Today I'm going to talk about college squash. In particular, the College Squash Association (CSA). I saw this short documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnK0H--atHo on the CSA website the other day. It follows the trinity men's squash team around the year after they finally lost in the finals 5-4 to Yale. They had gone 13 years undefeated until that match.
There were a few things that stood out when I watched this documentary. The first thing that I enjoyed was listening to the coach, Paul Assaiante give speeches to his team. Some of them I found very uplifting and thought that they really helped kicked his team up when they needed it. I also like that he told it to his team straight up and didn't cherry coat things even if they won. Paul also did a few things I could never imagine doing, singling out an individual and telling him he forgot how to play squash and also his emphasis on the outcome at any expense was always quite clear. I felt like he put added pressure on some his team matches. I guess he knows what he's doing as the results speak for themselves. He knows how to reach his kids, motivate them, and get them to buy into the team philosophy which can be unusual and challenging for us that grew up playing an individual sport.
The other things that I noticed and it brought back memories of the college squash system, was how fired up the players and teams get watching. I don't have a problem with the team being loud and cheering on their peers, but I never enjoyed the players that banged on the back glass between rallies. I remember one time at Cornell having non-squash spectators cheering and yelling during rallies and applauding any point won regardless of how it happened. So you have to be mentally tough and stay focused. It's a much different atmosphere then we are accustomed to up here in Canada.
I also don't appreciate the excessive celebration each player does at the end of their match. Even more so when it's done before shaking the opponents hand. I also never liked they ridiculous yelling of, 'come on,' or 'use it' after their opponent makes an unforced error. I know it feels great to win and there is a lot of added pressure trying to win for your team, but they take it too far. You can tell at the end of the video how much Harvard must have felt watching Paul give his speech about how special and destined his team is. I have friends that have gone to trinity and have nothing against them, but I do feel like Harvard got some well deserved justice this past season.
In the CSA matches, in particular the team finals, it gets pretty intense and generally the atmosphere is electric. But we are taught early on in squash to be gracious in winning and defeat; to act the same regardless of the outcome and show respect to your opponent and the other team. Plus if you're that good you should expect to win and not be so pumped up and over the top ecstatic when you do win. To me this shows that you were playing squash very tense and the testosterone takes over and maybe this is why that boy forgot how to play squash. I still remember one of John Wooden's (a famous college basketball coach) comments, he said the only thing worse then losing too much is winning too much. Wooden said that this put too much pressure on his team for each game. His team once went 2 years or so without losing a game and when they finally did they were able to relax and he claims they were able to play without that pressure ended up winning the NCAA title again that year.
Playing squash while doing your undergrad is a lot of fun. I just hope the kids I coach don't fall into the same behaviour patterns as many of the college kids demonstrate. They aren't all like this. I had a lot of well mannered and contested matches over my 4 years. I think Canadians generally have a good reputation for behaving and respecting their opponents.
While on the topic of the CSA and Canadians, I can't finish off my post before writing a few words about the challenges we faced and still do at Western. Being the only Canadian school that participates in the CSA we always heard rumours of coaches meetings where they discussed trying to get rid of us. We heard a lot came from 1 or 2 teams specifically and these were teams that were trying to get into the top 8 (div 1). Clearly they thought an easy way to move up a spot is to just get rid of our team as opposed to actually beating us on the court. So it's kind of surprising that Western is still allowed to compete. Maybe because we are less of a threat these days. All the teams are getting stronger and as Jack Fairs has gotten older and is unable to coach the team there are a number of challenges moving forward. It was a great opportunity to travel to all the different school and compete against them being based in Canada and I don't know how many more years they will be continuing to compete in the CSA.
In closing, squash should be fun and I know a lot of people that have quit after they finished college. In college, it's all about overtraining and an even greater emphasis in placed on winning. Of course we already want to win, but there is that pressure that if you lose you let the team down. With such large teams it's difficult to get individual coaching and guidance. You get kind of thrown in with a big group which means you have to do drills and train in ways you may not enjoy. In college many people play reactive squash, meaning not to lose. So if you want to be an attacking and proactive player you better learn to do it before you get to college. And you better get good at it before you get there or chances are your coach won't appreciate your use of the front of the court. But of course winning is the most important thing in college, so if you can attack well you and you win your matches you probably won't hear any complaints. I may have painted a bleak picture on college squash, but believe it or not I actually really enjoyed it. Hopefully for those considering going down this stream the documentary and my post will help prepare you for what lies ahead.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Thursday, September 11, 2014
How To Improve Your Balance & Posture
Today I'm going to talk about balance and posture when hitting the squash ball. Balance is something that is important as you're hitting the ball. I have a few tips I will get into about how to improve your balance. But first I want to talk about your shot selection. If you are off balanced and trying to hit the ball hard or attempting to hit a drop shot, this is a low percentage shot. Against tough opponents this will happen more frequently. You will be under lots of pressure and not balanced when we're hitting the ball. In these situations it's important to make a proper choice to give you the extra time you need to regain your balance and get to the T. The bottom line is if you're off balanced you will not be as accurate so don't go for a low percentage shot.
Okay, so you understand when to play attacking shots, and when to play defensive and get out of pressure. How can you improve your balance when you play squash? When I think about balance while hitting a squash ball I think about having a fairly wide base of support. You should also have your legs/hips abducted (as opposed to in a straight line, one foot in front of the other) while you hit. To do this I like stepping forwards into the shot while abducting my hip slightly. As this happens, this lowers your centre of gravity and helps keep you balanced as you swing. It's also important to lower your hips and bends your knees (as opposed to bending at the waist/back) to get to the height of the ball. I know this will be a challenge for some of you and I will get into some methods for improving your strength and balance to do this.
When I was a kid I remember a coach having me wear some kind of hat when I played so I would keep my head upright and maintain a good erect posture. But when you're lunging into a ball your back should not be upright, you will have to be leaning out, just not hunched over. To go along with this posture discussion, I see many people get low only as they are about to hit the ball. This is even more critical for taller people. You need to get low on your way to the ball so your head stays still and isn't dropping as you strike the ball
Here are some areas to concentrate on to help you improve your balance:
Use wobble boards, balance and bosu balls: the first time you do this you will feel all the areas in your foot, ankles, and legs that are activated attempting to keep your balance. You can do a lot of exercises with wobble boards. You can use these for doing pushups, lunges, squats, and even solo hit on. You can also do exercises on 1 leg to further challenge yourself. Using any of these balancing apparatuses can also help people strengthen the stabilizing muscles around previously injured joints (e.g., the knee or ankle).
Strengthen the legs and glutes: especially the quads, but don't forget the hamstrings. You can do this by doing lunges, squats, wall sits, and practicing your court movement getting low into a proper hitting posture. I often do a 2 person drill where we alternate hitting soft drops at the front of the court, one hitting forehand and the other backhand, and for each drop is a big lunge into and then back out after each shot. Each time you lunge in and drop focus on getting the handle of the racquet down low to the height of the ball.
Strengthen the core: having a strong core is essential for maintaining a large powerful lunge while hitting the ball with pace. A strong core is also important to help you recover to the T from a lunge. If you want to know more about core strengthening check out my previous post here: http://www.serioussquash.com/2014/08/core-strength-training-for-squash.html
Improve your flexibility: I think we all know that increasing our flexibility will help us stay more balanced. Getting into a good habit of stretching after matches will help this. Yoga is also an effective method for this. If you want to know more about yoga for squash players, check out my previous post here: http://www.serioussquash.com/2014/08/yoga-for-squash-players.html
Improving your court movement: this is a strength specific exercise, but if you move around the court efficiently you will be at the ball with more time and you will be more balanced. The same goes for anticipation. As you improve both you will be under far less pressure and you will be well balanced for a higher percentage of your shots, meaning a higher degree of accuracy with your shots. Here is a link to an old post about court movement: http://www.serioussquash.com/2014/07/court-movement.html
The last thing I want to discuss about balance is the use of the non-racquet hand. Many people don't pay any attention to it, but its main function in squash is to maintain balance through the swing. If you don't currently use it in your swing, try hitting some backhands and swing your non-dominant had in the opposite direction (but in rhythm) like opening a pair of scissors. Of course as you're under an excessive amount of pressure you will not be able to actually take a full swing, so you won't have a full scissor opening motion with your arms. On the forehand side the non-dominant arm should flow with your swing or at least be by your hip (left hip if you're a righty). On ether side of the court if you keep your hand up by your chest inside your swing you will have a more upright centre of gravity and will have difficulty staying balanced under pressure.
There are a number of ways to improve your balance. I've only touched on a few here. Poor balance isn't just for growing teenagers. When I think about adults playing that have poor balance they are often late to the ball, try hitting too hard, prepare their racquet very late, have an excessively large swing, move around the court improperly, and are often out of shape (which influences them being late to the ball). I recommend getting into a regular post match stretching cool down routine to maintain (or slightly improve) your flexibility. If you really want to improve your balance then try some of the methods I've highlighted above.
Okay, so you understand when to play attacking shots, and when to play defensive and get out of pressure. How can you improve your balance when you play squash? When I think about balance while hitting a squash ball I think about having a fairly wide base of support. You should also have your legs/hips abducted (as opposed to in a straight line, one foot in front of the other) while you hit. To do this I like stepping forwards into the shot while abducting my hip slightly. As this happens, this lowers your centre of gravity and helps keep you balanced as you swing. It's also important to lower your hips and bends your knees (as opposed to bending at the waist/back) to get to the height of the ball. I know this will be a challenge for some of you and I will get into some methods for improving your strength and balance to do this.
When I was a kid I remember a coach having me wear some kind of hat when I played so I would keep my head upright and maintain a good erect posture. But when you're lunging into a ball your back should not be upright, you will have to be leaning out, just not hunched over. To go along with this posture discussion, I see many people get low only as they are about to hit the ball. This is even more critical for taller people. You need to get low on your way to the ball so your head stays still and isn't dropping as you strike the ball
Here are some areas to concentrate on to help you improve your balance:
Use wobble boards, balance and bosu balls: the first time you do this you will feel all the areas in your foot, ankles, and legs that are activated attempting to keep your balance. You can do a lot of exercises with wobble boards. You can use these for doing pushups, lunges, squats, and even solo hit on. You can also do exercises on 1 leg to further challenge yourself. Using any of these balancing apparatuses can also help people strengthen the stabilizing muscles around previously injured joints (e.g., the knee or ankle).
Strengthen the legs and glutes: especially the quads, but don't forget the hamstrings. You can do this by doing lunges, squats, wall sits, and practicing your court movement getting low into a proper hitting posture. I often do a 2 person drill where we alternate hitting soft drops at the front of the court, one hitting forehand and the other backhand, and for each drop is a big lunge into and then back out after each shot. Each time you lunge in and drop focus on getting the handle of the racquet down low to the height of the ball.
Strengthen the core: having a strong core is essential for maintaining a large powerful lunge while hitting the ball with pace. A strong core is also important to help you recover to the T from a lunge. If you want to know more about core strengthening check out my previous post here: http://www.serioussquash.com/2014/08/core-strength-training-for-squash.html
Improve your flexibility: I think we all know that increasing our flexibility will help us stay more balanced. Getting into a good habit of stretching after matches will help this. Yoga is also an effective method for this. If you want to know more about yoga for squash players, check out my previous post here: http://www.serioussquash.com/2014/08/yoga-for-squash-players.html
Improving your court movement: this is a strength specific exercise, but if you move around the court efficiently you will be at the ball with more time and you will be more balanced. The same goes for anticipation. As you improve both you will be under far less pressure and you will be well balanced for a higher percentage of your shots, meaning a higher degree of accuracy with your shots. Here is a link to an old post about court movement: http://www.serioussquash.com/2014/07/court-movement.html
The last thing I want to discuss about balance is the use of the non-racquet hand. Many people don't pay any attention to it, but its main function in squash is to maintain balance through the swing. If you don't currently use it in your swing, try hitting some backhands and swing your non-dominant had in the opposite direction (but in rhythm) like opening a pair of scissors. Of course as you're under an excessive amount of pressure you will not be able to actually take a full swing, so you won't have a full scissor opening motion with your arms. On the forehand side the non-dominant arm should flow with your swing or at least be by your hip (left hip if you're a righty). On ether side of the court if you keep your hand up by your chest inside your swing you will have a more upright centre of gravity and will have difficulty staying balanced under pressure.
There are a number of ways to improve your balance. I've only touched on a few here. Poor balance isn't just for growing teenagers. When I think about adults playing that have poor balance they are often late to the ball, try hitting too hard, prepare their racquet very late, have an excessively large swing, move around the court improperly, and are often out of shape (which influences them being late to the ball). I recommend getting into a regular post match stretching cool down routine to maintain (or slightly improve) your flexibility. If you really want to improve your balance then try some of the methods I've highlighted above.
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