Serious Squash Workbook: A Guide To Winning Squash

Since my competitive days playing varsity squash I've always written squash tables, charts and documents. I've posted hundreds of my opinions, thoughts and facts about squash and coaching on this blog over the past few years. Recently I was going through my computer and I discovered piles of documents I designed over the years. Many were for coaching purposes or simply out of interest. 

I completed my bachelors in kinesiology and my masters in coaching studies. Even though I wasn't too fond of school in high school, I always loved learning more about squash, training and sport at the post secondary level. Learning about things that are interesting and that can actually help you become better at squash are great. The more I knew, the better the squash player I could become and when I started coaching, the more I information I could pass on to my students. 

As I got into coaching I started constantly designing various excepts which you will find in this manual which I've titled 'A Guide To Winning Squash.' They are meant to be thought provoking and lead an athlete through the process of designing an individual tool and skill set they can use for a specific part of their game.  

Here is a glimpse of the 'Routines' chapter. I discuss the importance of prematch and between rally routines and guide you through he processionals of building your own

Some of you have already purchased my masters final project which was extremely comprehensive. I've recently posted it in the Serious Squash Shop as a digital download. That document took a LONG time to write, edit and get to a point where it was approved by my academic supervisor. 

Now I haver finally finished compiling my squash tables, charts and articles in a 17 chapter and 70 page working document. It's a bit of a scrapbook for athletes or coaches to use. Some sections go into great detail, while others are brief and just touch on what I feel is interesting or valid. 

Here is a small sample from the 'Technical Testing' chapter. In it I show how to design a chart to track various areas of yours (or if your a coach your athletes shot ability and consistency)

If this is the type of thing that interest you, you can download a digital copy in word and pdf format for $9.99CDN now in the store at SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/squash-documents It comes with a no questions asked money back guarantee. 

Here are a few more clips from the document. 

Here's a look at the 'Strategy and Tactics' chapter. Understanding how you want to play and learning from your matches are extremely important parts of improving your squash game

The chapters in the workbook are as follows:
Chapter 1: Developing a Coaching Philosophy
Chapter 2: The Process of Performance
Chapter 3: Goal Setting
Chapter 4: Imagery
Chapter 5: Focus
Chapter 6: Motivation
Chapter 7: Key Performance Indicators
Chapter 8: Match Situations
Chapter 9: Technical Testing
Chapter 10: Off Court Aerobic and Anaerobic Fitness Training
Chapter 11: On Court Circuit Training
Chapter 12: Fitness Testing
Chapter 13: Footwork and Court Movement
Chapter 14: Routines
Chapter 15: Drills and Best Practices
Chapter 16: Strategy and Tactics
Chapter 17: In Conclusion

Using Targets

When you practice, either in condition games, drills or solo hitting, do you ever use targets? After 30 years of playing and coaching squash, I realize how frequently people hit a shot with no given target in mind.

We all know to start with that we want to hit the ball straight and tight, at least most of the time. But you're going to be a better squash player if you can hit the ball where you want it, plain and simple. Less focused on is the weight of shot or height of the shot.

Let's start with angle/direction. One of the most common flaws when people hit length is that they use the sidewall as a crutch. I  can hear you asking me, 'Chris, what does that mean?' Well it just implies that people hit their length into the front wall and then the sidewall to hit a straighish type of drive. But hitting this sidewall too early slows the ball down and doesn't get to the back of the court quick enough and gives your opponent more time to take the ball early.

How can you improve the angle of your drives and drops? Awareness is a big part of it. At the World Juniors this summer, the top few boys hit the ball so straight. They didn't always hit the ball right on the wall, but they rarely hit the sidewall early. Doing this well means you have great awareness of your racquet face and you have fantastic control of how angled the racquet face is at contact.

When almost everyone plays a drop, they aim for the nick and the ball seems to always hit the sidewall. If you change your focus to hitting the floor before the sidewall, or getting the ball to finish tight you will improve the angle of your drops and they will be much tougher to retrieve, no matter how quick your opponent is. You can also use targets in creative ways (see the video below).

Okay, so you understand how to work on improving the angle of your shots. What about the weight of shot? A simple method is just putting a target on the floor against the sidewalls. The stronger the players, the smaller the targets should be. You could use a racquet, a shoe, a target that you get to keep if you hit it (like a $5 bill or protein bar or squash ball box). Sometimes I'll play timed games where only targets count as points. This makes it competitive. You could also use a target for simply bonus points in a game. In solo hitting you can alternate between weights of shots. If you've seen The Secrets Of Solo Hitting, you'll know that one of my favourite weights of shot targets are the back corners, but for the second bounce. This is an attacking drive and is quite difficult to hit. Again you can use various targets in the back corner.

Working on attacking drives you can either aim for them on every drive or anytime you get an opening. And this is how a lot of top players play; when you have time and space, even from the back of the court you should be aiming for a drive, second bounce into this back corner. Think back to the angle though. If you hit the sidewall too early you have no chance of getting the second bounce into the back corners.

Want to improve your squash game? Start using targets and start visualizing a target in your rallies. I know for me if I just place the ball around the court, even if it's into the right areas of the court I'm not going to be nearly as effective if I'm not hitting targets into the right areas of the court. The right weight and angle of shot makes the court play a few feet or inches larger and take time away from your opponent. What is pressure in squash? Time and spacial pressure; reducing yours by increasing your opponents.

Want to learn my most difficult solo routine using targets? Check out The Advanced Secrets Of Solo Hitting (& Movement). SeriousSquashShop.com/Collections/Coaching-Videos

Pace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Squash Cannon

When I was competing as a player and working on my game I did a LOT of solo hitting. I didn't take a lot of lessons and have very much guidance. I would spend multiple hours each week trying to improve my swing and consistency of each one. There are certain shots that are more challenging to practice without someone feeding for you. We can't practice the return of serve without a partner and getting into the flow of consistent feeding to groove certain swings is difficult to accomplish by yourself. 

From time to time I would gain access to a ball machine and I found them extremely useful. As a coach I now use one all the time. It's a fantastic learning tool and allows me to watch a swing and even film it in slow motion while someone is hitting multiple swings. I coach at St. Michaels University School in Victoria, BC and we are fortunate to have the Squash Cannon at our disposal. The Squash Cannon allows you to change the velocity and height of a shot as well as the interval time between shots. There is a built in heater which you can adjust which keep the balls warm. You can also use to alternate between 2 shots and we ordered ours with a remote. I often use the machine as 1 feeder and I use a ball and feed for another shot which makes it great to work on movement patterns too. 

Today I am excited to announce that Serious Squash is now an official endorser of the Canadian made Squash Cannon and I will be helping to promote their great product. Please email SeriousSquash@SquashCannon.com if would like more information on the Squash Cannon. Below are a few clips I recently posted to the Serious Squash Youtube channel where I'm using the Squash Cannon to work on some backhand volley drops. Stay tuned for more videos and tips on how to best operate the Squash Cannon if you are fortunate enough to have access to one! 

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!

SeriousSquashShop.com is home to 2 squash instructional films and loads of merch!

The Importance of Solo Hitting

How did I get good at squash? If I had to credit 1 thing over my entire life it would be all of the time I've spent solo hitting. Of course there were a few coaches along the way and the support of my family which helped, but I've spent thousands upon thousands of hours on court by myself solo hitting. Why? I wanted to get better, a lot better and the more time I spent on court hitting balls the more I improved. I loved that I could practice squash whenever I wanted and I always enjoyed hitting the ball and trying to learn new shots.

As a coach I've always told my pupils that solo practice is a MUST for any player that wants to be good. You can't make someone want to solo hit or be great. This is a quality that has to come from within the player. If you coach someone with this quality coaching is simple and really enjoyable.

As I got to a men's open level I felt I couldn't play matches everyday or I would get injured so I always tried to mix in lots of solo practice within these hard training or match sessions so I could still improve without overdoing it physically. My theory was that if I could control the better I would also have to do less work in my matches. There's also no better feeling than learning a new shot and executing it in your matches.

If you want to be able to confidently play the tactically most correct shot at any time during a match you've go to practice each of the shots over and over. You need to rehearse each shot until you've gotten extremely consistent and you no longer have to think about the technique of your swing while you hit it. If you're thinking about how to swing for a certain shot during a game you're in big trouble.   So if there are certain shots you have to think of you probably just haven't rehearsed these swings enough to become automated. Even once a skill becomes automated the level of precision for each shot must improve as you move up in levels. When you start playing just getting a drive to the back or hitting a drop a foot above the tin are well executed shots and will be pretty effective. As you improve these targets become more specified and vital to your success.

Last year Eye Rackets contacted me because of all the skill challenge videos I was posting. They started in good fun and slowly but surely people in squash took notice. In October I signed a 3 year contract with Eye Rackets and they are supporting my new venture in solo drills and skill challenges. I'm always looking for new cool and difficult drills to complete and I have a few on the to film list at the moment.

A couple of months ago I thought it would be fun to make a longer video and sell it online. I knew instantly that my 1st video should be about solo hitting because that's my most knowledgeable area and I believe it's so essential to a squash players development. I didn't realize how much work it was going to be, but after a couple of months of writing, filming, editing and marketing it is finally complete and for sale in the Serious Squash Shop. So far I've sold about 55 copies to people from all over the world. It's so neat that with the internet I can reach a small number of dedicated squash enthusiasts who are as passionate about squash, improving and solo hitting as I am. Feel free to share this with info your friends, unless of course they're also your competitors ;)

I've just put together a fun little promo video. Here it is if you'd like to have a peak.

If you'd like to order a copy of the film it's available at SeriousSquashShop.com/collections/coaching-videos and for $25 you can stream it and download it for safe keeping. There is a lot of information on this film so I'm sure the keenest will refer back to it as they work on their game and improve their solo skills.

Mobility and The Aging Squash Player

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff

What is the right technique for you? I recently had a boy visit from Asia for a month. His style was much different to most kids in North America. He told me that most kids where he's from are not very big, they are quick and are taught to focus on precision versus power. They hit every shot with a lot of slice. Over here in North America I always hear about the importance of hitting the ball harder and taking the ball early and I see many kids never hit any shot other than the serve over the service line. Basically, like most popular professional sports here in North America we think those that are bigger, stronger and faster are the best athletes and this is how we can be succesful. Of course as this boy demonstrated there are exceptions, those with superb skill. It's a bit of the David vs. Goliath story revisited once again.

How do your biomechanics hold up as you increase your swing speed

As a kid who was quite small for my age, I know how difficult it can be to compete against people that hit it hard and take up a lot of space. It's still challenging, but with practice and improved tactics and accuracy you can learn how to take down someone of any stature; that's one of the great things about squash. I still vividly recall the toughest match I've ever had to play was against a boy who won the CSA individuals and he hit the ball so hard it was insane. The ball was like a racquet ball and it felt as if I'd never played squash before. Since that match I've spent a lot of time solo hitting and learning to not only handle that pace, but also be able to inject that same amount of pace. It was a terrific example of how much pace can change the game and if you can't handle it shot selection is pretty insignificant. Looking back now though, I also think that at that pace we should have been using a lower tin or a slower ball. Anyways, let's move on.

The main topic of today's post is deciding on which style of squash suits you best? Do you have below average size, speed or power? If so you will probably have to be very accurate, slow the speed of the game down and be quite smart. If you try and play pace with someone who does it better you you will have limited success.

Paul Coll - going for precision on his next shot

The trouble most kids get into is they focus so much on overpowering their opponents that they get away with poor accuracy and shot selections (at least for the time being). Eventually these kids will come up against people that can handle this power or can even outhit them. So although pace and taking the ball early can take you quite far, it is still pretty 1 dimensional in my opinion and it does not automatically translate to success. So even if you hit it harder than your opponent, if you're opponent can handle this pace and defend it well they can wait until you kind of punch yourself out and go on counter attacks using your poor accuracy against you. So does this mean it's better to be accurate than have raw power? Not necessarily. Obviously both qualities are important, but good shot selection and accuracy is something that you absolutely must have to compete at the highest level. Speed and strength can get you close, but that is not enough at the top of the game.

Although I love playing at a high pace it probably doesn't best suit my stature. I've already trained and practiced for 20+ years and my style isn't going to change much now, but it's interesting to wonder if I would have been better if I grew up in Asia and learned to focus more on shot selection and accuracy? It's impossible to know for sure. But when I was on court with this boy who visited the difference in styles and the amount of tension and effort going into my swing was significantly higher. All in all it just gave me a new appreciation for this style of game.

Nouran Gohar - 1 of the hardest hitters on tour and is about to unleash some major force with this backhand!

I could probably use more accuracy in my game and he could probably use more power in his game. Once I can't overpower someone like this I feel like they would be more efficient with their movement and shot placement and I would wear myself down. This is the fun part of squash. There is no 1 right way to play and be successful. It's easy to say hit it harder and be more accurate, but which style suits your physical traits is specific to you. Just be cautious that if you are winning by overpowering other kids, this will change when you get older and you will have to learn how to play smarter and more accurate. If you are a powerful player you will have to learn how to take shorter swing and maintain your balance and technique while under pressure. Most powerful hitters also tend to crosscourt a lot because it's difficult to be accurate with the amount of rotation happening and the length of their swing means their timing will not be as accurate as it would if they had a shorter swing. Determining how much to shorten your swing and how much to give up on power to improve your accuracy is a thing we must all learn for ourselves While if you are more of a precision player, you will also need to learn how to handle this power and eventually play with more pace in your game, but without compromising your technique or getting into a slugfest with your 1-dimensional hard hitting opponents. Remember there is a speed/accuracy trade-off in all sports.

I remember having a discussion in 1 of my university classes about what skill you'd rather posses first, accuracy or power/pace? The class and instructor both thought pace because accuracy would eventually come with repetition. But in squash I don't know if this is 100% true. If you are overhitting the ball all of the time and never learn to take the pace off the ball how are you ever going to develop a short game and have the confidence to play it against top players when you've fallen into a habit of getting a loose ball and smacking it every time as hard as possible? Some food for thought. Do you agree or disagree? Are you precision or power player? Which style do you enjoy playing against and dislike playing against? Can the top players at your club do both? You'll notice on the PSA that almost all of them could outhit any amateur, but that doesn't get the job done against the best in the world. They've got to have a lot more than pure power. But it is a lot of fun hitting the ball hard isn't it?

Check out my Youtube channel (cchsquashpro) if you want to see some videos on solo hitting drills to improve both your power and accuracy. Also follow Serious Squash on Instagram and Facebook for the daily updates. SeriousSquashShop.com is where you can find Serious Squas merch.

The Benefits Of Analyzing Your Swing In Slow Motion

Here's a short little video I pieced together with my new intro video on the benefits of using slow motion video to break down your swing. I discuss some key points on the backhand drive in particular and finish with a few slow motion drives to demonstrate. Want to improve your swing? Break it down and check out the key performance indicators. Is it accurate? Can you generate power? Can you hit it deep/high enough? Does it break down under pressure? Check out the video on my Youtube channel here:

Below is an example of the same shot hit both in regular speed followed by slow motion. You can see a lot more from slowing things down. 

Serious Squash Coaching Videos Coming Soon!

I'm constantly trying to expand and explore new avenues with Serious Squash. I've decided that a next step is to produce some longer coaching videos to put all of my knowledge in specific areas into 1 place. My plan is to record a mini series of 12 episodes and release 1 each month. I've got a tripod on the way and am working on an intro video as we speak. Here's a peak at the 1st draft of it. Let me know what you think.

Version 1

Version 2

Version 3

I've already got my 12 topics decided and I think they will provide a lot of information to those who are looking for another way to improve their squash game.

I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to release the videos and what the cost will be, but I will try and make it simple, affordable and most importantly extremely effective for helping to improve your squash game. If you have any feedback or suggestions please feel free to contact me at info@serioussquash.com. Hopefully I will be able to release my 1st video this spring. And in case you're wondering, I will continue to post free blog write ups and videos on my Youtube channel (cchsquashpro), Instagram and Facebook page. Hopefully the best is yet to come from Serious Squash and thanks to all of you that have supported me thus far and especially to those of you that have bought some merch from the Serious Squash Shop!

Cocking Or Relaxing The Wrist?

When I was a kid pretty much every single good player cocked their wrist. Cocking your wrist allowed for improved consistency and power. The open racquet face at contact helps keep the ball above the tin and allows you to hit with an open racquet face and slice the ball. Your racquet face would always be presented properly to the ball allowing for a more consistent strike of the ball, unlike those that break their wrist. The increased power is from the last split second wrist movement. To explain this try and take a swing keeping your wrist cocked the entire time. Without that wrist moving you are not going to be able to transfer weight though the kinetic link properly. My point being is that there were lots of important reasons for learning to cock your wrist and I remember it being a difficult concept to grasp.

Gawad with a short backswing, but a cocked wrist gives him lots of options from this setup

Nowadays you still see the top players cocking their wrist, but you also see some (like Ramy) play with a relaxed and uncocked wrist. The style and equipment has changed which has allowed for more variation in technique and how the game is played. I thought it would for an interesting post to discuss the pros and cons of cocking your wrist versus having a relaxed one. Clearly a top player with enough repetition can make either work, but even for a top pro there are pros and cons to having a more relaxed wrist vs a cocked one.

Ashour with almost no backswing whatsoever and a relaxed wrist

I should begin by saying that players who have this relaxed wrist don't actually break their wrist. By breaking their wrist I mean the back of their hand and arm making an angle larger than 180 degrees. Someone like Ramy has such a short swing from the mid and front court that he is incredibly deceptive and quick from the start of his 'down'swing to contact. If you watch this short video I filmed on backhand drops you will also see how this relaxed wrist position allows for less tension in the hand and forearm which allows a player like Ramy to fire the ball in short with superb precision. This changes the angle of the swing, contact point on the ball and therefore the amount of spin you can generate. For example, on the backhand Ramy just swings his arm and side of his palm directly to where he is aiming at meaning he hits the bottom part of the ball (an example pictured below). While dropping with a cocked wrist anabas you to hit more the back corner/side of the bal. In theory I can see how a relaxed wrist can allow Ramy to be more consistent because there is a shorter backswing and less tension in his arm because he doesn't need to hold the racquet head upwards. From a shorter backswing one can also begin their swing later so their opponent has less time to read what shot is coming next; that is assuming they are strong enough to still hit it deep from this position.

When a player cocks their wrist (as I do in the video above) you'll see my racquet head is above the ball and I can hit down more severely onto the ball. I always tried to think of the tin as a form of net and the higher above the tin the ball is when I strike it the better angle I have to spike the ball downwards, which means more pressure I can put on my opponent. I also like the feel of the ball on the strings when I cock my wrist for my drop shots. I feel like I can get more action on the ball when I have my wrist cocked. I haven't taken enough swings like Ramy does to feel the same control or touch that he does with his flatter swing with his relaxed wrist, so I will probably never be able to switch. If I was going to try and drop with a relaxed wrist the difficult part would be that I'd be 100% committing to the drop. With such a short backswing and a relaxed wrist there would be almost no power behind my setup meaning my opponent knows what's coming. Ramy is so strong on his forearm that he can still snap the ball with some pace with just about zero tension in his arm or backswing. This is something that was simply impossible 20+ years ago when the racquets were 200 grams. Now with the lighter frames and improved strings there are a lot more possibilities.

Ashour on the backhand side with again zero backswing. The racquet starts at his leading leg and he can still hit the ball to any part of the court

So now I've got you thinking. Should I try and cock or keep a relaxed wrist? That is something that a good coach will need to help you with. I think only a really top player could make the relaxed wrist position really effective. I still coach players to cock their wrist, but if I came across a very skilled player that already had this style I would not try and change it. I can see the benefit from this relaxed wrist if you also have the snap to go deep from that position too. If you don't have the snap your opponent will be running up to get your shot every time they see that relaxed wrist and short backswing. So unless you spend multiple hours each week working on your short game, that probably isn't going to work at a high level.

What I've discussed so far is the benefits of cocking or not cocking your wrist on drops, from attacking positions from the mid or front of the court. From the front under pressure when counter dropping you will have to break your wrist to one up your racquet face to the target and to play the ball in front of you. This is the only time I break my wrist when I play and it's really difficult for me. I found a picture of Alison Waters doing this on the backhand side.

Waters adapts her wrist position under pressure to line her racquet face up to the target

From the back of the court I do feel cocking your wrist is a big advantage because it's the best way to get the ball back deep and above the tin. If you don't have a lot of time to prepare at least when you cock your wrist your racquet will be aiming up and you will have a better chance of getting the ball back deep. Also, when digging the ball out of the back corners when you're space is limited it's also important to cock your wrist to use height on the shortened swing.

But when you have time (as Ramy does below) and you're prepared early and you're not trying to play defensive you can play with a cocked or relaxed wrist. You can imagine that from the set up below most people could not get enough of a whip from this setup to get power into their shot or it would take too long that they couldn't get away with it. Ramy has hit so many balls I believe everything is about feel and he doesn't focus on his technique at all. He knows by the feel of each swing if it was hit perfectly or not so for him he knows that he is set up exactly how he wants to be. This is the one thing I think is a huge benefit from the relaxed arm; you have less tension in your arm and you can feel the ball better against your strings.

One area from the back which I should mention is if you're trying to hit a hard and low attacking drive. This can be played a few different ways. Some people (mostly the Egyptians) still hit this shot with a very open racquet face and simply have a flatter or more sever swing path to hit the ball low.

Nouran Gohar has a lot of shoulder rotation in this shot, but still has a slightly cocked wrist and open racquet face

I like actually closing my racquet face or even using some top spin. When I close my racquet face or hit with a bit of top spin my wrist is still cocked, it's just about how I rotate my arm over. So if you can picture this it may help. On the backhand side if I want to hit with a closed racquet face I simply have a forehand open wrist and arm position. Can you imagine this? I found a pic of Karim Abdel Gawad doing this. See how if he kept everything the same and just brought his racquet to his forehand side it would be a nice open racquet face. His wrist is still cocked, but is just facing down.

Gawad keeping his wrist cocked even when he closes his racquet face

Hopefully I've expanded your knowledge on this subject. To me it's a really fascinating topic. It was such a keep fundamental and then to have the best player of our generation not always do it was pretty mind blowing. It definitely shows that technique is not universal and if you can make it work consistently even under pressure maybe it doesn't need to be changed. Maybe coaches and players focus too much on technique and less about feel and shot selection? Basically these types of things make me think more open minded about squash and the technique in general. Peter Marshall should have taught us all that, but we haven't see that style at that level again since. So just because Ramy can do what he does, it doesn't mean you should try and copy it. It works for him, but it probably won't work for you unless you have fantastic hand-eye and spend about a quarter of your life on a squash court! If you're tinkering with this I still recommend not going past the 180 degree point at any part of your swing (besides the counter drop under pressure at the front) from the back of your hand to your forearm. Remember the title is called cocking or relaxing the wrist, not breaking it! Hope this topic was as interesting to you as it was to me. 

Be sure to like Serious Squash on Facebook and follow my Youtube channel (cchsquashpro) and also on Instagram at #SeriousSquash for daily updates. Serious Squash also has a new online squash merch store at SeriousSquashShop.com Use the code SSROCKS to get 15% off your order and yes, I do ship worldwide. 

Footwork In The Front Forehand Corner

When I was young I was always told never to hit off my right leg in the front right corner. I still try and get kids to hit off their left leg here, but it;s not for the same reasons I was once told too. When I was young squash was taught very conventionally; basically always hit off your front foot. As the equipment (racquets are lighter) and the speed of the game has increased it's more important than ever to be able to hit off your back foot (open stance). So if this is true why do I still get kids to hit off their lead leg on their forehand? Well this helps to square up their hips and shoulders which will make it easier for them to hit a good straight drive. The forehand swing involves a lot of rotation so it is extremely difficult to hit an accurate straight line if your hips and shoulders are not parallel at the start of your swing.

Another reason I get kids to hit off their front leg in the forehand front corner is because most of us want to hit all of our shots off of our dominate leg. Seeing how challenging it is to hit off your back leg/non-dominant leg on the backhand it's important to learn how to hit off this leg on the forehand side. I find these important teaching tools as I remember too how uncomfortable it felt trying to play shots anywhere on the court on my left left, especially from the front forehand corner. So what's changed?

If you're under pressure it's going to be quite challenging to move to the front forehand corner and play off your front leg. You may not have time to get beside the ball, so unlike when I was younger I do feel it is essential to be able to hit off both legs, not just in 1 area of the court, but all over. The challenge here is that if we are stepping forwards with our back leg and playing open stance from the front corner our hips and shoulders are now open which again makes hitting a great straight line extremely challenging.

When you're young and learning to play getting square and beside the ball at the front forehand corner will help you learn how to play off both legs and also hit the ball straighter, which is really important! But the problem here is that in this position it is also very hard to hit a good width from this setup and an experienced opponent will know this and be looking for your straight drive. So what do you do?

Believe it or not the solution is likely to go back to what you did when you first started squash with just some subtle differences! You will need to go back to opening up your hips and shoulders and play the ball further ahead than normal. If you hit it straight you will hit the ball just off your front foot with your racquet head square (parallel to the front wall) and if you're gong cross you will hit the ball slightly further in front of your foot with your racquet contacting the ball at an angle. I try and point my front shoe towards the front corner which means my hips and shoulders are no longer parallel to the sidewall. I do this regardless of which foot I'm hitting off of.

The 1 main difference in hitting with an angled approach is that amateurs won't have the proper amount of rotation in their hips. This is kind of tricky to explain, but basically most amateurs that step forwards with their back leg (like in my pic below) won't be able to square up their hips just enough (not completely square to the sidewall) and shoulders enough to hit a good straight drive. I like to think about where my belly button point is pointing. I can have the same stance, but my belly button can point in vastly different directions depending on the amount of rotation from my hips.

There are a number of advantages and only 1 disadvantage to approaching the ball at the front at an angle. The 1 disadvantage is that it is tougher to hit a good clean straight line. The advantages far outweigh the 1 disadvantage. First you can disguise your straight and crosscourt drives. It's so crucial to disguise your shots! Another advantage of this adjustment is that you stay closer to the T and hit the ball a bit earlier. Staying a bit closer to the T means that you have less area to cover to get back into position. However you do need to be able to lunge and be able to adapt your swing path to play straight from this type of stance. It will take some practice, but it can really help you disguise your intention and be more efficient with your movement.

Remember to think about what your posture is telling your opponent. You can also try and square up to the sidewall and show a straight shot and hit a trickle boast or try and flick the ball crosscourt. The angle your body is at when you're starting your swing tells your opponent a lot about the direction you're intending to hit the ball. Although we use our body as a frame of reference for hitting the ball in a straight line, our opponents can also use it to anticipate our next shot.

Hopefully this gives you a bit of an insight into what can help you hit it tighter, but also on how you can disguise your shots. If the ball is tight to the sidewall or you're under a lot of pressure you shouldn't be worried about disguising your shot direction, simply execute the best possible shot to get out of pressure. Whereas if you're under lots of pressure you'l go in at the ball at a more sever angle and it will make it even more challenging to hit straight. You'll see some amazing swing manipulations by the pros to hit it straight when under lots of pressure and it seems no longer possible. The risk here is that the more pressure you're under the slower you will be to clear. If you try and hit straight when it's most difficult you could be at risk of a getting a stroke, but also of catching your opponent completely out of position.

Learning how to hit the ball straight or cross from the same setup is a key to playing at a high level. I like to start off my match by playing a boast to the front forehand and checking what my opponent does. Usually people will just hit crosscourt from the front forehand corner if under just a bit of pressure and if you can see it coming by reading their body posture look to jump on it and volley it! This is a great combination you can add into your game. But beware if your opponent can disguise their shot well from the front and are on your boast quickly enough you may have to put this tactic in your back pocket for the time being.

Drop It Like Shabana

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

Shabana hitting a forehand counter drop

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

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

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

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

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

Dropping From Above The Height Of The Tin

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

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

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

Dropping From Below The Height Of The Tin

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why The Follow Through Is Key

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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