber Zone of the Squash Court: A Guide for Coaching Professional Squash Players (cover page below).

My paper is 98 paper in length. The chapters literature I review includes: the nature and demands of squash, motor learning, information processing, reaction time, anticipation, time pressure, postural cues, situational and strategic shot selection, decision-making and optimal practice structuring (as seen below). I also have a method section which includes a proposed shot notation analysis for an app that could provide real time feedback for players plus a section on decision-making drills and progressions. 

Considering how much work I put into my paper and how few research papers are out there on squash, and in particular in the decision-making area I've decided to make electronic copies available for purchase at https://serioussquashshop.com/collections/masters-project

Beginning of the Introduction

Where And When To Shoot

I recently worked with a student on her shooting. She's a young junior and has great hands, but at times would shoot from anywhere at anytime. I have no problem with people making mistakes in their progress of becoming great squash players, in fact it's absolutely necessary. I grew up as a very attacking player and lacked discipline so I know there is an optimal balance in here somewhere it's just about understanding it that is so tricky. As I've gotten older and played at a higher level I have a deeper understanding of the pros, cons and risks of shooting and playing aggressive squash. Squash is definitely becoming more and more attacking so I normally promote this and let players choose which style of play they want to play. I might prod with a few questions if I sense poor selections are a reoccurring theme, but I also enjoy seeing people taking the initiative and making things happen on court.

What I did with this junior was I had her draw up a diagram of when she should, shouldn't shoot and where it might be ok to shoot. Below is a version that I did on the 'maybe area to shoot from' which I chose as the back of the court. We are taught to focus on hitting length from the back of the court and to get our opponent behind us before applying pressure from the midcourt area, but as our skill set improves we can take the ball in short from the back if the time is right. I thought about the different scores in a match where shooting from the back is ok and when it is not; area like when I'm having a lapse of focus, I'm tired, lacking confidence, angry or other specific scenarios I know the odds are against me while in other more positive situations I can attacking with a higher degree of success. I first started with a basic list of 3 categories titled 'Shoot', 'Don't Shoot' and 'Maybe Shoot' before moving onto the following diagram.

Squash can be pretty dull to play and watch if we are too patient and the rallies drag on without the use of the full court and moving our opponents around. This weekend I've been watching some of the Men's College Team Championships live feed and I noticed how much the general tactics have evolved, some for the better some not. In my last year of playing varsity squash we were still playing to 9 where you had to serve to win a point. Now everyone can bring the ball in short half decently and thinks they can hit nicks in a pressure situation. Greenly the kids are faster too and can often make up for their poor shot selections, that is until they come up against a real top class player.

When I was playing at university most kids were very patient, basic and fit. Now it looked like most kids were using the front of the court for a third or more of their shots and quite often at the wrong times. I saw kids going for nicks when they were behind their opponents and fatigued at the end of a long gruelling rally, off return of serves when they were down gameball and I saw many losing their focus and basic structure in their games. I also felt like their basic length was not very accurate, which is understandable if they don't play it all that often. That being said, I did also notice some kids who just can't apply pressure against fast opponents. So finding the balance between structure and playing aggressively is a real key point for me when I'm watching people play, coaching or when I'm competing as well.

I don't like telling someone not to play certain shots, because I like people to think for themselves and to be creative and engaged in their match, but there are clearly ways we can all be smarter about where and when we use the front of the court. Do you go short when you're off balanced, tired, under pressure, upset or simply because you think you can make the shot event though it isn't the best option? Your opponent's skill set pays a big part in when to use the front too. Do they hang too far back on the T or are they super quick? Is the ball really hot and bouncy? The amount you 'shoot' or use the front of the court will also vary as the match go on. As people fatigue and the ball slows down there will be more openings to use the front of the court, so just because you're an attacking playing it doesn't mean you have to come out guns blazing form the first point. It also doesn't mean you have to hit 33 nicks to win a match.

After watching these college matches I thought shooting would be a helpful topic for all of us. Find the balance and learn where and when you want to go for your shots. And if you want to improve your short game work on it all the time. The Secrets Of Solo Hitting has 10 of the best solo drills for working on your short game and Mastering Deception will teach you some great drills to improve your shot selection, anticipation, disguise and deception. Both films come with a money back guarantee. Pick up your copy today at SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/coaching-videos

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10 Ways To Get Your Opponent Out Of Their Comfort Zone

What is the point of a squash rally? What are you trying to do? Hit the ball away from your opponent? Hit the ball to the back? Many players have no strategy or just a very basic one and when we play someone like this you can have a certain amount of comfort in this. We know what shots we should go for and when we should play defence. Most people play pretty predictable, whether it's the right shot or not they hit shot x from position y without fault. I love playing people like this because often they are making predictable, yet poor decisions. If someone was predictable, but hit very good shots and with good choices that's a completely different beast, but we are talking about 99% of all us amateur squash players out there.

Okay, time to get to the good stuff. Making good choices and being more accurate, hitting harder, being faster and fitter are all areas which we can improve and will help our squash game immensely. But some of us don't have perfect techniques or the time to do these types of things. Some of us are also just not genetically gifted athletes, and although we can always get faster and fitter we know we will never outslug or outrun some teenager who has endless amounts of energy and never tires. So what else can we do? Well I like to think about making life miserable for my opponent and you an do this in a number of different ways. Let's take a look at some of these.


Getting your opponent out of their rhythm can not only help you win more points, it can also help you tire out and frustrate an opponent. Let's g through a number of ways which you can do this.


1) Don't be afraid to open up the court. Are you just playing straight dives until you get a loose ball? Is your opponent cheating with their movement because you never take any risks like playing the odd boast, drop or kill shot from the back. Even from the back of the court, if you have time and space and you pick the right time you can apply a lot of pressure by mixing things up with a short attacking ball.

2) Be super patient/disciplined. It's amazing what can happen when you get into a few 30+ shot rallies. All of the sudden your opponent could start to slow down and force mistakes. Simply extending the length of the rallies could take your opponent out of their rhythm if they enjoy the short quick fire types of points.

3) Pick up the pace. If you have the ability to do this you can really change the game. The ball gets bouncer, your opponent has less time to react to your shot. Changing the pace can definitely take an opponent out of their rhythm, especially if they like a controlled, medium or slow paced style of squash.

4) Aggressively hunt the volley. If you can volley a lot and not let the ball get to the back wall very often your opponent will tire quickly. You can hit volleys to all 4 corners and really work a player around and they will be unaccustomed to having such little time between shots and how fast they need to move. If you can do this you are most definitely controlling the points and going to win the war.

5) Use angles. Many people have difficulty covering boasts and crosscourt. It's also much harder to hit tight off of an angle than it is a straight shot. Some people also do not turn well and get caught leaning expecting the straight ball. I also love playing a few intentional shots down the middle. Even good players struggle with shots hit right at them. It's just not something practiced or expected. If you can hit a few good middle shots. disguise a boast and/or trickle boast your opponent is sure to never ask you for a rematch!

6) Slow the pace down. Some people just love a fast style of squash, so why play into their hands? If your opponent can do this better than you try and take pace away from them. This is what is known as the old lob, drop game. But if you want to play this way you have to practice it, because it takes a lot of ball control and focus to be able to play this way successfully at a high standard. It's also a style you can try for patches within a match perhaps to extend a few points or even just to keep your opponent off balanced with a blend of height and paces.

7) Vary your pace. Many players tend to get into a 1 pace hitting. Even when they go short they hit heavy. Your opponent will eventually get more comfortable with your pace of play if you never change it up. There are also times when lifting or hitting down on a ball can be more effective. Just be cautious about getting stuck playing at 1 pace for an entire match unless that's your intention.

8) Get on the ball early/hold the ball. Getting on the ball early isn't simply about volleying. It's also taking a length before the back wall when you can and jumping on short balls earlier then you normally would. If you get on the ball early you force your opponent to recover to the T quicker and this will tire them out faster. If you have the skill you can also now decide if you would like to hold the ball (as example of this to the right where I've set up nice and square for a straight drive and late in the swing I rapidly accelerate my wrist/forearm to change the angle of the shot). Messing with the timing that you hit the ball is not only fun for you, but incredibly frustrating and exhausting for your opponent. I've done a lot of short hitting over the years, so this is something I do which makes the court play quite big and can make it easy to control rallies against most amateurs.

9) Contain your opponent. This is a style you would hear all the commentators say guys should try and play like against Ramy Ashour. Hit it straight so we can't use his amazing attacking skills. Anytime you play a boast or crosscourt and it isn't hit in the perfect spot it's asking for trouble. I also find this strategy can test someones focus and fitness. If you can get an attacking player into a rotating straight drive type of rally you are taking them out of their comfort zone. Maybe they are not very fit or they try forcing the ball in short. So you see, sometimes doing nothing is a strategy and it can be highly effective.

10) Change your serves and return of serves. People get into habits at how they start a rally. Most people only play 1 type of serve to start a rally and the same 1 or 2 return of serves. Even if struck well our opponents will do better against these shots as the match rolls on simply from the repletion and practice. If you can add in alternate serve or return once in a while it can lead to a different type of rally and you might even catch your opponent asleep at the wheel.

I also suggest taking your time between points if your opponent is rolling off the points. I don't mean intentionally long stalling tactics, but you do get some time between points. Don't let them rush you if they're winning. Likewise for when your'e rolling. Get up to the service box and hit your serve and keep the momentum going when you've got it. A lot of this has to do with your opponent still mulling over their last mistake and starting the next point without refocusing. It's also highly effective when someone is upset, angry or tired. I call this fair gamesmanship, just don't be a jerk about it.

People want to feel skillful when they play and they want to look and feel good about their game. We all want consistency and we tend to play people we like competing against and whom play the styles of squash we enjoy. We basically don't like change and this is what makes us become more predictable ourselves. If you really want to expand your repertoire try and play different styles and levels of players and pick 1 of the above methods and see if it works. Try a new 1 the next time and eventually you'll find the right combination, that is if and until they adapt and you have to again make adjustments to their adjustments. This is now a chess match about adaptations. Just have fun with it and don't be afraid to experiment.

Even simply adding a condition to yourself in a match (without your opponent knowing) can be highly effective. You can even switch it up game from game. This could make it quite tough for your opponent to continually attempt to adapt to your adjustments, which also means you are the one dictating the game, not your opponent and this is what today's post is all about.

Check out all the mech at SeriousSquashShop.com I've reduced some prices on what is left while I consider what to add to the shop next. There are also 2 instructional films which can be purchased digitally. The Secrets Of Solo Hitting and Mastering Deception both come with money back guarantees and can be streamed and downloaded here: SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/coaching-videos

Other Serious Squash updates: deciding between a sponsorship proposal or producing a Serious Squash signature limited edition frame. I'm also starting to brainstorm ideas for the 3rd instructional film. The last 2 weeks of March I'll be running full day advanced junior spring break camps. Registration is limited to 12 kid per week. If you have a child interested in attending please email me at info@SeriousSquash.com for more information. In June I'm still sorting out details about a trip to Brazil to run some clinics for a bunch of clubs. If you'd like me to do this in your country please contact me as the summer is filling up quickly. I'm hoping to play the world masters in July and I run a lot of local junior training sessions here during July and August too.

Lastly, I'm always looking for more connections with Serious Squash. If you have a company that you feel would work well with Serious Squash please feel free to contact me. If you'd like to advertise on my page, discuss endorsements or if you have a project or project that you would like to team up with me on don't hesitate to ask.

Perfectionism

Today I received an email from a father asking for advice for his son who is a strong player, but a perfectionist. His boy is having trouble handling making mistakes and appears like he is close to quitting the game because of the amount of pressure he's putting on himself to play perfect squash. As I started writing my response I realized that what I was writing about was probably quite a popular issue that good squash players face. This is a psychological issue and something that can be improved. I've included below the email I responded with.

Thanks for the email. Being a perfectionist is kind of how most squash players get to a really high level. We aren’t happy with poorly executing shots in a match and practice them over and over to do better. I remember as a kid always wanting to play a perfect game and playing all shots exactly as I wanted. As a kid I didn’t realize how absurd this goal was. As I got older I learned to focus more on the shot selections. As a kid we often make mistakes playing a poor choice, but as you get more experienced and learn to focus on shot selection you make less mistakes and hit higher quality shots. Shot accuracy can always improve, but when you’re playing the wrong shot it doesn’t really matter how the execution was.  

An exercise I’d recommend is having your son chart a professional match and make a note of how frequently even the best players in the world don’t hit the ball exactly where they want it. Perhaps their boast chips the 2nd side wall or they don’t hit their crosscourt wide enough. Even the best players miss their targets at least a few times each rally, but usually get away with it if it’s close enough and they are fast enough to recover. It’s impossible to play a fast paced open skill sport like squash perfectly, but the aim should be more on good decision making and consistency to targets will improve as the practices accumulate.  

That’s about all I can offer. Hope it’s helpful. And in final, a break is not always a bad occurrence. Kids have to go through things on their own sometimes so don’t put added pressure on him with your expectations for him. He’s not you and what you would do in his position is very different and should not be compared. Best of luck.

Do you have any other tips that could help someone in this situation? Have you had to learn how to deal with this? Obviously the pressure of competition and playing against another good player will force you into making mistakes. As you improve your ability to reset after points, learn to get out of trouble after hitting a weak shot will all make you better at staying in points you may have previously lost as you were too down after missing your targets on a couple of shots.

When I play my best squash I'm able to not let mistakes bother me at all and focus only on shot selection. If my shot selection is good I can live with the outcome. Some shots are just difficult and given that same situation and shot 100 times maybe I would make it more times than not, but a strong player can play higher percentage shots where they have very imitated risk and because of this can execute the shot with more confidence.

Being able to commit to the shot you hit is a sign of confidence and something you you are going to have trouble doing if you are playing a low percentage shot or tired, or even physically and mentally fatigued. So technique and accuracy in solo hitting is great, but it certainly isn't the most important trait of a top squash player. If you've read the recent article about Dessouky after his loss to Rodriguez you'll know what I mean. Fares is the most technically and physically gifted squash player on the planet (possibly 2nd is Ramy is healthy), but still he lost to a basic, super fit and mentally strong squash player, Miguel. Rodriguez was prepared to go further for the win and this made the difference. It really demonstrates how critical the mental game is from being a perfectionist to being able to bring your best squash on each and every day at the highest level in the game. Enjoy and embrace the challenges and lessons that this sport teaches us. Anyone can become mental giant with practice and discipline, just like acquiring any other skill. Miguel demonstrated that pure tenacity and determination can be victorious even against the very best in the world!

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Is Deception Only For The Pros?

I know it's been a long time since my last post, but I'm back. I've still been posting some tips and videos on social media so if you want to check out the latest tips and skill challenges feel free to follow Serious Squash on Instagram and Facebook.

Recently Serious Squash produced its 2nd feature film, Mastering Deception. In this video there are 3 strong squash players, myself and 2 women currently both professional squash players on the PSA World Tour. Why did I decide to do the 2nd film on this topic? Five reasons. 1) It's one of the areas I'm most knowledgable about 2) There isn't anything out there on teaching this topic effectively 3) It's under taught and misunderstood 4) I believe it's critical to learn how to disguise, deceive and anticipate to become a high level squash player 5) It's a lot of fun to practice and implement

As a player for many years and now a coach for 10 I know the importance of understanding disguise and deception from early in the learning stages of squash. Of course we always start off by getting the grip right and learning how to just get the ball to the front wall and move back to the T, but after the very basics are understood I believe it's critical for any player with aspirations to play at a very high level to learn how to disguise their swing.

We watch the pros on Squash TV and often don't even notice their disguised shot, only the odd taxi we marvel and wonder how in the world did they completely fool another top pro. At a certain level if you don't disguise your shot your opponent will simply be cheating on their T position and will be on your shot and applying pressure to you no matter how good the execution of your shot was.

A few years back when I was working on my final Master's project I was designing an app for shot selection from the front of the court. My idea is that most players don't know what to do up there. Our opponent's are behind us and if we have too much time we normally think about it too much and hit a terrible shot, other times we panic and try and hit an outright winner, but we feel the pressure of our opponent breathing down our necks because we shape up for our shot so earlier and have decided to go for an all or nothing winner. The problem is, that most of us can't hit outright winners even while feeding ourselves in practice, let alone in the heat of competition.

While I was working on this project I exchanged a few emails with Roger Flynn who is kind of the squash guru for decision making. At the time he was the head coach of Scottish Squash. He told me that he liked to use the term, coupling when he taught people disguise. That when you shape up for a shot it should look at least the same as 2 different shots. If we ever shape up for a shot which only has a single outcome we better make sure our opponent is out of position or be under lots of pressure and just trying to retrieve the ball.

This coupling idea is something that must be used when you decide to hit straight or crosscourt length from the front or when you play an attacking boost or decide to crosscourt out of the back corners. If we telegraph our intention prior to hitting it we expose ourselves to a quick attack by our opponent. This is why I believe option drills are important. It's so critical to learn not only what is the right shot to play, but learn how to anticipate and both make it tougher for our opponent to read what we are about to do.

I've seen and worked with players who are well accomplished, and are unable to make changes and 'couple' their swings after years and years of grooving very separate strokes for each shot. This is why I feel strongly about learning this part of squash earlier rather than later.

I have always used deception and disguise in my games, and often times way too much. But I do know that played the right amount and executed properly it can make a fit player exhausted extremely quickly. The fact that squash racquets are so much lighter, and head light versus when I started playing it allows us to snap the ball and change direction at the last second and also rapidly increase or reduce racquet head speed. This has made squash much more exciting at attacking. If this is a topic that interests you I definitely recommend checking out the new Serious Squash film. It comes with a money back guarantee.

Here's the trailer and you can purchase your copy at SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/coaching-videos

Bellevue Squash Classic Finals: Gaultier vs. Farag Analytics

When watching the finals of the Bellevue Squash Classic I did some charting. In the semis I charted one of Farag's games because I was surprised how rarely he plays straight drives. He does move unbelievable so clearly he doesn't want to get stuck into a controlled/patient style of play. I was curious if his lack of straight drives is why his technique on his drives is a little suspect. But this post isn't about technique, it's about shot selection and notation.

In the semis where Farag played Marwan Elshorbagy I only charted the first game. There were 115 shots in the first game and 42.6% of Farag's shots were straight drives. Also 10.4% of his shots were boasts, which seems very high for the first game at this level. 25.2% of his total shots were short so he was certainly trying to move his opponent around. In the finals I decided to chart Gauliter because I thought he played more structured and we would see this in the numbers. I think we know Gaultier crosscourts a lot from the forehand, but is generally quite patient. Here's how the numbers looked.

Game 1 - total number of shots = 244
47.9% straight drives
31.5% crosscourt length
14.3% drops/kills
1.6% boasts

Game 2 - total number of shots = 142
45.7% straight drives
26% crosscourt length
26.8% drops/kills
1.4% boasts

Game 3 - total number of shots = 136
52% straight drives
20.6% crosscourt length
24.3% drops/kills
2.9% boasts

Match Totals
Number of shots = 511 + serves
Straight drives = 253/ 49.5%
Crosscourt length = 142/ 27.8%
Drops/kills = 106 (10 errors)/ 20.7%
Boasts = 10/ 1.9%
Long = 395/ 77.3%
Short = 116/ 22.7%

It would be interesting to see more stats like this against other players and be able to compare them from match to match and event to event. Would Gaultier play more or less short or more or less straight against a more traditional player? It would also be interesting to know how many shots per rally or game his best suit his game or give his opponents their best chance. The French General was pretty fortunate to win that 2nd game and it looked like he lost his focus and started going short at the wrong time. He also popped up a lot of his drops, which I can only assume has something to do with his ridiculously low string tension. It as nice to see him stay calm out there and both guys seemed to be really enjoying the match.

Do you think the shorter or longer rallies favour Gauliter? He did well slowing the pace down and lifting the ball and his movement really is outrageous. Still I think Farag was close and had a chance to win all 3 games. Do you think Gaultier should go short more or less? Should he play straighter on the forehand and cross or boast more from the backhand? He certainly gets stuck into patterns, but because he's such a great mover he can get away with this predictability. I'd really like to see a healthy and fit Ramy have at least 1 or 2 more good battle with Greg before they retire.

Have you ever charted your own match? What you think is happening may be quite a bit different from what actually is going on out there? Sometimes just a few more shots to 1 area of the court can change the game around. Maybe being slightly more patient, or just a little more aggressive is all you need to turn things around. When a pro plays 100-200 shots in a game a difference in 5-10% of shot selection is huge. This could have to do with settling into the match, gaining confidence, the players getting tired or the ball softening up.

Have you hear about The Secrets of Solo Hitting? It's a 64 minute instructional video which contains 30 solo drills which will help you improve your squash game. Pick up a copy at SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/coaching-videos and if you don't enjoy it I will give you a full refund. So far there are over 100 copies sold to people from all over the world. Here's a preview of the film

Lose The Battle, Win The War

It's easy to see when you're opponent is really having to work hard to get a ball back. Maybe they hit a short length and they don't have time to get to the T and you go ahead and play a drop as they are so far away that they have to sprawl out completely just to get a racquet on your shot or even better they can't reach it at all. Making someone do a diagonal and get the tour in a rally is also quite enjoyable and it's obvious to both players who is going to win if these type of rallies continue. As you get better in squash it's not always so obvious to the observer or even the players who is doing more work. Assuming both players are equally fast and fit and have similar skill level, the player who has to work just a bit harder will likely break first, either mentally, physically or both. We all have a limit where out shots start to lose accuracy because we're late to the ball and even later recovering to the T. When we get fatigued we tend to make more poor decisions and the mistakes can tally up in the blink of an eye. Today we're going to talk about how to get someone to this breaking point and to tally up quick and easy points once they do.

One way to break your opponent is to lengthen the rallies. Even if you are equally fit, if you move more efficiently the duration of the rallies shouldn't hurt you as much as your opponent. If you can hit great length and width and minimize your opponents attacking opportunities they will eventually wear down because they are less efficient moving around the court than you. This tactic can also be effective if you're playing someone that is carrying more mass around the court. If you lose the first game or two, but the rallies are long don't panic; stick to your guns and keep the rallies really long. Your opponent may just win the war, but you have a good chance at coming back and winning the battle if you make it tough enough for them.

Another way to break your opponent is to increase the intensity of the rallies. Making the rallies harder does not necessarily mean that the points are any longer in duration. Learning how to make a good player work hard in a rally is tricky. At a high level we generally have to get our opponent out of position before attacking. If you can volley this is a good way to take time away from your opponent. Even a simple volley drive can be quite difficult on the legs and the lungs. This brings me to my next points. Think about which movements on the court are the most physically taxing on you. Are these the areas which are most demanding on your opponent as well? Perhaps it's a 2 wall gut wrenching attacking boast that makes you rush off the T and make a big stretch to the ball and then hustle equally as hard to get back to the T. Maybe it's having to rush to defend a perfect weighted length. Maybe it's going back into the same front corner twice in a row. All of these are certain shots which may not result in us winning the point out right, but can put quite a bit of work into our opponents legs, lugs and mind.

If you can make your opponent have to dig deep to stay in rallies, the outcome is really irrelevant. If you can find certain shots or combinations that are making your opponent play shots at a full stretch, at top speed, stop and change directions over and over you have a great chance of winning the match. This is tough to learn as a competitor and also to notice happening as an observer. I play a lot of holds and use deception a lot in my game and most people that don't see deception much get super tired quite quickly regardless of how fit they are. For someone like Paul Coll he uses his counter drops often and even plays them sometimes when his opponent is already high up on the T and expecting it. He's not always playing these drops as winning shots or even to set up a winning shot, he's simply trying to stretch out his opponent and make him do lots of work over and over again because he feels he is going to win the physicality battle when it's all said and done.

I've always said that it's important to make your opponent pay for going short from the back of the court. It's super hard work moving up there and getting back to the T so if at all possible I like thinking about counter attacking so they don't continue to employ this tactic. If your opponent is getting weak replies off a boast from the back they're going to keep going to the well. If you go up there and play a great counter drop or drive and put the pressure right back on them, well it may have been hard work for you to do so, but your opponent may think twice about playing that same boast again. So if you get beat on a short attacking ball from the back you have to look out for it again right away. If you were nowhere near the shot your opponent is going to think you were not watching, were flat footed, too far back on the T or perhaps you're just too slow or getting tired. Whatever the actual reason is, you have to be ready for it the next rally. Get back up on your toes, stay up on the T and watch your opponent closer. If they do go right back to this shot again get up up to it faster and make sure you do something with it, otherwise it's going to be a long and painful match (actually probably a very short match). So learning how to take away these openings which your opponents use to make you do the hardest movements are equally as important as learning to exploit them.

Another example of putting pressure and not going for the outright winning shot is playing volley drives off of your opponents length. When someone hits a ball that you can volley they are generally forced to run to the T faster and sometimes they get in front of you before you get to hit your volley. When this happens you should think about volleying it deep and make them have to back up and go dig it out again. This is such a tough movement if you hit a good volley and it can lead to another opportunity to volley. Many amateurs just see a ball they want to volley short and do it every single time and think that their drop just needs to be better. In this particular situation it's about how quickly their length was struck. If you can volley quickly, prior to your opponent getting up high on the T the short shot might be the best opening. If on the other hand the ball was not hit that fast and your opponent has time to get back up high on the T, you can assume a good player is up and covering the front of the court and now the open space to attack into is back deep again. This takes a lot of skill and practice to get to this level, but it's an important part of learning how to have some patience and to focus on making your opponent work hard so you can win the battle.

Attacking drives, boasts, counter drops, holds and volleys are all so critical to working your opponent. At the highest level these shots in themselves rarely win points outright, but they eventually lead to a mental or physical breaking point which leads to cheap errors or slower movement, weaker lunges and easier opportunities for you. Learning to take the ball early, use the whole court, move the ball around and make your opponent rush back to the T only to hit it back to where they just came from or even have to change directions are so tough on the body no matter how fit you are.

Don't always think about winning a point or get bothered by the result of each rally or even of a game or two. Focus on being efficient with your movement and making sure you can get out of trouble within 1 shot whenever possible and at the same time making your opponent twist and turn, stop and start, rush, lunge, reach, stretch out and scramble. There is nothing quite as enjoyable as the feeling of breaking a strong opponent and then reaping the rewards of easy points and certain victory. Which also leads to the point that if you and your opponent are both working equally hard with the same fitness and skill levels the difference is going to be between the ears. Mind over matter is what it comes down to. Oh how great is squash? The perfect mixture of skill, mental toughness, physical fitness and tactics.

Next time you get out on court think about what movements or shots give your body the most trouble and notice what shots give your opponent the most too. Just because they return the shot or even hit a great shot, they still did some work and eventually with enough chips of the hammer that will reveal itself. Just like the San Antonio Spurs sign in their dressing room reminds them reads, "When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it -- but all that had gone before."

 Coming soon is the first full length Serious Squash film titled 'The Secrets Of Solo Hitting.' The video portion is almost complete and then it's the editing and audio portion. It will be available for purchase at SeriousSquashShop.com once completed. For now check out some of the clips from this project on the Serious Squash Instagram or Facebook page or on my youtube channel at cchsquashpro.