Today I'm going to talk about what I think is the most important part of the game. If you could do one thing amazingly well, what would it be? What shot or quality would allow you to be the most successful and cause problems for your opponents? Of course this may change depending on who you're playing against.
We would all love to be stronger, faster, fitter or maybe more mentally tough and disciplined. Would any single one of those traits be enough to beat most players? Not without the racquet skill or proper shot selection. So let's move on.
You see some people that make very good decision, but can't quite execute the shot. Making good choices is a big part of the game, maybe the biggest. I'd rather someone make good choices with bad technique than poor choices with a perfectly grooved swing. I'd pick the thinker any day. But still, I don't think making good choices in itself is the single skill quality that would allow you to play the best.
Now it's time to move on to shots. I know most kids want to say nicks or drops. But we all know nobody wins just because they can hit nicks. Pretty tough to hit 33 of them in a match, especially if you can't hit the shots to set up the openings to go for them.
If we look to some of the basic shots I believe we will start to see what is really crucial in the game. The serve and return of serve are high on this list. A great serve in itself is not going to be enough to win beyond the novice level, but it was still give you some free points each game. If you can't return a good serve you can lose very quickly. But of course once you get the serve back this skill isn't going to assist you much. So although I believe the serve and return of serves to be critical skills, they are not enough on their own to be successful.
Of course I know what you're thinking, 'it must be length.' Don't get ahead of yourself yet. If you could only perfect one length shot which would be the most beneficial to your game? Would it be a forehand or backhand? Would it be a straight or crosscourt drive? I believe that the straight drive on the left hand wall is the most crucial shot in squash. This is where much of the game is played and most of the shots are hit into. If you are more accurate over here and can get good drives back as good drives, you will probably be very successful. I consider a good drive on the left wall to not come off the back wall much (or any depending on your positioning and your opponents). We all know tighter is better, but the depth is equally or even more essential at a high level.
If you get the depth right on a straight drive on the left wall your opponent shouldn't be able to crosscourt drive or attack short well. There is very low risk hitting a backhand drive if you know you can hit it tight and apply pressure with it. Even though there is a lot more to the game than this I feel that if you have fantastic control and consistency on this shot you can win point after point over there. You can set up easy shots to attack of just keep someone pinned in the back level corner. This is likely my best shot (probably because I've hit it so much), and is the shot I feel most comfortable with. If I'm playing a big point I know I can keep it on this wall and I have an excellent chance of winning the point. And that's what squash is, giving yourself the best odds to win each rally.
You might have noticed that I kept mentioning the left side wall as opposed to backhand side. I think that this is also the same for lefties. Most lefties have much stronger forehands than backhands. I don't think I've ever met a lefty that was better on their backhand. Most righties aren't comfortable playing on the right side of the court so they tend to play lefties similar to other right handed opponents. For this reason I think that it is more important that left handed players have a better forehand straight drive than backhand. This of course in itself isn't enough to be successful though. If you can't hit a good straight drive on the right side of the court your opponent will just wait for you to boast or crosscourt to your strong side.
I remember Roger Federer once saying that he didn't spend much time focusing on his backhand (which was his weaker side) because he got so much repetition on it in matches. His opponents would always pick on it, so he decided to kept working on his strengths (his forehead). Was this right or wrong? Who knows. Clearly he's had an unbelievable career. But if we spend most of our practice time on one side than the other we will normally get stronger and tighter on that one side. This is why I find most people need to spend time working n the right wall; even though this isn't the shot that I deem to be most crucial to success. This is because more right handed players don't need much space to get the ball back over to the left side of the court. On our forehand we are also stronger when the ball is slightly behind us as well.
Do you agree? Disagree? What single skill would allow you to have the most success? If it's your drive on the left side of the court do you spend your time working on it over and over? Or do you think like Federer and practice the other side which doesn't get as much practice time? If you do focus on the left wall remember there is a lot more than just constantly hitting the ball tight? Set up targets to keep your focus and concentrate on the depth. Footwork and racquet preparation is also extremely important into this corner. Do you lift the ball under pressure? Do you hit it flatter when you have some time and a bit of an opening? There are lots of subtle ways to put the ball into the same area of the court. This is what separates the elite players from the really good ones.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Rebounding After Losing The First Game
Today I'm going to talk about tactics and the mental game. In particular I'm going to talk about what to do and not do after you lose the first game. Some of us are naturally slow starters and take awhile to find our length or adjust to our opponent's style of play; perhaps our brain is still thinking about work or school. Regardless of why you end up losing the first game the match is a long ways from over.
With the scoring system now using point a rally to 11 the better player doesn't always win the first game. This is a smaller sample of points compared to playing to 15 or hand out scoring. This is why the warm up is crucial. You want to get off to a good start. If you don't you start thinking negatively and trying to do something special to turn things around. Nerves can also play a big factor in how you play the first game. If you are a bit nervous the first part of the game you may make a few mistakes or read the game slower than normal and make a few poor choices. This is alright, no need to panic. This is again why a good warm up and some relaxation or visualization can help you get off to a more consistent start to your matches. But this post isn't about how to get off to a better start, this is about coming back from losing the first game. So let's get to it.
After losing the first game generally we are upset. We probably feel that we just didn't play well. Of course this may be true some of the time, but we have to give credit to where it's due. This is where having a coach can help you. Coming off after losing the first game one can feel emotional and have trouble dissecting what has gone wrong out there. As you become more experienced you will get better at reading this for yourself.
When you come off the court after losing the first game, start off by asking what was going well for you. We tend to always pick on all the things we did poorly, which rarely help us. If you can't think of anything you did well, come up with a basic and positive strategy for game 2. A couple of good ideas are trying to get your opponent to the back of the court, visualizing some targets for your drives (behind the service box or just getting the ball to the back glass can help). Maybe you need to focus on extending some rallies and this can help you relax and change the momentum of the match.
When dissecting what happened in the first game you want to know a few important points. Even if you lost the game if your opponent did more work than you, this can be very positive for game 2 and the rest of the match. If this happens you may not need to change a thing. Stick to your plan and eventually their game will slow down and you will keep playing at the same level. If you did most of the work and still lost the game you may just be up against some stiff competition. Unless you're a lot fitter than your opponent you need to try and change this. Start giving yourself more time between shots; get your opponent off the volley; step up and volley to take time away from them, etc.
The psychology of winning and losing can be very damaging to your game. You may play a great game and just because you don't win it you are dissatisfied and feel like you need to change something. Losing a game by just 2 or 3 points doesn't imply you did anything wrong. Perhaps your opponent is just slightly more accurate or experienced. In this case do you really need to drastically change your strategy or just do a slightly better job executing it?
If you feel you need to change your style of play to be more successful, how can you do this? Are you comfortable upping the pace? Slowing it down? Can you push up on the T and try to volley more? Can you play straighter? Or perhaps more boasts and crosscourts? Can you try and extend or shorten the points? If there is a certain style that will increase your odds of winning you should try it. Of course this means you have to be able to execute this new strategy. So you should practice playing different ways. But remember you don't always need to make drastic changes to turn the game around. Maybe you were being too passive or forcing the ball short too quickly. But if you come up against someone who does what you do but better, do you have an option B? If not you're not going to have any luck.
Whatever happens in the first gam try and keep your emotions out of it. If you lose the game, it's over with. You have 90 seconds to refocus. Don't waste that entire time thinking about that past game and how awful you played. By the time you step back on court you want to have a clear picture of how you want to start and finish the next game. Sometimes I will just try and get off to a better start. I will try and get to 5 points first. Other times I know I need to execute the basics more accurately to open up the rest of the court.
The one area I would caution you with is overloading information between games. Keep the instructions simple, yet clear. I've made the mistake of giving too much information to someone and you should always err on the side of less information. First thing I do is make sure to get the person feeling more upbeat and then refocused on the next game and the strategy. If you can do this well you will give yourself the best chance of turning things around and tying things up.
Winning and losing is quite psychological. We want to blame the ref or some lucky shots, but in the end it's just a small sample and it's only 1 game. Sometimes the best thing to do is to be able to forget what happened, kind of reset yourself and go out focused, positive and with a clear strategy for the next game. This is why the mental game and tactics are so interesting. We see it at every level. With young kids (and some adults) we can easily read the self-detructive thoughts that they are thinking and feeling. We also see this at the very highest level. Some players are better at coming back from losing the first game than others. Especially if you feel like you left it all on the court, played well and it was a long physical game. Staying positive under the most daunting conditions is a skill that only some players possess, but is not a quality that can only be found at the professional level; losing the first game, regardless of how or why is simply an opportunity for you to showcase this ability.
With the scoring system now using point a rally to 11 the better player doesn't always win the first game. This is a smaller sample of points compared to playing to 15 or hand out scoring. This is why the warm up is crucial. You want to get off to a good start. If you don't you start thinking negatively and trying to do something special to turn things around. Nerves can also play a big factor in how you play the first game. If you are a bit nervous the first part of the game you may make a few mistakes or read the game slower than normal and make a few poor choices. This is alright, no need to panic. This is again why a good warm up and some relaxation or visualization can help you get off to a more consistent start to your matches. But this post isn't about how to get off to a better start, this is about coming back from losing the first game. So let's get to it.
After losing the first game generally we are upset. We probably feel that we just didn't play well. Of course this may be true some of the time, but we have to give credit to where it's due. This is where having a coach can help you. Coming off after losing the first game one can feel emotional and have trouble dissecting what has gone wrong out there. As you become more experienced you will get better at reading this for yourself.
When you come off the court after losing the first game, start off by asking what was going well for you. We tend to always pick on all the things we did poorly, which rarely help us. If you can't think of anything you did well, come up with a basic and positive strategy for game 2. A couple of good ideas are trying to get your opponent to the back of the court, visualizing some targets for your drives (behind the service box or just getting the ball to the back glass can help). Maybe you need to focus on extending some rallies and this can help you relax and change the momentum of the match.
When dissecting what happened in the first game you want to know a few important points. Even if you lost the game if your opponent did more work than you, this can be very positive for game 2 and the rest of the match. If this happens you may not need to change a thing. Stick to your plan and eventually their game will slow down and you will keep playing at the same level. If you did most of the work and still lost the game you may just be up against some stiff competition. Unless you're a lot fitter than your opponent you need to try and change this. Start giving yourself more time between shots; get your opponent off the volley; step up and volley to take time away from them, etc.
The psychology of winning and losing can be very damaging to your game. You may play a great game and just because you don't win it you are dissatisfied and feel like you need to change something. Losing a game by just 2 or 3 points doesn't imply you did anything wrong. Perhaps your opponent is just slightly more accurate or experienced. In this case do you really need to drastically change your strategy or just do a slightly better job executing it?
If you feel you need to change your style of play to be more successful, how can you do this? Are you comfortable upping the pace? Slowing it down? Can you push up on the T and try to volley more? Can you play straighter? Or perhaps more boasts and crosscourts? Can you try and extend or shorten the points? If there is a certain style that will increase your odds of winning you should try it. Of course this means you have to be able to execute this new strategy. So you should practice playing different ways. But remember you don't always need to make drastic changes to turn the game around. Maybe you were being too passive or forcing the ball short too quickly. But if you come up against someone who does what you do but better, do you have an option B? If not you're not going to have any luck.
Whatever happens in the first gam try and keep your emotions out of it. If you lose the game, it's over with. You have 90 seconds to refocus. Don't waste that entire time thinking about that past game and how awful you played. By the time you step back on court you want to have a clear picture of how you want to start and finish the next game. Sometimes I will just try and get off to a better start. I will try and get to 5 points first. Other times I know I need to execute the basics more accurately to open up the rest of the court.
The one area I would caution you with is overloading information between games. Keep the instructions simple, yet clear. I've made the mistake of giving too much information to someone and you should always err on the side of less information. First thing I do is make sure to get the person feeling more upbeat and then refocused on the next game and the strategy. If you can do this well you will give yourself the best chance of turning things around and tying things up.
Winning and losing is quite psychological. We want to blame the ref or some lucky shots, but in the end it's just a small sample and it's only 1 game. Sometimes the best thing to do is to be able to forget what happened, kind of reset yourself and go out focused, positive and with a clear strategy for the next game. This is why the mental game and tactics are so interesting. We see it at every level. With young kids (and some adults) we can easily read the self-detructive thoughts that they are thinking and feeling. We also see this at the very highest level. Some players are better at coming back from losing the first game than others. Especially if you feel like you left it all on the court, played well and it was a long physical game. Staying positive under the most daunting conditions is a skill that only some players possess, but is not a quality that can only be found at the professional level; losing the first game, regardless of how or why is simply an opportunity for you to showcase this ability.
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