SuperSquash.net > Squash Tips & Tactics

Monthly Squash Tips & Tactics

The following is a collection of squash tips & tactics taken from various sources including coaches, players and old masters along with observations about the game and things I have read or seen recently. These are sent out to subscribers in a monthly email. Please see the Monthly Squash Tips Email page to sign up.

1. 2011


2. December
4. Do what's right for you - Peter Nicol


5. "About four years ago I was going through a tough time, because I was changing from being purely a squash player into trying to have a life too. I was trying to find out who I was.
   
   I went to a tournament in New York, and I wanted to play squash, but the most important thing was that I wanted to have some fun.
   
   I was out till 5am every morning, just enjoying myself. I'd get up at 2pm, have a light hit, rehydrate, have a decent amount to eat and go back to bed.
   
   I'd wake up at 6pm, put my squash kit on and go out and play. I'd finish my match and go straight out.
   
   That was the only tournament when I won winning every match 3-0.
   
   Now you couldn't keep doing that. But I was so happy and relaxed that I was able to go out and enjoy myself and play freely.
   
   Five matches in a row, all without dropping a set - it was the best tournament I ever played."
   
   We all go through periods like this in our lives, when the best way to create energy is to let go of what we feel we ought to be doing and just enjoy life. Sometimes this creates better results than pushing ourselves harder. Wise words from the Guvnor. That probably doesn't mean ten pints of lager is the best preparation for squash though!


6. January
7. Refocusing and getting back in the game - Barbara Cooper (helpmysquashgame.com), Samir Nadim (The Penguin Book of Squash)


8. It is easy to become unfocused playing squash. Drawn into our opponent's game, exhausted or under pressure, we can easily start to think that nothing is going to go right. A few techniques are used by players to help them mentally refocus. Barbara Cooper explains that many of the habits players exhibit on court such as adjusting strings or wiping sweat off their hands on the wall, actually help them to refocus. She also recommends taking three "centering" breaths to do this before starting another point.
   
   What she is talking about is a simple meditation technique: you focus your attention on your breath to bring your mind back to the task in hand and stop yourself thinking about how badly things are going. (It also helps you get some extra oxygen). In the same way, the actual feel of the wall or strings allows you to focus on something that is outside the game and the circumstances in which you now find yourself. All a bit Zen, but these are useful techniques to apply to a game where we all of us find ourselves feeling a bit stranded and not knowing what to do next, sometimes.
   
   I would follow this up by mentioning Samir Nadim (the Egyptian International)'s concept of the 'laws' of squash, which he describes as 'an invariable sequence of events in nature'. These laws apply not only to the physical elements of the game - shot selection, positioning etc. but also to mental aspects: Winning runs occur all the time in squash, where one player is able to put together a string of winning rallies, while the other player struggles to claw back a point, but then manages finally to break the focus of his opponent and get back into the game. These passages are to do with natural laws, to an extent, as well as the relationship between the two players, their desire to win, how they feel on the day, respect for/fear of one another etc. But it is worth knowing that, sooner or later, your opponent's winning streak will run out and the game will naturally shift in your favour for a time; and also that a small shift in your focus, a longer than usual pause, a joke to the crowd (if you are lucky enough to have one), can be all that is needed to break an opponent's winning streak before the natural course of things (laws of the game, nature or averages, however you choose to see it) breaks it of its own accord. Most good squash players will have experience of this and may have mechanisms in their game that do this already. To be aware of how this works in advance can be a great advantage, especially when tired and under pressure in a match.