How To Make Best Use Of Your Prolonged Off Season

While we're currently in a forced prolonged off season I thought it would be a good time to discuss what types of training you should be focusing on. Back when I was competing I would focus mainly on improving my cardio in the offseason. I would do a mixture of building an aerobic base (trail runs), anaerobic and explosiveness work (hill sprints, stair running and 200 meter sprints) and some gym strength training too. How much of what should you be doing now?

I'm a big believer in routines. If we want to make positive changes to our daily lives developing positive routines can be extremely effective. Routines can be difficult to change, but within a few weeks they can become the new normal. We all know we should be more active and eat healthier, yet many of us don't. Why is it so difficult to change our behaviours to one that's better for us long term? If this topic interests you I would highly recommend you check out the book 'The Power Of Habit' by Charles Duhigg. If you don't read it, just know that new habits become habits within 3-4 weeks. So if you start planning a workout for certain days and times you can build a new more beneficial routine by the end of next month.

Looking back at my own personal experience I should have focused more on strength and mobility training. My aerobic fitness base could only get so high no matter how hard I trained, but if I was stronger I would be faster off the mark, more stable through my shot and be able to play at faster pace. Training has come a long ways since I was in university so there's a lot more knowledge and sharing of information.

Even though a lot of us are trapped indoors (at least here in most of Canada the weather hasn't been too great) there is a lot we can do to improve our overall fitness. You don't need any equipment to have a great workout. Exercises like yoga, stretching or body weight strength workouts can be super effective and also require little space. What I like doing now is at least twice per week making my home workout focused on cardio. How I do this is by increasing the repetitions and/or reducing the rest time.

Last week I did a live home squash specific workout on my new clubs Instagram page where I did a circuit of 4 squats, 4 lunges and 4 pushups on the minute every minute for 12 minutes. By doing this I was exercising for approximately 30 seconds and having 30 seconds of recovery. This way of designing a workout makes you keep going even though you maybe want a longer break later in your sets. You can adapt it in numbers ways too. If you want to do more or less you can increase or decrease your reps, sets or your rest time. I used weights for my exercise, but I'm certain many of the people following along didn't.

As the weather gets nicer there will be more opportunities to include some aerobic and anaerobic training outdoors. This could include going for runs or cycling. I remember almost 20 years ago losing a match to someone in the spring and I felt like it was because of my base fitness so I started jogging for 20-30 minutes 2-3 times per week and when I got my rematch at the end of the summer I won. Nothing is more frustrating than losing to a lesser skilled player simply because they are fitter than you. Those that are making use of this time to get fitter will come out of this in a much better position when competitions start back up.

Being in such a unique position during this prolonged off season you have to do what you can for now. When more options become available we can all be a bit smarter about how much of what we are doing. That being said if you know you really need to work on your strength (as I needed to) you should focus on this year round. I know when there season gets going how much you do and the frequency will change, but if that is the area holding you back you should still be trying to make strength gains during the season. This of course changes as you mature and get to the level you require to play at your best.

I'm going to take a step back and discuss the importance of basic mobility for a moment. Now more than ever we are doing more sitting and lying around than ever. My brother found a 6 week program that he is doing and I am doing some of as well. You can find the details on his Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_NP3SJnk-p/ None of these stretches or exercises require any equipment yet a lot of them are quite challenging and if you stick to the schedule you will definitely improve your mobility and strength. Movement must come before hard training so this could be a good starting point for many of you. What I'm doing is picking some of the exercises and adding them into my own workouts.

If your mobility is already at a high level it's time to think about what areas you want to work on next. Having an aerobic base is essential for squash players. How long do your matches typically last? If your jogs are for 20 minutes but your matches last for an hour or more you may have to adapt your training accordingly. When we play squash our heart rates vary because we are working harder at various points in the match. This is why when I used to jog I would make sure to include a few sprints and always finish hard. But now that I'm older and I've had 1 knee surgery jogging isn't for me; at least not for any real length. This is where everybody had individual difference and why 1 single training plan can't be used for players even if they are a similar age and ability.

Right now there are plenty of athletes sharing their home workouts. You can find a lot of great stuff on Instagram which will challenge you and keep things interesting. But should you allocate a specific period of time for a certain type of training before moving on to the next? Chunking your training into specific quadrants is called either a mircocycle, mesocylce or macrocycle.
A mircocycle is something short term (averages about 1 week) while a mesocycle is normally about 4-6 weeks in duration. A macrocycle is longer and can be many months or even a year or more. Right now we have time to focus on more than 1 athletic trait so you can opt to set up a 4-6 training period with a singular focus; say strength. Once that cycle is complete you can move on to something else. Doing this doesn't mean you stop all strength training, it means you are simply looking to maintain that while building up another essential area. Remember you can still target anaerobic and aerobic fitness targets while doing strength training.

Switching athletic trait targets in your training program isn't just about preparing for the season, but it's also good for your mental well being. How many consecutive weeks or months can you go do wind sprints and achieve maximal gains and even just simply enjoy your training? If you have a specific 4-8 week period focused on this you will see the light at the end of the tunnel and you can also continue pushing yourself week after week to go faster, take less recovery or do more sets. This obviously cannot continue indefinitely, nor should it. When the season gets going again you will get a lot of your training from on court sessions so this build up won't be entirely lost.

Once the season begins you want to have base built up for aerobic, anaerobic and strength training because there's not always a sufficient time to work on these with all of the on court time. Building up this base over the course of years is what is referred to as training years or training age. This is the accumulation of the training you have done over time. So no matter how hard someone tries in 1 or 2 off seasons they will not be able to get as strong or as fit as someone genetically similar that has more training years under their belt (at least until father time comes a-calling).

One area that is super important in training programs is planned time off. I know most of us are getting more than enough of this at this point in time, but it is something our bodies and minds need. We will perform better, experience less injuries and burnout if we schedule times in the year where we avoid overexerting ourselves. But don't get rest confused with being completely inactive. If you are having a planned rest period you should still be moving around; going on walks, easy bike rides or perhaps doing a few light stretching sessions or yoga classes.

If you're well over the 1-2 week rest time and ready to get back to action go slow. Start with some of the mobility exercises outlined in the guide above or even some daily walks or bike rides. A big mistake people make when getting back into training is that they do too much too soon which doesn't give their body enough time to recover and adjust to the increased workloads. You can't go from zero to a marathon or a tough Crossfit workout and not expect some repercussions. And as you get older and have to deal with more injuries so training smarter becomes even more critical. When I play a match these days and feel good physically the squash seems to follow. I don't get upset even if I'm not playing my best, simply because I'm feeling good and moving well it's a good day.
If you're looking for more squash specific home workouts you can find mine on Youtube. I've created a playlist for them at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzYXhBuUol3Tx4MV2l0nfoJ-5mRN853iB

I'm also doing a weekly live workout on the @LondonSquash Instagram page. These will later be posted on the Serious Squash Youtube channel if you happen to miss them. I'm currently focusing on building up basic strength required for squash by focusing on squats, lunges, deadlifts and core exercises.

Ideally this post provides some motivation and ideas on what type of cross training you can and should be doing. If you're not already in a positive routine there's no better time to switch and getting going than today. If you want to purchase some kettlebells for home you can order them here on Amazon and I think I get about 1% commission if you order through my storefront: www.amazon.ca/shop/serioussquash

On a side note, if you're looking for some squash to watch I just posted an instructional film, Mastering Deception. You can watch the complete film here:

That's all for this week. I hope this post will get you up and off the couch and thinking about how to make the most of your time. Don't just wait for the clubs to reopen to make your fitness a priority. Right now most of us have more time than we ever have to concentrate on improving the often neglected cross training side of squash. I'll leave you with a comment from my old squash club, 'get fit to play squash, don't play squash to get fit.'

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Oh and did I forget to mention that there could be a limited edition Serious Squash shirt coming out in the very near future...stay tuned and as always thanks for the support!

Kettlebell Training

It's been 2+ weeks of quarantine at my brothers place. Luckily for me he has 3 kettlebells so I've been able to continue to get in some good workouts. When I was living out west in Victoria and I was working with some personal trainers they taught me how to use kettlebells properly. This week in Squash Shots I filmed an episode demonstrating 35 kettlebell exercises. You can get in a full body workout with very little space and with just a kettlebell or 2 which means it's the perfect piece of equipment to have while in self isolation.

One of the great benefits of kettlebells is that all of the exercises you do with them engage your core. Because of how often I use kettlebells I have a much stronger core than I ever have and I've done far fewer sit-ups and crunches.

Here's this weeks episode of Squash Shots if you'd like to see some of the various exercises you an do with a kettlebell.

If you don't own a kettlebell I suggest you picking some up so you can do some of these exercises from home. Even now I'm doing most of my workouts on my brothers deck. Kettlebell are also very easy to store and for many exercises they are mush easier to hold and use than dumbbells. They aren't cheap, but they are well worth the price if you put them to use. Here's a link of a group of training equipment I've created on a Serious Squash Amazon if you're thinking about making an investment  www.amazon.ca/shop/serioussquash

I'll walk you through a few of my training sessions over the past 2 weeks. Yesterday was pretty simple. I did 5 goblet squats with a kettlebell followed by 10 pushups. I did this on the minute, every minute for 20 minutes (sets). So by the end of this workout I had done 100 squats and 200 pushups. 

Last week I did a similar workout where I did 5 squats, 5 swings and then 5 pushups on the minute, every minute for 20 sets. Using a timing method like this keeps you moving even when you get winded and want that little extra rest. It also shows you how efficient you can be with your time and back in a great workout in just 20 minutes. This and the previous training session would equate to about 25-30 seconds of training and 30-35 seconds of rest. As you get further into your sets the rest sure seems to run out quicker.

Another excellent way to set up a workout is by doing a circuit. A circuit is what I do most often at the gym. Normally I'll go do an exercise, move on to the next, maybe 1 more and then go back to the first one. This gives the muscles you used for each exercise a little bit of rest. So generally I don't do back to back exercises focusing on the same muscle group unless I want to really target that area for that session. 

Today I did a circuit that included kettlebell carries (briefcase carry, shoulder carry and a high overhead carry) and mixed in between were planks, side planks with a kettlebell, snatches, presses and cleans. So it was a core and upper body focused workout after all of the squats yesterday. 

Another effective way to set up a training sessions is by setting a goal for how many of a certain exercise you want to do in total. Let's say you want to do 100 deadlifts. You can break anytime you want, but every time you break you have to do a 1 minute plank and 10 pushups or say 10 burpees. So your goal will be to try and get the 100 deadlifts in with as few breaks as possible, but you will inevitably need at least 3 or 4. The longer you go the more difficult the planks and pushups or burpees will be. On the other hand the fewer reps you do the more sets of planks and pushups or burpees you will have to do. 

For a future episode I filmed a bunch of complexes with kettlebells. A complex is a combination of 2 or more exercises which makes the workout more of a full body workout. A complex of exercises also increases the aerobic training component of the workout. When you combine exercises that add up to more than 30 seconds it means that you can still get in some of that important cardio that we need for squash. 

I've listed a number of ways for designing your own workouts from home. If you haven't tried kettlebells before use light ones. The 3 I have here are 25, 35 and 40lbs. If I was at the gym I would generally use 40+ ones, but it depends on the exercise and number of reps In intend to do. You can also use 2 of the same weighted kettlebells to do a number of other exercises. 

Five years ago I had never touched a kettlebell and now it's the piece of equipment I work out with the most. In this time of gym closures and home workouts it's the perfect piece of equipment. Until next week stay safe, stay healthy and keep active. 

If you enjoy Squash Shots you can subscribe for the weekly episodes for as little as $3/month at Patreon.com/SeriousSquash

Serious Squash is also on Instagram @SeriousSquash and Facebook.com/SeriousSquash and Yotube.com/SeriousSquash plus there's an online store SeriousSquashShop.com where you can purchase instructional films, video analysis and the custom Serious Squash racquet (for when clubs reopen!). 

Core Training For Squash

When I was younger I thought core training was just to get a 6 pack that you could show off at the beach. As I got older and learned more about squash, anatomy and the biomechanics of squash I realized how vital core strength and training that area of the body was. In fact, I'd say it's next to impossible to play squash at a high level without having done a lot of core training. Below is a pic of me from my late twenties and even at this point as an athlete you can still see some issues with my posture (rounded back and closeness to the ball) and this was partially due to a lack of core strength.

When I was a child and even as a teen I remember doing a lot of situps and crunches, but still my core was never strong enough. Over the past few years I worked with a personal trainer and I learned a lot of better exercises for improving my core strength which are also much safer for my back and neck. Let's take a look at some of these and discuss the importance of having a strong core for squash.

When I think about core strength it's not about if you have a 6 pack or not...it's about your ability for your core to provide stability and in the case of squash be able to hit a ball with accuracy and when appropriate to generate power. I have also learned that core strength is not just in the frontal plane so we need to spend time working our core in different planes, because the squash swing is rotational (which means it is not in the same frontal plane as a setup is). We also need to vary our exercises so that some our core is engaged for a long time (say doing a plank) while others we need to rapidly engage our core and relax it (for example doing a deadlift or a kettlebell swing).

 In the case of playing squash our core isn't engaged and producing maximum power throughout the entirety of the match or we'd be spent after a few rallies. It is however called upon at times to maintain our balance throughout our movement and swing, to produce additional force when hitting for power and it also provides us with a smoothness and high level of control when we aim for accuracy like when hitting drop shots. A strong core also means you can stay further from the ball. I often see people get very upright and close to the ball when they want to hit with power because they don't have the proper core and lower body strength to maintain the proper posture from a further distance to the ball.

Simply stated, having a sufficient amount of core strength in squash means you will also be able to maintain superior posture which equates to improved accuracy and it will keep you closer to the T area. People who have weak cores usually are moving as they hit and drop their heads. These people will also probably find it quite difficult to sit perfectly upright for more than a few seconds without a back rest.

So what type of core exercises are the best? I believe it's safest to start with exercises such as planks, side planks and bear crawls, but let's look at some of my favourite exercises. A couple of weeks ago I did an episode of Squash Shots where I demonstrated my 10 favourite core exercises. You can have a look at the episode here:

Here are some images of various exercises I have done over the past few years which all engage my core to her able top lift, swing, push, pull or balance the kettlebell, barbell, sled or band. 

 

When I worked with a trainer a lot of our work was with kettlebells and doing this means you are using more than 1 muscle group and almost every exercise will engage your core. Exercises like Russian getups, swings, carries, deadlifts, squats, split-squats, snatches and so on are all exercises that will require your core to be engaged to do them with proper form with any significant amount of weight.

A few months ago I saw a video of me playing from university and I noticed my posture wasn't great. Even though I was playing #1 on a top 8 team at that time I was lacking in the strength department. I know now that I spent too much time on aerobic fitness training and not enough on strength training, especially during the season. Hopefully you're reading this early enough on in your squash days so you can learn from my mistakes. I also highly recommend finding a good personal trainer to teach you how to do properly use equipment such as kettlebells and to train your core safely. If you have back problems, I encourage you to google Dr. McGill's 3 core exercises for back health.

Remember that proximal stability (your core) means superior distal control (of your limbs). If you're serious about your squash you have to dedicate time for off court training or you will never reach your potential. Just like the word implies, the core is the centre of being a superior athlete and an elite squash player.

If you'd like to learn more about Squash Shots you can do so here: Patreon.con/SeriousSquash

If you want to follow Serious Squash on social media:
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There's also an online store where you can purchase instructional films, video analysis, my masters paper and the Serious Squash Signature racquet! SeriousSquashShop.com

Monitoring Off Court Training For Groups

When you work with a wide range or age groups it's difficult to have them all on the same training plan and to evenly track all of their progress and offer motivation for both on and off the court. So what I've created was a document where I can track each of their off court training improvements through a variety of exercises which I feel are most appropriate towards their development as an athlete and in particular a squash player. Ideally this chart will also provide motivation and goal setting for the kids too.

How the chart works is they simply get a checkmark when they've completed a certain physical skill task. The idea is to have levels that are challenging for each player so they can continually aim for incremental improvements, which over a long time can lead to a big change in an individual. It's just begun, so only time will be the judge to see how well it works. This is also the first season where the kids are expected to complete 2 off court gym sessions on their own outside of our on court training which is 4x per week.

Beep Test	8.1	9.1	10.1	10.6	11.1	11.6	12.1	12.6	13.1	13.6	14.1	14.6	15.1

Consecutive Pushups	10	20	25	30	35	40	45	50	55	60	70	80	90	100

Consecutive Skipping	50 FW	100 FW	150 FW	200 FW	250 FW	50 BW	100 BW	150 BW	200 BW

Bear Crawl with golf T on back	Width of court	Length of court	Length X2	Around entire court	Total distance with ball on top of T

Plank	1 min.	2 min.	3 min.	4 min.	5 min.	1 min. side	2 min. side	3 min side

Lunges (per leg)	30 sec. hold	60 sec. hold	90 sec. hold	2 min. hold	50 lunge forwards and back	20 lunge jumps (40 total)	30 lunge jumps (60 total)	40 lunge jumps (80 total)

Squats	10 proper squats	30 squats	50 squats	20 squat jumps	30 squats jumps	40 squat jumps	50 squat jumps	20 burpees with PU	30 burpees with PU	40 burpees with PU

Flexibility/Stretching	Hamstring	Quads	Hips/Glutes	Calves	Shoulders	Trouble Areas?
Sufficient ROM

Nutrition?	Proper Sleep?	Hydration?	Warm up routine?	Cool down routine?

Anything you feel I'm missing? For the record these kids are between 12 and 18 years old. The coaches have demonstrated and shown that the exercises are all done with proper techniques before adding reps and/or weight. 

Legend: PU = pushups FW = forwards BW = backwards. The golf tee is a plastic driving range one that has a round bottom. You can also use a plastic cup or empty yogurt container.

When I was a kid we had some equipment in our basement, but I didn't know what I was doing or how much to do of something. I had no program or guidance on technique for exercises. It's impossible to play squash at a top level without strong glutes, calves, quads, hamstrings and of course core. The past 3 years since a minor knee surgery I've been steadily going to the gym and working with some great trainers and I feel more stable on court than I did when I was competing.  Here are a few of the pics from some of the various exercises we've done. It's always tailored to squash. You can find a lot more of them on the Serious Squash Instagram page.

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Mandating Annual Training Plans In Junior Squash

Today I should warn you I am going to go on a bit of a rant and it's a long post. I'm a true believer that squash should be fun and also that you get out what you put into it. If you love squash and want to get better you simply need to put in the time and effort and you will get to where you want to be eventually. If you don't have that drive you won't get to where others should think you should be. It's kind of like Matt Damon in the movie Good Will Hunting. I get the sense in squash that many of us are pressing our kids for results and unfortunately some of these kids end up dropping out of our great sport for this reason. I see this all of the time after kids finish grinding away their four years at college.

I feel that junior squash has become so competitive that it has zapped out a lot of fun from the game. Many countries have these robot type children all playing the same style of squash. Coaches feel pressure to produce top kids and often disregard the reasons the kids they have play squash. A big problem is that a major objective for governing bodies is to have elite high performance programs with elite and high standard kids they can stand from afar and admire and be proud of. Many kids themselves on doubt feel pressure to make certain teams or get accepted to a good university with a squash team. I have to admit that I'm guilty of this at times too. I have talented athletes that could achieve so much more, but in the end I have to remember that what they do with squash isn't my decision it is theirs. Squash can certainly open up a lot of doors for you and the higher the level you become, generally the more opportunities it will present to you. This is where I believe that motivation is the most important trait a coach can have. It doesn't matter how well you understand the game or teach the squash swing if a kid isn't intrinsically motivated to practice and get better.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a world champion. Yes I'm aware that didn't happen, but this can make it challenging to work with kids that have lower goals for their own squash games; especially when they have the skills and resources available to them. This is where I have to take a step back and listen to what the kids want out of squash and to how good they want to be. It's been an interesting challenge working at a school and starting up many of the kids from scratch. Most just come to practice and play for fun and enjoy competing while along the way have become pretty decent players. But these kids started playing just because we offered it at their school and they happened to be good at it or have fun playing. After 5 years running this program we do have some pretty strong players now and a few are keen to do independent training to become one of the best in Canada. 

At a school sometimes kids are just registered in a specific program and have the skills to be in a specific group. So even though there are different levels of kids within our system, there are many various motivating factors and aspirations for their squash careers. I feel this variety has given me a better perspective on junior squash as a whole. Not every kid is going to be a provincial or national champion, but that doesn't mean the kids can't all enjoy squash and play it for the rest of their lives. And for a select few of these kids that do have the potential and drive to become a top caliber player that we then have the ability to provide the guidance and program to facilitate this. Let's get back to our topic! 

I know this is a roundabout way to get to this point, but I wanted to give a clear personal perspective before I got into this topic. I hear that Squash BC and Squash Canada will soon be mandating that their recognized targeted athletes (as in being on a provincial squad) must have an annual training plan. At first I thought, well okay that seems reasonable for our top juniors. Then I started to think about this a little further. As soon as we have a policy that states a kid 'must' do anything the motivation moves from intrinsic to extrinsic. You can see how I immediately started worrying about this new policy and started to think it over further. 

I also began to think about if an actual yearly training plan is always appropriate for all kids just because their good at squash? Are the being kids identified in British Columbia and Canada talented and dedicated enough to all benefit from being on an annual training plan? Are we going to be pushing them at too young of an age because of the pressure WE feel for them to play at a higher national or international standard? When I was a kid I would have loved this, but only if it was optional and I had this option available to me because I was a top player. If I was told I had to do this or that I don't think it would have gone over too well. 

From my coaching perspective at the school the program has grown every season, but even for some of our top kids we're still working on getting them to want to train without saying they must do it. One of our biggest steps was helping the tops kids develop their own off season training program for this summer. But even this summer training program was made optional. I gave them suggestions and said it would greatly benefit for their games, but I realize not all of them are super keen to focus on training for squash year round. They are kids after all so who can blame them.

Without a doubt if these kids were on an annual training plan and stuck to them they would become better squash players in the short term. If the kids continued on this plan for a long period of time they would definitely benefit from it, but is this reason enough to implement a mandatory annual training program?

I feel most of these kids are not ready for this level of commitment. I will likely have 2-4 kids that must have an annual training plan for next season. I feel this is a sign of the sport becoming more professional at the junior level. If we want our kids to get a variety scholarship or make a national team a training plan would be great, but how many of these athletes have these goals? Would it not be worth finding out their goals and motivation first?

From a sporting government body I get it completely. We want to do better at the world stage at both the junior and senior level. As adults we know what's best for our kids, right? So mandating annual training plans is clearly a necessary requirement to producing stronger high performance pathway? Maybe they should listen to some of the coaches and athletes before they go ahead and implement this policy. 

I always like to think about things from different perspectives and creative angles. I've already discussed a few of the issues I have with this protocol, but here are a few of my pros and cons of mandating our top kids to annual training plans. 

Pros To Forcing Kids To Have Annual Training Plans

- the kids will be fitter, faster, stronger

- the governing bodies will meet their funding requirements

- scheduled rest time in the year 

- emphasis is placed on peaking for larger tournaments 

- you have a plan and goals and feel in control of your development

- it keeps you on track by helping you get into a routine
- this helps you stay on track over the season
- our kids will get a glimpse of what a professional squash player's life is like
- this is an effective way to guide a highly motivated athlete 

Cons Of Forcing Kids To Have Annual Training Plans

- makes playing competitively more serious and less fun
- increased dropout of sport
- you can become overwhelmed and immersed by the quantity of data and your training load and lose focus on what is most important, which is the quality of your training on that particular day

- motivation for playing and training can becomes extrinsic

- putting a focus on fitness means kids will develop their shots and tactics slower and could be prone to playing less attacking squash (which I feel is the current and future of the game)

- I feel like the biggest improvement most kids can make in squash is by improving their tactics and skill set. I bet there are some top world class players that never had an annual training plan when they were kids and instead of spending time in the gym lifting weights they were on court hitting the ball! 

- not every kids is mentally or physically ready for an annual training plan

- some kids are fine physically and need to focus more on learning the squash part of the game (technical and tactical) and annual training plans in my opinion should be more geared toward physical training

- I believe that increasing importance of specific competitions puts extra pressure on the kids. I believe in continually improving your own game regardless on the time of the season

- training plans generally call for less technical focus prior to competitions, but there are so many competitions for kids that unless it's a few days before a tournament I will always take an opportunity to improve someone's knowledge or swing. My first couple of years coaching I would avoid changing things before competing, but the kids are constantly competing so that didn't work

- isn't the best way for someone to get better to either play a match or solo hit? I know other things are key, but for me I'm always wanting a kid to do these things first before any other additional off court training is scheduled 

- If a kid does want to start an annual training plan shouldn't certified personal trainers set up these routines? Seriously, aren't they more qualified than the squash coaches?

- I've seen some pretty detailed and outrageous annual training plans that I know were not adhered to whatsoever. So really, what's the point of designing some amazing plan if it isn't going to be followed?
- how do you follow a kids plan when they train as part of a larger group who may've different training objectives? 

- promotes early specialization. I believe a lot of these kids that would be on this program would be better off just playing a 2nd or 3rd sport of cross training and for fun. This isn't just geared towards the junior national team players and trickles much further down the rankings and age groups

Okay, you get the point. You can see I can think of many more cons than pros for this argument. But clearly we are following the lead of other counties or even other sports. Why don't we come up with our own intelligent and creative way to assist our kids? Of course if you're a rower or in a purely endurance based sport a training plan and pure athleticism is key to success, but in squash there is so much to learn and know and just by playing we get fitter, stronger and faster and I think it should be treated differently. 

I'm sure I will get some criticism for my points here. I have to say that I am not against training programs at all, just against forcing teenagers to have them simply because of their provincial or national ranking. When I've worked with some professional players we would work month by month and adjust as necessary. If someone need more work in a certain area we keeping working on it. How often are people with annual training plans adjusting them based on how they're developing? At least for most of the kids I work with, I've been concentrating on getting them to understand different types of training, how it benefits them and most importantly to motivate them to want to do it and see the benefits of training. 

It will be interesting to see how things develop. It reminds me of my interview with Wee Wern Low and how she said she felt forced to go work with a 'better' coach, but she trusted her instinct and did what she felt was best for her and she kept the coach she had since she was 12. There are also similar rules stating that someone has to have a certain qualification to coach an athlete that they already work with at a provincial or national event and of course the Olympics. These rules are meant to help the athletes and get the coaches to spend time working on their certifications, but this system doesn't always work. 

I really enjoy people that think like Wee Wern Low as they kind of beat the system and show us that we shouldn't be so focused on say, how hard a pitcher throws a baseball or a squash player hits a ball or the certification or experience a coach has. Because really a squash player isn't going to get very far without the tactical, mental and technical skills. All of these other 3 skills are things that I am always talking about and working on with kids, regardless of the time of season. 

This topic also reminds me of a book I recently read titled 'How Bad Do You Want It' by Matt Fitzgerald. He made an interesting point about the best endurance runners. Fitzgerald discussed evidence that the top runners were comprised of a mixture of slightly lower V02max and more efficient running styles while others had a higher V02max, but because of this they always had less efficient running styles. This hits home for me in squash about how retrievers fail to develop shots or attacking tactics while those that have to because they are not as fast or fit do so. So I do think there is something to be said for learning how to play squash and developing your shots and tactics before becoming too fast, strong and fit and just winning because your run everything down. If a kid wins simply because he or she overhits or outruns their peers they are most likely to have a setback in their development of the tactics and shot making skills that their peers must have. Do you agree? 

For elite and experienced players, squash is an art form. Do you think famous artists were ever on a training plan? And did that ever stop them from being their best? Of course not! If an artist is getting ready for a show they may implicitly know they have to do a bit more to prepare and get ready for this. If a squash player is playing a big international event the more they will practice without us telling them they have too. We already know all of this implicitly and do what it takes to prepare properly. If we get to the event not as prepared as we would like we learn from it and try and do better the next time. Isn't this how preparation for squash competitions should be like, more like artists that put in the hours preparing because they are working at perfecting their craft, not because they are told too? 

What do you guys think? Can you think of anymore pros and cons I missed out on? Are annual training plans necessary for kids? If we were a stronger squash country at the junior level I may agree with these terms for a select few of the top kids, but in my opinion we're just not there and I actually think we have some very athletic kids already. We don't have enough kids competing and doing well at the international events in any age group. I think we should concentrate on being more competitive with our younger kids and hopefully they will be physically and mentally prepared to have a training plan when and if they are ready to do so. Some kids may be mature enough to go on a plan at 14 or 15 well others maybe not until they are in their 20's. And really if a kid never wants to go on a training plan, but loves squash and plays it all his life what is wrong with that? 

Currently I don't see many (if any) Canadian juniors that are going to make a living playing squash. I still feel my biggest beef is that wouldn't an annual training plan be better suited to a kid that wanted to do it, but didn't necessarily have too? Shouldn't we simply have access to the best trainer in the country that can set up an annual plan for those targeted that ask for it?  Wouldn't this be more progressive and keep the motivation for those on a plan more intrinsic? Maybe we should try and simply monitor how much of what our athletes are doing? I bet many are being pushed into doing too much for how little of years they have been training. Clearly if I was given a vote on this I would vote 'no.' I've played a high junior level and coached all different levels of kids so I feel I have a good set of experience to make my decision. I know that if I had a son or daughter playing and they were on one of these squads I would never force them to train and be on an annual program if they didn't want to do it. Sorry for the lengthy post, hope it was interesting to you! I'm guessing if you made it all the way to here it was :)

Resistance Band Training For Squash

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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