Impact of Squash training

Looking back at the training that we have been undergoing since the past 2 weeks, I often wonder if it is making any difference at all to the way I have been playing. I gave it a lot of thought yesterday and realized that this training is teaching me a lot of things and some of those learnings have been captured in my thoughts below.
First and foremost, this training has taught me that the results will not be delivered overnight!! I will not become a Grade-A squash player with fantastic footwork by training for 2 weeks!! I have to persevere and that is going to be the only way forward.
I can already see some benefits that have come out of this training for 2 weeks. These benefits have been towards my attitude in retrieving the ball and in the overall physical fitness that is making a difference in the way I feel after the practice session is over. When I used to play earlier, there were a lot of those tight “no way I can reach those” balls in the front. It was as if the mind would tell my body that you are not going to get over there – hence there is no point in event trying!! While these “no way I can reach those” balls have not vanished completely, they have started reducing significantly. Some of the balls that I retrieve from the front corner are the balls that I could not dreamt of reaching 2 weeks back – and it is not because of any dramatic improvement in my physical capabilities, but only because of the change in the mental makeup. Moreover, though my feet, ankle, thighs and hamstrings are all sore after the practice, I can feel the degree of soreness decreasing and feel the feet and the ankles becoming stronger. This has been a key change – a lot of change in my mental and physical makeup while playing the game.
There are some peripheral impacts of this change also – I have to now discipline my entire lifestyle to ensure that I make it to the courts in the morning in time so that I am not late for work. This has resulted in our (me and my family) completely cutting down on eating out on weekdays so that we can sleep early!! (How are these 2 connected? You have to stay in Mumbai to understand that – the average commute time one way to a good restaurant over here can vary from 40 min. to an hour depending upon the traffic and the place where one stays). This has resulted in all of us feeling a lot healthier – eating healthier, getting enough rest and of course, saving the much needed money!!
But perhaps the most important thing for has been applying myself to learning a new skill – as I mentioned in my first blog. Application and perseverance have not really been qualities that I have been born with. To subject myself to the discipline of doing something on a regular basis is an alien concept for me – so wanted to do this once, subject myself to the discipline and see how much do I succeed in making the small promise that I have made to myself.